Hapton was once a township in the ancient parish of Whalley. This became a civil parish in 1866, forming part of the Burnley Rural District from 1894 (until 1974). However in 1894, the Padiham Green area of the parish transferred to Padiham and Clowbridge to Dunnockshaw. There were further boundary changes in 1935 when the parish lost another small area to Padiham but gained a detached part of Dunnockshaw.
The village gives its name to the Hapton with Park ward of the Borough of Burnley.
The castle of Hapton once stood on the eastern side of Castle Clough, on the edge of a precipitous slope. Nothing is known of its origin. Further up the hill in Hapton Park, however, Hapton Tower was constructed by Sir John Townley (1473-1541) and was inhabited until 1667. The tower was a large square building about 6 yards (5.5 m) high with, on one side, the remains of three round towers with conical bases. It reportedly had two main entrances opposite each other. Both castle and tower were in ruins after the Restoration and today hardly anything remains of either. The only masonry of the castle now visible is a length of wall about 12 feet (3.7 m) long and 4.5 feet (1.4 m) thick and four courses high under two trees.
From the Haptons the land passed to the de Leghs, when John de Hapton's daughter Cecilia married Richard de Legh in 1205, and then to the Townleys. In the 12th century part of the manor was granted to William de Arches by Robert de Lacey. Sir John Townley succeeded to the estates at the age of nine. He was married to Isabella Pilkington, the daughter of his guardian and later served as a soldier, being awarded a knighthood in 1497. With Royal permission he enclosed the manors of Townley and Hapton, which he connected with the illegal enclosure of Horelaw at Hapton. An astute businessman he bought land, corn mills and corn tithes. He was High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1532.
In his will dated 1627, Richard Townley (1566-1629) left all his armour at Whalley to his son Richard. The will of Richard's wife Jane, dated 1633, provides the last recorded instance of the Townleys at Hapton Tower.
Shuttleworth Hall is about 1 mile (1.6 km) north-west of the town along the A6068 road toward Padiham. The house dates from 1639 and is a working farmhouse.
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