When Robert de Lacey gifted the Manor of Barnoldswick to the Cistercians at Fountains Abbey in the mid 12th century he committed Barlick to the tender mercies of the church and I have to say they didn't make any effort at all to win hearts and minds. It was an enforced occupation and one of the first things they did was to demolish the old church which was close to the monastery site. Six years later, faced with harsh conditions, the depredations of Scottish raiders and no doubt opposition from the locals they upped sticks and moved to Leeds founding Kirkstall Abbey but keeping control of the Manor of Barnoldswick and the new church at Gill they were forced to build in about 1160. At that time they had complete control of everyone in the manor.
We have to remember that this was a harsh regime. The monk in charge of the church had only two aims, to reinforce the fear in the people's minds of what would happen to them in the afterlife if they sinned and to maximise the income from the manor for Kirkstall. The situation wasn't made any easier by the civil war that raged from 1135 when King Henry I died and his wife Matilda was plunged into conflict with the king's nephew Stephen which came to a conclusion in 1153 with Matilda's defeat. We have evidence that this breakdown of law and order affected Barlick and it was a bad time. Things became more stable after 1153 and the old Barlickers shrugged their shoulders and settled down into their yoke doing the best they could.
The next big event was the Black Death in the mid 14th century during which we think that somewhere between a third and a half of the population perished. The crucial thing about this was that ordinary people, though told by the church that this affliction was God's punishing for sinners, noticed that their lords, the clergy, were dying as well! They weren't stupid and I harbour a conviction that this was noted and discussed round the fireside at night. Did this mean that the monks were sinful as well? Or simply that their teachings were wrong... The seeds of dissent were sewn at this time and this was reinforced by the fact that following the plague, the shortage of labour meant that the Abbey had to relax its iron grip on the people who had until this time been virtual slaves. New tenancy arrangements came into force and we start to see the rise of the yeoman farmers who had a lot more freedom and could be said to be entrepreneurs.
This was a massive change in society and a boost to confidence and a sense of self worth. The growth of the wool trade and demand for cloth helped the landless to join in the new prosperity in their cottages, all they needed was a loom, some simple tools and support from the growing band of clothiers who acted as middle men in the trade.
The disaster of the Black Death changed society.
