RESEARCH using the latest laser imaging technology could be about to rewrite the early history of one of East Lancashire's key industrial towns.

It has always been thought that a medieval village on the banks of the River Brun grew into the market town of Burnley and swallowed up the surrounding estates and hamlets.

But a new study shows that the 12th Century Manor House at Ightenhill may well have been as big as its neighbour and just as important in the development of the settlement.

The work by Burnley local historian Roger Frost and archaeologist Dr David Taylor using the latest LIDAR technology shows there was much more to the Manor of Ightenhill then previously thought.

It indicates it had its own resident chaplain, ironworks, horse breeding stud, brewery and many more building than previously thought housing dozens of people.

The manor was important enough to be visited by King Edward II in 1322 after his victory after The Battle of Boroughbridge.

Now they want to mount a full-scale dig to find put just how big the settlement around the manor house was and how crucial it was to the growth of the town of Burnley which was to become one of the powerhouses of the Victorian Industrial Revolution and its cotton industry.

The two experts hope to get the University of Central Lancashire, which has a large Burnley campus and an archaeology department, to lead the investigation.

Mr Frost said: "Ightenhill is likely to have been a medieval village, a lost village site.

"Its discovery is so important that it probably will change the medieval history of the Burnley area.

".We are very excited about it.

"The site of the Manor House off Helvellyn Drive has been known for many years.

"The area is part of the present Borough of Burnley.

"The Manor of Ightenhill is mentioned by many historians, but generally they have concentrated on descriptions of the remains and its normal manorial activities: holding local courts, administering the agriculture of the Manor etc.

"Ightenhill Manor House also ran the vaccaries (cattle rearing establishments) in Trawden, Pendle and Rossendale.

"The manor house also ran a stud for horses the site of which has recently been identified. Studs existed for the breeding of horses, mostly for military purposes, but the stud appears to have been capable of breeding horses for tournaments and for more common transport needs. At one time there were some 200 horses.

"At the site there was a bloomery. This was an early iron works. It was probably on a fairly large scale.

"Originally, I thought it little more than a blacksmith’s shop making shoes. This does not appear to be the case and there are indications that a number of men worked at the bloomery.

"There was a chapel at the Manor House. We know this one provided accommodation for a chaplain and was used on a weekly basis serving those who lived at Ightenhill.

"This is where the site becomes more interesting. The occupations mentioned at, or near the manor house, added up to quite a number and this has been confirmed by the discovery of a number of houses at or very close to the site.

"The supposition is that these dwellings were at the very least the size of a hamlet and, more likely, the size of a village.

"So, the site of the manor house at Ightenhill has become much more interesting than we thought that it was.

"Manor houses contained a number of buildings, some to live in, others in which to worship and to work in.

"Ightenhill had all of these, but others would have been there: barns for the agriculture carried out on the site in addition to horse and cattle rearing; dairies for milk, cheese and butter production; a brewery for the making of beer.

"These are only some of the occupations that took place at the site. It is difficult to be precise about numbers living there but there may as many as 30 or 40 families which would give a population of about 150 to 180 people."