The
Domesday manor of Mitton encompassed both Great and Little Mitton, straddling lands on both sides of the Ribble. From the late eleventh century, it fell under the
Lordship of Bowland, the Lords of Bowland being
lords paramount of a
Royal Forest and a
Liberty of ten manors spanning eight townships and four parishes and which covered an area of almost on the historic borders of Lancashire and
Yorkshire. The manors within the Liberty were
Slaidburn (
Newton-in-Bowland,
West Bradford,
Grindleton),
Knowlmere,
Waddington,
Easington,
Bashall Eaves, Mitton, Withgill (Crook),
Leagram,
Hammerton and
Dunnow (Battersby). Mitton was a
mesne manor from the early twelfth century. Its first lord, Radulphus le Rus, may have been a scion of the
de Lacy family. Descendants of Radulphus assumed the surname
de Mitton. In the late thirteenth century, the family adopted the surname
de Sotheron, later
Sherburne, by marriage, thereby laying the foundation for the dynasty of Shireburne of
Stonyhurst. The manor passed out of Shireburne ownership in the fourteenth century but was re-acquired in 1665. With the extinction of the Shireburne male line in 1717, the manor passed to the Hawksworth and finally, Aspinall families. The
Mitton Hoard of eleven medieval silver coins (or bits of coins) was found to the west of the village near the River Hodder. The coins are now in
Clitheroe Castle Museum. The manor of Withgill (Crook) lay within the boundaries of the township of Mitton but was small (around 40 acres in 1258). It was held by the
de Bury family until the late fourteenth century. The Singletons held the manor from 1379-1503 after which it passed to the family of Sir William Leyland and finally, the Tyldesleys. The Tyldesleys, leading Jacobites, forfeited the manor for their role in the 1715
Preston Rebellion.
Sir William Addison (1905–1992), historian and author, was born at Milton. ==Governance==