According to local tradition, the chapel was constructed using materials taken from Whalley Abbey following the dissolution of the monasteries in the Tudor period, but this has never been conclusively proven.

[citation needed] A charter written in 1308 mentions a hermitage by the rocks on the eastern side of Billington.

[2] The village has been known previously as Billindon (1203), Billinton (1208), Bilingdon (1241), Belyngton or Bilyngton (14th–16th centuries).

There also existed a wood of approximately 60 acres named Elker, which contained oak trees, as well as hazel and alder.

Oak and ash trees could also be found in the smaller Nab wood, which was around 40 acres.