The name Britcliffe originates from Lancashire. Its first known usage was in the twelfth century when the name was Briercliffe, from the village (near Burnley) of that name. In the eighteenth century John Briercliffe became known by the name Britcliffe, based upon an old Lancashire pronunciation of his name. His descendants, too, took the name Britcliffe though the Briercliffe name still lives on. The earliest record of the original name is in 1258 when Michael Briercliffe held land in Briercliffe and the freehold estate of Burwains, the ancestral home, which remained in the family until it was sold by Robert Briercliffe in the early eighteenth century. Robert having succeeded to an encumbered estate.
The freehold lands in and around Briercliffe were originally bestowed upon the family by Robert de Lacy, the builder of Clitheroe Castle and an ancestor of Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, whose daughter Alesia de Lacy (Countess of Lincoln) married Thomas, Earl of Lancaster.
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