The Celtic Stone Heads of Wardle, Near Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

Back in 1970 two carved stone heads were donated to the Rochdale Museum by a lady living in Lowflats, Wardle, near Rochdale; she had previously had them as garden ornaments. The two gritstone heads which stand on stone pillars had been described as Celtic stone heads, but that is unlikely to be the case, as they were dated to the 17th or 18th centuries, and, maybe even only as old as the 20th century! These carved heads, which had been used as gateposts in the past, had come from different places in the Wardle area. The smaller head, which is 117cm high, apparently came from Low Farm (Low Hill) in Wardle (there was an ancient burial mound on Low Hill), whereas the larger head, which is 148cm high, came from nearby Howarth Farm (also called Howarth Knowl Farm). It is likely the smaller carved head stood beside an ancient spring - where it had acted as a lucky, symbolic talisman. The two stone heads have been on display in the entrance area of the Touchstones Museum, the Esplanade, Rochdale since 2002.

In an article for the Winter 2012 volume of the 'Lancashire History Quarterly' magazine, Raymond Varley tells about the 'Two Stone Gatepost Heads from Wardle, Rochdale, Lancashire'. He says: "These two stone gatepost heads were donated to the Rochdale Museum in 1970 by Gertrude Jane Wilkinson of Lowflats, Wardle near Rochdale, where she kept them in her garden for a number of years. They were then put into storage waiting extensive renovation work to the former vicarage of the Parish Church of St. Chad which opened as Rochdale Museum in 1975. The stone heads were then put on display in the entrance hall. However, the museum closed in 1989 and once again the stone heads were put into storage until a permanent and accessible home to display them was found. This was at Touchstones Rochdale in 2002, but before being displayed, conservation work..... was carried out on the heads, which are made from local gritstone. After they were cleaned and restored the stone heads were placed at the entrance to the museum.

"Although the actual sites for these two stone gatepost heads is not known, there is no doubt that they both came from Wardle, which is a small Pennine village. It is situated at foothills of the Pennines surrounded on three sides by high moorland country. Wardle was originally an isolated village with just a cart track to Rochdale. It may have Celtic origins..... and Mesolithic and Bronze Age flint tools and arrowheads have been found on Middle Hill..... and Brown Wardle Hill, north of Wardle..... Howarth Knowl might originate from the Anglo Saxon word 'cnoll' meaning hill top..... Immediately north of Wardle was once the hamlet of Watergrove, which is now beneath the waves of the reservoir."

Raymond Varley goes on to say:"These two ancient-looking stone head faces can be recognised as human, carved at the top of gateposts. In the past stone heads were often disregarded as a minor architectural feature and it was not until the 1960s when they started to receive public attention. This was when Sidney Jackson, late Keeper of Cartwright Hall Museum, Bradford, began publicising the abumdance of primitive looking carved heads, which were turning up in the North of England in particular Yorkshire. Press publicity also increased the awareness of stone heads in Yorkshire. Jackson was the first to realise that the carvings were an important and overlooked part of our historical heritage with a significant number found throughout West Yorkshire. As a result he wrote many short articles on their discovery in the Cartwright Hall Museum Archaeology Group Bulletins (Jackson 1960) suggesting that they had ancient origins. This was because the features on most of the carvings were often primitive.

"Many stone heads have been found in gardens serving as ornaments and some were found built into dry-stone field walls. Most of them are three-dimensional and free-standing. They also appear in buildings above doorways, on either side of a window, or on a gable end. Other common locations are bridges, wells and springs. Stone gatepost heads, like the ones from Wardle however, seem to be an infrequent discovery.

Sources/References:-

Lancashire History Quarterly - Exploring The History Of Old Lancashire Volume 15 Issue No. 2 Winter 2012, Hudson History of Settle, Kirkgate, Settle, N.Yorks.

https://www.yourtrustrochdale.co.uk/venues/touchstones-rochdale/

Copyright © RayS57, 2022.