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.

Around Watergrove Reservoir near Wardle, Rochdale, Greater Manchester

On the windswept Pennine moors to the north of Wardle, near Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, is Watergrove Reservoir. The reservoir was constructed back in the 1930s in order to supply water to nearby Rochdale, which was short of water in times of drought, but the old village of Watergrove very sadly had to be abandoned and sub-merged beneath the waters of this new reservoir. Watergrove village itself came into being in the first half of the 19th century with at least three mills providing work for the good folk of Wartergrove and probably some from Wardle; there was also a Methodist church, and a public house! and, eventually by about 1870 300 people were living in the village. However, children from the village had to go to Wardle as there was no school.

Going further back into the history of Watergrove there were several farms dotted around, mainly dating from the 1700s, but one from as far back as 1640. But the cotton mills that were built in and around Watergrove after 1840 were what undoubtedly caused the village to flourish during the 19th century. The millworkers lived in rows of cottages in the village; they attended the church on Sundays, and maybe went to the pub when they had the time and the money. Life was quite good but also hard for the cotton workers here for they worked long hours, but, the good folk of Watergrove village were a 'very big part' of the Industrial Revolution in the Rochdale area in the Victorian Age. But, by the early part of the 20th century the mills began to decline and by about 1930 had finally closed; the village of Watergrove then also fell into a slow depression, with some of its inhabitants moving away to the nearby towns, while hundreds of local men were employed in the construction of what would be the final nail in the coffin, the reservoir itself.

In 1938 the once vibrant community of Watergrove had gone forever, sunk beneath the waters of the reservoir, the foundations of its long-forgotten farms and other buildings only reappearing when the reservoir's waters are at a very low-level in long spells of dry weather. On the south-eastern bank of the reservoir there is 'The History Wall' or Wave Wall with many interesting carved stones and date-stones from the old village built into it. Today Watergrove Reservoir is a place to go to for walking - there are indeed many paths and trails in the area and, there are footpaths running around the edges of the reservoir. The Rochdale Way runs just to the west. There is car-parking at the south-side of the reservoir (SD 91169 17649). The History Wall is 100 metres east of the carpark.

Watergrove Reservoir is the largest in the Rochdale area and is situated some 240 metres (787 feet) above sea-level. From west to east it is 846 metres (2,775 feet) in width and from south to north 1,245 metres (4,084 feet) in length.

Sources & Related Websites:-

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2289430

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2290199

https://lancashirepast.com/2019/09/01/watergrove-reservoir-and-drowned-village-wardle/

http://www.abandonedcommunities.co.uk/rochdale3.html

https://www.visitrochdale.com/things-to-do/watergrove-reservoir-p12901

https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/watergrove-reservoir-rochdale

Copyright © RayS57, 2021