Radcliffe Tower, Near Bury, Lancashire - its History and Legends.

A few miles to the south of Bury, Lancashire, is the historic building known as Radcliffe Tower, which is located just to the east of the River Irwell, at Radcliffe. It was built way back in the early 15th century when it started its life as a timber-framed manor house (locally it was referred to as the hall); the tower being a defensive pele with very strong and thick walls in case of raiders from the North. A second tower was never built. However, the house itself was demolished in the last century after being in use for agricultural purposes before its eventual demise, leaving the tower behind, which had been in a semi ruinous state for some time, though the Ministry of Buildings and Works has been taking care of it for a long time now. The partly ruined Tower is now a local landmark, and, no doubt local people will know the 'Legend' and subsequent poem regarding 'Fair Ellen of Radcliffe' who died in the most horrid of circumstances at the old manor house with the wicked stepmother the culprit. There is also the legend of the ghostly 'Black Dog of Radcliffe Tower', which is now long forgotten, but was linked with the tragic Fair Ellen.

Pennine Magazine (1985) tells us that: "James de Radcliffe got a licence to build a timber hall with two stone towers in 1403. There's no evidence that the second tower was ever built and the hall disappeared last century, leaving the tower - 50ft by 28ft, with five 5ft thick wall - rising 20ft or so from the ground, which had a natural defence in the Irwell, in a loop of which it lies. The historian Whitaker noted that the hall had several interesting features when he visited it in 1781. The hall had gone by 1841, when Samuel Bamford noted the fine barrel-vaulted room at the base of the tower and wrote "unless it be protected from further wanton outrage it must soon share the fate of the hall". It wasn't and it has. But what remains is still impressive. Catholic families were imprisoned here by the Earl of Derby in 1592, for refusing to attend Church of England services.

"Like all good towers, Radcliffe has a legend attached - in this case a particularly good one. Like many other folk tales it involves a loving father, a beautiful daughter and a wicked stepmother - who'd be a stepmother with stories like Snow White, Hansel and Gretel etc? In true fairy-tale style, the daughter, Fair Ellen of Radcliffe, just had to go and the wicked stepmother persuaded the master cook to do her bidding in the dastardly deed. One day, when the tower was the centre of a hunting party and the ladies were out riding, Fair Ellen was sent back to the tower by her stepmother to tell the cook to get the meal ready and "kill the fair white doe." He would know what she meant, the stepmother explained. The cook seized a knife and told the girl that she was the "fair white doe". But the little scullion boy, seeing his intention, begged to be allowed to take her place. The cook refused and told the lad that if he spoke a word the same fate would befall him.

"The Lord of Radcliffe missed his daughter at the meal and was told by the stepmother that she had run away to become a nun. The cook served an enormous pie, but as the lord was about to cut it open, the scullion boy came in and told him what had happened, and that his daughter was inside. The Lord, having lost his only child, made the boy his heir for bravely offering to take Fair Ellen's place."

Sources and References:-

Colour Photo (top) Radcliffe Tower by David Dixon (Geograph). https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1687127

Pennine magazine, Vol. 4 No. 5 June/July 1983. Pennine Heritage (Pennine Development Ltd.,)The Birchcliffe Centre, Hebden Bridge, West Yorks.

Copyright © RayS57, 2024.

Clegg Hall, Smithy Bridge, Littleborough, Near Rochdale, its History and the Clegg Hall Boggart.

Clegg Hall at Smithy Bridge in Littleborough, near Rochdale, has recently been re-stored, but it was in a state of disrepair from the 1920s onwards. There was possibly a medieval building on the very same site in the mid 12th century which might have been referred to as Clegg Hall, but the four-storey Grade II listed building that we see today called Clegg Hall dates from the late 16th to early 17th century. It was even in use as a public house in the 19th century! So far as we know the hall does not take its name from the Clegg family who resided at the earlier hall back in medieval times but from local place-names Great Clegg and Little Clegg. There is also the famous legend of the Clegg Hall boggart which has survived for many centuries - with one room in particular being the site of the haunting. The newly renovated hall is located 2 miles southwest of Littleborough and half a mile south of Smithy Bridge on Clegg Hall Road at OS grid reference: SD 92241448.

Kathleen Eyre writing in 1979 tells us about the Clegg Hall Boggart: She says "Built about 1600 by Theophilus Ashton, Clegg Hall stands derelict by the Rochdale Canal. From 1818 to 1869 it was a public house called the "Black Sloven" - the name of a favourite hunting mare of legendary speed which belonged to a former owner, Mr. Charles Turner. He died in January, 1733, and the mare walked in the cortege carrying his hunting regalia. Clegg Hall had a peculiar reputation and was believed to be haunted. Traditionally, a wicked uncle, guardian of the orphaned heirs, threw the children into the moat and claimed the estate for himself. The Boggart Chamber became a place to be avoided. During the Commonwealth era, there were hints of counterfeiting activities in the vaults and cellars of Clegg Hall."

Ken Howarth wrote in 1993 that: "Clegg Hall lies quite close to Hollingworth Lake near Rochdale. It has been derelict for many years, but still remains an impressive ruin even to this day. Some time about the 13th or 14th century, a wicked uncle destroyed the lawful heirs of Clegg Hall and estates - two orphan children that were left in his care - by throwing them over a balcony into a moat. Clearly the wicked uncle, much in Babes in the Wood vein, wanted their inheritance, what happened to him and whether he was successful in his quest is not known. However, ghostly spirits or boggarts began to disturb the peace, even after the house had been substantially rebuilt. Various attempts were made to lay the ghosts. A pious monk who claimed to be able to lay the ghosts told the local people that the ghosts would only be quietened by the sacrifice of a body and a soul. The pious monk told them to bring the bodyof a cockand the soul of shoe. Thus ended the laying of the Clegg Hall boggarts. During a visit in 1972, I was told that footsteps had been heard in the Old Hall. Several local people had seen an apparition of an old man with a pipe in his mouth walking in an old works nearby. Perhaps the boggart still stalks the ruins? Who knows?"

Sources and References used:

Photo (Top) Clegg Hall, near Littleborough, Lancashire by Dr Neil Clifton (Creative Commons). https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/193719. Kathleen Eyre, Lancashire Legends, Dalesman, 1979. Howarth, Kenneth, Ghosts, Traditions & Legends Of OLD LANCASHIRE, Sigma, 1993.

Copyright © RayS57, 2024.

The History and Geography of Red Lumb and Wolstenholme, near Norden, Rochdale.

The picturesque hamlet of Red Lumb lies just off the A680 Edenfield Road near Norden, Rochdale, in the shadow of, and on the lower slopes of the conical shaped, Knowl Hill. The etymology of the place-name Red Lumb is uncertain though it possibly means 'a small valley with red soil or clay', but that is open to interpretation. The lane through the hamlet winds its way along passing by what used to be a textile mill that made cauduroy clothing, but now it's called 'the Meadows' and is a complex of modern luxory flats, very sadly. The mill, situated beside Boyd's Brook, was built in the 1840s and was for most of its life a cotton spinning manufacturing establishment. It eventually closed down and was later converted into private apartments - in about 2005. The lanes further along branch off and become trackways called Red Lumb Street - while in the opposite direction - the other farm trackway is called Over Town Lane.

There were several coal mines scattered around the hamlet - Red Lumb Colliery being the main pit - the area rich in the commodity of coal - but the mine at Red Lumb closed down in the 1950s following a tragic accident there. Other coal mines were located at Knowl, Bamford Closes, and at Wolstenholme Fold, a bit further along Edenfield Road in the direction of Norden, and at Cheesden Bar (Cheesden Bridge) in the opposite direction there was another coal mine. There was also a coal mine at Wind Hill opposite the Ashworth Moor Reservoir. However, all these coal mines have long since closed dowm and in most cases there is now nothing much to see at ground level.

There are several farms scattered around Red Lumb hamlet and the moors nearby - the area being rich in agriculture. Farms include Lower, Middle and Higher Red Lumb; Knowl Farm and Top o 'th' Royds Farm and Bamford Closes Farm. Above the hamlet of Wolstenholme another hamlet, Rain Shore and the former bleach and Dye works and cotton spinning mills (upper and lower), which were demolished to make way for a modern housing estate with Greenbooth Reservoir close by, while beyond that the smaller Naden Reservoirs. The etymology of the 12th century Old English place-name Wolstenholme is possibly derived from Wulfstan's Holme which is maybe an island on raised dry land or “Holme” refers to a piece of land located by a river or stream, often submerged during floods. Wolstenholme Hall, a Gothic-style ediface, was built in 1850 by a Mr George Goodwin of North Staffordshire and was built with bricks from that county. It became a military hospital in World War I, but the hall is now a restaurant called Nutters.

Baitings Mill on Rainshore Road (Over Town Lane), Wolstenholme, was marked on the Ordnance Survey map as Baitings Mill (cotton) in 1848 and in 1890 as Baitings Mill (cotton). In 1908 it was marked on the OS map as Baitings Mill (fustian) and in 1923 as Baitings Mill (fustian). Then in 1961 it appeared on the OS map as Mill. But in 1986 the mill was known as Cudsworth's Mill and made cotton fustian cloth for corduroy material. The building was demolished after 2000, and by 2003 there was a new housing development on that site, which is now known as Baitings Close.

The former Red Lumb Mill, now called The Meadows, is located at: SD 84256 15593 and Wolstenholme Hall is at: SD 8482 1508. The former Baitings Mill, now known as Baitings Close, was located at: SD 8524 1479. Rain Shore bleach and Dye works and cotton mills, now a modern housing estate, were at SD 8522 1540.

https://www.heywoodhistory.com/2018/01/mills-p-r.html

https://www.heywoodhistory.com/2018/01/mills-a-z.html

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Approach_Road_to_Red_Lumb_-_geograph.org.uk_-_214068.jpg

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/59681

Copyright © RayS57, 2024.

Bamford Woollen Mills, Bamford, Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

Sadly Bamford Woollen mills are no longer in existence as they made way for modern day housing in the early 1980s. Murrayfield, Burnthorpe Close, Ryburn Square and Porritt Close are on that site today at OS Grid Reference: SD 86191272. The large red-brick mill complex along with its own reservoir (mill pond) at the rear stood near the junction of Norden Road and War Office Road in the pretty village of Bamford for many, many years and gave employment to the good folk of Rochdale and the surrounding villages for well over a hundred years or more. The mill seems to have been built about 1880 but there was perhaps an earlier industrial building on that site? At that time (1880) it was owned and run by Samuel Porritt and Sons, who also ran Meadowcroft fulling mill beside the River Roch on Bury Road near Heywood from 1880. Samuel Porritt & Sons were also associated with a mill at Gnat Bank between Crimble and Heywood.

In 1891 Samuel Porritt and Sons ran the mill as a fullers and finishers. There were 160 looms, blanketings, tapes, roller cloths etc at that time, so obviously a thriving textile mill with the clatter of looms day-in-day-out and during the nighttime too for well over a hundred years. There is a Porritt Close named after the mill-owners down Norden Road, Bamford, even today! In the 1960s and 1970s it was still in operation, but by 1980 the mill was in decline and it finally closed down in 1982; after that the mill was demolished, making way for a modern housing estate - situated to the west of Dixon Fold.

The Porritt family’s legacy as mill owners contributed significantly to the economic and social fabric of these towns (Rochdale and Heywood) during the 19th century. Their mills were hubs of industry, weaving together the threads of progress and prosperity at the time when the Industrial Revolution was at its peak. The family continued to run Bamford mill up to more recent times until its closure and have always been well remembered and honoured in the locality.

Grace's Guide gives the following information: "Samuel Porritt and Sons of Bamford, Rochdale 1891 Directory: Listed as Woollen manufacturers. 1914 Merged with Porritt Brothers and Austin, Joseph Porritt and Sons, and J. H. Spencer and Sons, to form Porritt and Spencer."

Sources & References:-

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Samuel_Porritt_and_Sons

https://www.heywoodhistory.com/2018/01/mills-a-z.html https://www.heywoodhistory.com/2018/01/mills-i-p.html

https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/24747

Copyright © RayS57, 2024.

Ashworth Mill, Carr Woods, Near Nordon, Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

Located near to School Lane in Carr Woods, near Norden, Rochdale (National Grid Reference SD 85441349) are the ruins of Ashworth fulling mill. A three-storey section of the ruined mill wall has survived the ravages of two hundred years or so and stands, now rather forlornly, beside the Naden Brook and its mill lodges and waterfalls between The Rake and School Lane (deep in the ravine beneath where the lane goes over the Naden Brook). Ashworth Mill was probably built in the early 1800s, if not some years before that, and by 1816 it had been rebuilt. One Edmund Ashworth was employed at the mill as a fuller in 1808. During the 1840s and up until the 1890s it was still a fulling mill, but by the early 1900s it had closed down and thereafter became derelict. Along with the extensive ruins and foundations of the old mill there are some parts of the old machinary, including waterwheel and winding gear-wheel for the weir, etc. Access to the mill was between Waterloo Farm and The Rake - just before the bridge!

H.D.Clayton writing in 1979 tells us more: "A little further upstream, on the opposite bank, are the extensive ruins of Ashworth Fulling Mill still in part standing three storeys high. In 1816 it is mentioned as being newly erected. On the ground lies a wooden driving shaft with pinions on each end. It appearsto be the main driving shaft from the waterwheel and to consist of a whole tree trunk. The stream was fed into two lodges and a very high stone weir constructed so that an imposing waterfall is the result."

A.V.Sandiford & T.E.Ashworth writing in 1981/1992 tell us about the process of fulling cloth:"Fulling is a process by which woollen cloth is subjected to heat, moisture and pressure such that the scaliness of the fibres became locked together and 'felting' is induced. In earliest times, as the curious murals of Pompeii confirm, fulling was achieved by the trampling of the cloth underfoot, hence the name Walker. But his strenous task was eventually replaced by the fulling stocks where the cloth was placed in a semicircular trough containing a solution of fullers earth, a colloidal substance which aided the fulling or felting action. Here it was pounded by heavy beech head hammers operated from a cam on a rotating shaft, which drove the fabric forward and round in the trough until the treatment was complete. Cloths varied in the amount of shrinkage according to the construction of the yarn and weave and even depending on the breed of sheep from which the wool came. The fulling stocks were probably one of the first steps in the mechanisation of textile manufactureand the term 'fulling miller' suggests that in the early days perhapsthe corn miller with sufficient capital to buy a set of stocks and the possession of a good watermill could turn to fulling as an alternative or even supplementary occupation. The ambitious fuller would often choose to extend his service to carding, bleaching and dyeing, processes not suited to the domestic system, and this was clearly the case at Cheesden Lumb Mill."

Not a great deal is known about the history of Ashworth fulling mill. It employed people from the valley and probably a bit further afield. The mill was built by the Ashworth family who were the landowners thereabouts; their Estate was said to be around 1,000 acres and was mainly pasture land. The Ashworth family ran the Ashworth fulling mill from the early 1800s and they also built and ran another mill at Lower Clough. Jonathan Ashworth of Ashworth fulling mill being described as 'a guardian of the poor' in 1867. The Ashworth family lived at Upper Clough Farm - said to date back to 1636. The Ashworth's are buried in the graveyard at St James' Chapel on Chapel Lane overlooking Carr Woods.

Sources & References:-

Photo of Ashworth Mill, Carr Woods, by David Dixon (Creative Commons) https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1679361

Clayton, H. D., A History of Ashworth near Rochdale, 1979.

Sandiford A. V., & Ashworth T. E., The Forgotten Valley, Bury and District Local History Society, 1981 & 2000.

Copyright © RayS57, 2023

Toad Lane, Rochdale, and The Story of the Co-operative Pioneers Movement.

On December 21st, 1844, the first Co-operative Pioneers trading store opened its door at No. 31 Toad Lane, Rochdale, when a group of sixty local men decided to help the working class people of Rochdale to be able to buy items of food at discounted prices. They actually began their venture, though, thirteen years earlier in 1830 at No.15, just down the road from their main Co-operative Pioneers store, which is now the Rochdale Pioneers Museum. From then on the Co-operative Pioneers Movement slowly began to gather pace and other stores were to eventually open in nearby towns, including Oldham, but Oldham itself had already had its very own co-operative movement in 1795 when some local weavers established a supply company there, and, there had been other attempts to set up co-operative movements eleswhere, especially in the London area in the late 18th-century when some corn mills and a Co-op store were established, however these were not particularly successsful.

Memories of Rochdale (1996) gives the following historical information called 'Cradle of the Co-operative Movement' and says: "Rochdale is famous for being the 'home' of the worldwide Co-operative Movement, which started life at No 31 Toad Lane in the humble premises first opened as a shop by the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society in December 1844.

"The little store established by the Pioneers began by selling only a basic stock of commodities such as butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal and candles, a reflection of the desperate conditions for most working people at the time. Trade developed rapidly however, and within a few years the Pioneers Society was able to open branch shops in other parts of the town - the first was in Oldham Road - and to move into an imposing four storey 'central store' higher up Toad Lane. Unfortunately this building was demolished to make way for a new road system. But an even more imposing symbol of the Cooperative Movement's success during the intervening years has arrived in Rochdale with the opening in 1996 of a spectacular new headquarters at Sandbrook Park for the largest independent consumer-owned society, CRS Ltd. This has brought hundreds of new jobs to the town and provided a significant boost to the local economy.

"The Co-operative Movement that was born in Rochdale has spread throughout the United Kingdom and today it is one of the country's biggest retail organisations, providing eight million members with a vast range of shopping facilities and services, extending from banking and insurance to travel and funerals. The idea has flourished too as an international network of 750 million members in more than 100 countries, with the 'Rochdale Principles' - the decisions and practices of the first Pioneers - still referred to as a guide to setting up and running co-operative enterprises.

"The original Toad Lane premises meanwhile have been lovingly restored as part of a conservation area. Now the Rochdale Pioneers Museum is a source of interest and inspiration for co-operators everywhere attracting thousands of visitors from the UK and abroad each year."

Memories of Rochdale (1996) adds to the above and says of the Museum in Toad Lane:"Visitors to the Rochdale Pioneers Museum are struck by the basic simplicity of the original Co-operative store, where the goods initially sold were few. Close inspection of the poster on the wall reveals the Pioneer Principles, which included: open membership, democratic control and political and religious neutrality."

Sources & References:

Memories Of Rochdale with Forward by Phil Holland (Publisher), True North Publishing, Halifax, December 1996.

Cole, John, Rochdale Revisited - A Town And Its People, George Kelsall, Littleborough, Lancashire, 1988.

https://www.visitrochdale.com/things-to-do/rochdale-pioneers-museum-p85681

Copyright © RayS57, 2023

Church of St. Mary-in-the-Baum, St Mary's Gate, Rochdale, and the Legend of the Baum Rabbit.

On St Mary's Gate (Town Head), Rochdale, Greater Manchester, stands the brick-built parish Church of St Mary-in-the-Baum, which dates from 1909-1911. The building actually stands on its own island between several busy roads, and quiter side streets: St Mary's Gate (the A58), Hunter's Lane, Toad Lane and Cheetham Street at OS Grid Reference: SD 89601360. It is famous for the often told (local) legend of the Baum Rabbit, the ghost of which was said to haunt the graveyard. The rabbit was said to be white in colour and large and plump in body. Baum or balm refers to the wild, herbal flowers growing where the church was built; these flowers were also known as Lemon Balm (Melissa Officinalis) and sometimes called White Mint. The herb has a calming effect on the body and is good for anxiety and sleep disorders. The present-day church of St. Mary stands on the site of an earlier church from 1742 - this earlier building being a Chapel of Ease; the font inside St Mary's came from that 18th century building.

Dennis Ball, in his most excellent 1987 book 'Lancashire Pastimes', we learn more about The Baum Rabbit. He tells us: An unusual legend is that the old graveyard of St. Mary's, Rochdale, is said to be haunted by a spectral rabbit. Many people speak about the unusual phantom but no one has actually seen it. When the graveyard was opened it was known as The Baum, from and old Lancashire term for a certain medicinal herb that grew there, so the ghost has always been known as The Baum Rabbit. Over one hundred years ago William Robertson in his book 'A Guide to Rochdale' describes the Baum Rabbit as plump and well nourished, always beautifully clean, and even said to be whiter than snow. It was apparently "' much pleased with the love music of the music of the cat tribe, to which it listened with mute attention,"' and even after being fired at with a shotgun it used to re-appear "'with the greatest equanimity.""

Kathleen Eyre writing in 1989 asks the question: "But what happened to the Baum Rabbit?....the ghostly white bunny mentioned in Robertson's Guide to Rochdale in the 1870s. Its cavorting in St. Mary's Churchyard startled many an inebriated reveller wending home and, as it had proved immune to gun shot and pellets, it was suspected to be of a supernatural order. It did no harm, though it scared quite a few, including a local poet who commemorated his experiences..."

Kathleen Eyre also tells us about another ghost seen in St Mary's Churchyard: "The Vicar of St. Mary's, the Rev. R. A. Shone, came up with some fascinating information, not only about the spectre in the churchyard, but about the church itself. When a sight was being sought, some 250 years ago, for a new Rochdale church, a field was chosen to the north of the River Roch between Toad Lane and the Lordburn, a stream which now runs into a sewer.........

When the old church of St Mary was demolished and the present ediface was erected in 1909 there was some encroachment on the south side of the graveyard. Bodies, many of young children - the infant mortality rate was high - were lifted and re-interred in three large trenches in the Baum and the coffins were excellently preserved through the effects of the old Lordburn stream. Whether the ghost of the old graveyard dates back to this 1909 upheaval or not, no-one can say, but the male apparition drifts across the Baum, proceeds through the wall of the market into the fish section, passing through stalls to the canteen in a corner of the open market. There it vanishes, having upset the calcalations of a number of Police Offficers who have mistaken it on a number of occasions for a down-to-earth intruder.

"Policemen, in the main, are far to practical to "'see"' things which aren't there and one can only assume the the Baum spectre, which is perfectly harmless, is an unhappy spirit, earthbound through some deep tragedy long forgotten. Those who know about its nocturnal perambulations avoid the Baum and the market after dark."

Sources & References:-

Dennis Ball, Lancashire Pastimes, Burnedge Press Limited, Royton, 1987.

Kathleen Eyre, A Daleman Book - Lancashire Ghosts, The Dalesman Publishing Company Ltd., Clapham, 1989.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St_Mary-in-the-Baum,_Rochdale

https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/church/st-mary-baum-rochdale

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/an-angelic-tale-of-the-ghostly-rabbit-1099922

Copyright © RayS57, 2023