Ashworth Fold, Near Heywood, Greater Manchester

From Simpson Clough Ashworth Road curves round the valley and further along is Ashworth Fold at (SD 85021325), a hamlet made up of a couple of farms dating from the 17th-18th century, some cottages of a similar date, and a 16th-17th century hall that has an old inscribed stone and sundial in its garden. The hall had been abandoned for a time, but it has now been made into three cottages. Ashworth Fold is roughly situated halfway between Heywood and Norden, in Greater Manchester. Ashworth as a place-name probably means 'Ash-trees beside a farm'. The Naden Brook flows from Simpson Clough through Ashworth Fold and then on into Carr Woods. A bit further along the road there was Ridd Pit or Ashworth Pit, but this closed down in 1898 and hardly anything now remains, apart from the old capped shaft. Opposite where this coal pit used to be are the very pitcheresque Ridd Cottages on School Lane and the old School house just beyond, which is now St James' parish rooms.

H.D.Clayton writing in 1979 says:- "The fold is the only group of buildings in Ashworth and consists of the Hall, two farms, four cottages and the estate workshops. It is a Grade 2 group in the list of Buildings of Architectural or Historic Interest and is descri-bed as 'a group of buildings, mainly stone, 17th and 18th century. The siting of the group, and features such as a late Gothic doorway, a massive studded oak door, a stone segmented archway, an attractive parapet and finial, a stone stile, a range of low stone mullioned windows and areas of cobbles, combine to produce a very attractive composition. All in same style, barns with loop lights.' The mullioned windows have disappeared, but the well-built stone pigsties could have been mentioned. It is not known when the Fold was built and the only clue was a date stone 1601 R.H., which used to be on a stone pedestal placed on the ridge of the roof of Ashworth Hall farm building.

"There must have been a house on the site of the Hall from very early times and one massive stone gable end, possibly 15th century, still stands. Some time later this house was greatly enlarged to form a mansion, half-timbered lath and plaster, with a wing of three gables running back to the road, and forming a courtyard with the present two cottages and farm buildings. At the entrance was a square tower and wicket gate, and, on the other side of the house, a rose garden terrace, orchard and ornamental pond. At a later date the wing and tower were removed and the half-timbered walls replaced with hand made bricks. The original stone built house with mullion windows was left intact, although the mullions have since been removed".

Clayton goes on to say: "Rev. D. Rathbone recorded how the hall appeared about 1830: 'The Hall still retains its aspiring site, its gables still peep from the woods that environ it, but much has been destroyed, and the strong stone-built gateway with its massive doors and wicket gatestands alone; the eastern side of the quadrangle is gone, and nothing now remains but that southern portion which fronts the dilapidated terrace with its moat and hanging garden. A hundred yew trees, tradition says, once grew in stately avenues or in sombre groups around the deserted house of many generations, but only a few survive; they stand single and forlorn. The ruins of Ashworth Hall afford a pleasing specimen of that style of domestic architecture which has in its many peculiarities a distinction and beauty which bore the antiquarian and the lover of the picturesque gives it a more than ordinary character of interest. Nothing remains to guide us as to its age, but, judging from general appearance, we should not hesitate to affix a date at least coeval with the Wars of the Roses. Parts of the building may be more ancient, for there is a diversity of style and character.'

"Two thirds of the Hall was let to the Vicar at a nominal rent and the remainder was the farmhouse for the Hall Farm. A stream ran under this portion of the house and beneath the floor a small waterwheel provided power as required. In the garden are a large upright stone inscribed 'R.H. 1685' for Richard Holt and an undated sundial on a graceful stone pedestal. Although much altered from the age of the horse, when chain horses were kept at Guelder Clough to help carts up the hills, and the large open space in the Fold was covered with grass, with a stone trough in the middle, overhung with a large cherry treeand seat for gossip, the Fold is still picturesque and beloved by artists."

Clayton, H.D., A History of Ashworth near Rochdale, Ashworth Hall, Rochdale, 1979. The two images (above) are taken from this book.

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1084283

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1084285

https://www.heywoodhistory.com/2017/04/north-heritage.html

https://www.heywoodhistory.com/2016/11/mines.html

https://www.realrochdale.co.uk/editions/spring-2020/take-a-walk-in-ashworth-valley/

Copyright © RayS57, 2021 >

Around Deeply Vale Mills & Wind Hill Colliery, Cheesden, Near Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

The Industrial Revolution came to the Cheesden Valley, north of Rochdale, in the late 18th century and flourished in the 19th when fourteen mills were built here, although they were not wholly reliant on the Cheesden Brook itself - the course of which runs in a south-easterly direction from Four Acre mill above Cheesden Pasture mills in the north to Simpson Clough in the south - these mills being for the most part steam-driven. The place-name Cheesden means 'gravel valley', though parts of it are gorge-like. The area soon became an Industrial enclave or Cradle of Industry with thousands of local people from the nearby towns and villages working in the mills, which were at their heyday in the middle of the 19th century; the workers' youngest children being sent to school at Buckhurst school-cum-chapel, just a short distance to the north (after 1840) which was opposite Longlands Mill and its lodge. To the Industrial Archaeologist the mill ruins alongside the Cheesden Brook are like paradise! Deeply Hill, also known as Deeply Vale Upper mill, is located at (SD 8230 1488), while just to the south is Deeply Vale Lower Mill at (SD 8242 1455).

These cotton-spinning mills, paper and print mills, and bleach and dye works, in particular, those at Deeply Vale Upper (formerly known as Deeply Hill) and Deeply Vale Lower, were supplied with coal from Wind Hill Colliery (SD 83105 15220) on the Ashworth Road, 1 mile to the east. Deeply Hill mill became Hardmans in 1867. It closed after 1890. Coal was supplied to Deeply Vale mills by means of a tramway over the Ashworth Road and then crossing the moorland from the colliery at Wind Hill; it eventually reached the mills in wagons (carriers) over a wooden trellis viaduct and overhead rope and pulley system, which would have been very ingenious for its time.

The Cheesden Valley has, in more recent times, been referred to as 'The Forgotten Valley', but maybe not so much forgotten today! However, today not much is left of the mills and workers cottages at Deeply Vale apart from the bare overgrown ruins of these once mighty industrial buildings that paved the way for the Industrial Revolution in the Cheesden Valley. By the end of the 19th century and the early 20th it was the end for the mills in the valley; they were closed and abandoned forever with nature slowly consuming the buildings, which became ghostly ruins. Peace returned to the valley. However, some of the mill workers dwellings continued to be occupied right up until 1960. And equally there is not much left of the former Wind Hill Colliery on the Ashworth Road apart from the square-shaped perimeter earthworks and foundations of coal-working buildings and pit shaft etc.

You can walk south along a country lane (Croston Close Road) from Cheesden Bar (SD 82259 16563) on the A680 (Edenfield Road) for about 4-5 miles passing the now peaceful and solitary ruins of Bridge Mill, Cheesden Lumb mills, Croston Close mills, Longlands mill and its lodge, and the former Buckhurst school and chapel, which is now a private house. Continue walking south-south-east through Deeply Vale with the Cheesden Brook on your left as well as the mill lodges. Here one can see some enormous dressed stones among the overgrown foundations, all that remains of the two former mills; also the Almonds residence. Continue south along the main footpath passing the ruins of Washwheel Mill Lower (Almonds) to Birtle Dene Mill and Kershaw Bridge Mill (Allansons) - ending up at Simpson Clough Mill (SD 85217 12140) which is still in use today. Hooley Bridge is just a little further along on the Bury-Rochdale Old Road.

Sources and related Websites:-

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

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheesden_Valley

Photo of Deeply Hill and Deeply Vale by Bill Boaden: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1875969

Photo: Remains of Deeply Vale print works by Liz Dawson: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/380469

https://www.heywoodhistory.com/2016/02/the-lost-mills-of-cheesden-valley.html

Copyright © RayS57, 2021.

St James' Chapel, Chapel Lane Near Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

On a hilltop roughly halfway between Carr Woods (Coal Bank) and School Lane, near Norden, Rochdale, Greater Manchester, there is an early 16th century chapel dedicated to St James, and a graveyard. The little building stands at the top end of Chapel Lane next to a building that used to be the Egerton Arms Inn, but which is now a private house. There are good panoramic views from here. The chapel is rectangular shaped and quite small in size (roughly 9m x 6m 29ft x 19ft), and has obviously been rebuilt on a number of occassions; the present building is of 1789 though it was enlarged in 1837. St James' Chapel was built by Thomas Holt of nearby Ashworth Hall in 1514 for the use of his tenents; Sir Thomas, formerley of Gristlehurst, was knighted at Flodden in Scotland in 1544. He was the first priest to officiate at St James' Chapel, Ashworth; he died in 1563. Sir Thomas's nephew, Robert, succeeded him as priest. By the early part of the 19th century the patrons of St James' chapel were the Egerton family of Tatton. Wilbraham Egerton (1781-1856) very likely had the Egerton Arms Inn, formerley called Chapel House, built just opposite the chapel in the early 19th century; and he also had the school-house built on what is now School Lane, in 1838, for the Ashworth Estate. This building is now St James' parish hall and it is still a pretty little building. St James' Chapel is 3 miles northwest of Rochdale town centre.

H.D.Clayton in his very interesting book 'A History of Ashworth near Rochdale' (1979), tells us more about St. James' Church: He says:

"Ashworth Church is dedicated to St James, but when that dedication took place is not known. Its distance from Ashworth Hall, the ancestral home of a branch of the Holt family, would preclude the idea of its having originally been a private domestic chapel. According to the Ecclesiastical Year Book it was in existence in 1514. It was probably built during the reign of Henry VIII by the Holts for the use of their tenants. Amongst the Holt family records of 1522 occurs more than once the name of 'Sir Thomas Holt, capellanus', and it may be assumed that he officiated at Ashworth. The inventory of Church goods taken by order of Edward VI in 1552 gives details of 'one vestment, chalice and paten as belonging to a chapel called Assheworthe in the parish of Middleton.' It remained in the parish of Middleton until 1867, when it became the parish of Ashworth covering the town- ship of Ashworth. In 1559 Robert Holt left '6s. 8d. to sustentation of Ashworth Chapel to be paid when the church reeves require it.' This Robert Holt, a nephew of Sir Thomas, is thought to have been priest at the chapel from 1548-52. The Chapel is shown on Saxton's Map of 1577. Because it was a Chapel of ease to Middleton for over 300 years, it is still known locally as Ashworth Chapel.

"The church, with the exception of the Chancel, was rebuilt and enlarged in 1789. In 1837 the Chancel, the only relic of the old building, was done away with and the east end of the Church made to assume its present shape. By this alteration and others in the gallery about 110 additional sittings were added, and the whole of the gallery, with the exception of that portion reserved for the singers, was understood to be appropriated 'henceforth and forever' for the use of the Sunday Scholars. The whole building was thoroughly repaired and wooden Gothic Mullions introduced into the windows.

"The church as it now stands is a plain rectangular building with the rather austere interior relieved by a very fine East window, given in memory of the Rev. David Rathbone, Vicar 1832-71, and members of his family. On the wall at the east end are miniatures of the Rev. Joseph Selkirk, Vicar 1821-32, and his wife. Many gifts to the church, too numerous to mention, have been made by parishioners. The Egertons of Tatton, as patrons of the living for nearly 200 years, helped financially when necessary and gave the Font, made of stone from Mount Tabor near Halifax, in 1852; a bell which did duty from 1774 to 1895, and a silver Chalice and Paten engraved with the Egerton Arms and the date 1808. Originally the clerk's desk, reading desk and pulpit were placed one behind the other, each being raised slightly higher than the one in front of it. In some churches these three were contained in a three decker pulpit. In the 18th century this arrangement was altered and, in 1933, Miss E. Baron gave a new pulpit, the old one going to a church in Northumbria. There is an unusual memorial inside the church on the west wall. It reads:

"Requiescat in Pace. Near this place rest the mortal remains of Benjamin Cass of Birtle, aged 64, and Alice his wife aged 78 obt. October 1st 1825

Let the man who lives without God in his life, Give ear to the voice from the grave; Tho' he look for tomorrow, the murderer's knife May attack when ther's no one to save.

We looked for tomorrow as we went to repose Thro the night on our lone humble bed. But the murderer came and the sun never rose To us - for our spirits had fled.

Live then to God whilst thou livest below And to Him give each day as it flies, Prepare for the grave, that when dead thou may'st go To dwell with thy God in the skies."

H. D. Clayton adds that: "Dr. Temple, Bishop of Manchester, preached at Ashworth in 1928 shortly before becoming Archbishop of York."

Source / References:-

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

http://rochdalenorthwest.org/st-james/ https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ashworth,_Lancashire_Genealogy

Around The Ashworth Valley

Please join me for a ramble through the Ashworth Valley, near Norden, Rochdale. We will walk through the valley itself, which takes in Chapel Lane, School Lane, Carr Woods, Coal Bank mill and Black Pits chimney. On the way there we will take a look at photos showing the ruins of what was once a rich and thriving industrial area - in particular we will look at Coal Bank mill and bleach works in Carr Woods, where the lovely Naden Brook flows, in what is now a very picturesque place, hidden deep inside the woods and where old industrial ruins merge in with the flora and fauna - as if time has stood still even though the industrial revolution and Coal Bank mill have been almost obliterated from what is now a "very" tranquil place.
                                                                         

Our little ramble starts at St James' Church on Chapel Lane (SJ8506 1390). The chapel dates from the early 1500s, being built by the Holt family of Ashworth Hall for their tenents. Go past the pub (Egerton Arms, now a private house) and turn left onto Ashworth Road and then left again onto School Lane to look at Ridd Cottages and the old school/parish hall. The tiny school-house was built by Wilbraham Egerton in 1838 for the Ashworth Estate. It closed in 1900. Today it is St James' parish hall. Carry on along School Lane to Carr Woods. At the bridge over the Naden Brook notice a gated driveway on the right-hand side. Here was the entrance to the former Carr Woods tea rooms (now a private residence). Now go back up the lane a bit and take the footpath on the right- hand side (between the two gates) and walk along here through the woods beside the steep-sided, precarious bank along which the Naden brook flows. Follow this path, which is a former tramway, for half a mile until you reach a modern curved wooden bridge. Here Mill Croft brook joins the Naden brook at Wolstenholme Fold, near Norden.

Here at Coal Bank in Fester Clough (Ordnance Survey Grid Reference: SD 85592 14167) we have now reached the objective of our ramble the site of a cotton-spinning mill beside the Naden brook. Although the cotton spinning mill-cum-bleach-works has been almost obliterated - if you look closely you can still find the ruins of this one-time industrial enclave. In the 19th century the place began life as a cotton spinning mill, but in the late 19th century the mill became  a bleach works.  Then in the early part of the 20th century the works closed down for good after a fire consumed the building in 1916. Much of the mill building was then pulled down and great quantities of the stonework taken away to local places. Part of a wall still stands as do the foundations of buildings, including the lodge? The Coal Bank mill chimney has recently been pulled down and the site levelled somewhat in order to make way for new pathways and modern wooden bridges - and to make a nice place to stroll and enjoy one's self in this peaceful place.

Now follow the path across the little bridge and turn to the left in the direction of the Black Pits Chimney and the Norden bus terminus. The very tall chimney is, now very sadly, all that remains of the Black Pits cotton-spinning mill that had flourished during the 19th and the early 20th century. A new modern housing estate now fills this once thriving industrial valley along which flows the Naden brook. Notice also a spring of water flowing into a water trough at the side of the footpath; this would have been used by thirsty horses pulling carts along the cobbled trackway. We now reach the end of our ramble.

                                       

Copyright © RayS57, 2012 (Updated 2023).