Wardle [leisure trust, arts heritage, sports centres, fitness health, rochdale, link4life, entertainment, Rochdale Boroughwide Cultural Trust, museum, middleton arena, gallery, touchstones, local studies, central, bowlee, springhill, marland, heywood, littleborough,]
Waterwheel at Roads Mill, Wardle (1930's)
Wardle Fold (c.1910)
Wardle Peace Parade (1919)
Halftimers at Rydings Mill, Wardle (1905)
Shooting party at the Orchard Inn, Watergrove. c. 1910
Men working on allottments at Wardle in World War 1.
John William Meeks, still working as a blacksmith at Wardle in his nineties. c 1950.
Thimble Hall Farm, Wardle. c 1910
Group of coal miners at Wardle. c 1890
Ramsden Road, Wardle, showing school. c 1900
Ramsden Road, showing weaver's cottages & St James's Church (c.1900)
Wardle agricultural fair. c 1907
Inspecting the construction of the dam for Watergrove Reservoir (c.1935)
Joe 'Clogger' - a Wardle clog maker (c.1930)
Bank Hey Farm at Watergrove (c.1900)
Lithograph of Mapleton's Nut Foods Factory at Wardle in the early 1900's.
WARDLE
Clegg’s Commercial Directory for Rochdale (1916) gives us the following introduction to Wardle:
“Wardle, about three miles from Rochdale, is in an isolated position on the hills. The district includes part of Smallbridge and Dearnley, and as a whole has a population of about 4,700, with an acreage of 3,192. It has flannel and cotton concerns. The Dearnley Workhouse and the Cottage Homes are in the Wardle District Council’s area. The scenery around Wardle village is rough and rugged, and the air extremely bracing. Wardle was the birthplace of James Leach the Wesleyan composer, whose hymns have had a wide reputation in Nonconformist circles far outside the boundaries of Lancashire. The centenary of his birth was celebrated some years ago. His musical talents have been the subject of warm praise by many Lancashire writers, among them the late Mr. John Trafford Clegg (“Th’Owd Weaver”) himself a musician of no mean note.”
At around 700 feet above sea level, Wardle sits in the foothills of the Pennines. Once there was another hamlet nearby – Watergrove, but it now lies beneath the waves of the Watergrove Reservoir, built in the 1930’s and opened in April 1938.
Wardle received a mention in the ancient ‘Coucher Book of Whalley,’ which contained deeds relating to the Wardle or Wordhull family, who adopted the name of their hamlet in the 12th century. Up until the 18th century Wardle was essentially a farming community, and as such it became, like many other similar Pennine villages, a centre for the domestic textile industry. In the 19th century textile mills and terraced housing for the workers sprang up in the village – the ‘flannel and cotton concerns’ cited in the 1916 Trade Directory (above).
Wardle became the smallest Urban District in the area, and part of Lancashire County Council in 1894. Its Coat of Arms or emblem was a ram’s head. Previously the hamlets of Wuerdle & Wardle had been part of the Township of Hundersfield in the Parish of Rochdale. Today it is part of the Pennine Township of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council.
By the late 19th century Wardle had acquired its own church & chapel, its own elementary school, a Conservative Club and Liberal Club (the Gladstone Club) and a Horticultural Society. In earlier days Wardle had its own Poor House or Workhouse at Calf Hey. By 1916 it had its own Council Offices and a Library – the Librarian in 1916 being Arthur Schofield. Wardle shared a 'Health Committee' with Littleborough & Milnrow, and was therefore entitiled to send 'fever cases' to the hospital at Bleaked Hill, near Hollingworth Lake.
Forty seven farmers are listed in 1916, which illustrates that the area retained a distinctly rural air, despite the development of industry which had led to there being three woollen manufacturers, one cotton manufacturer and three ‘Bleachers, Raisers, Fullers & Finishers’ listed in the same Directory. Sadly, thirty two of the farms had to be vacated when Watergrove reservoir was built in the 1930’s. The hills that encircle Wardle help to ensure its continued rural aspect. They are: Brown Wardle at 1,314ft (400.51m); Middle Hill at 1,300 ft (396.24m); Hades – pronounced like Shades – 1,419 ft (432.511m); Rough Hill at 1,400 ft (426.72m) and Crook Hill at 1,335 ft (406.908m).
Like every other town & village in the country, Wardle celebrated national occasions such as coronations, joined in strikes, like the National Coal Strike and sent men to war. They took part in the rushbearing festivals and Pace Egg - which was revived there in recent years, and in 1919 they held a Peace Parade, as did Rochdale and Middleton. Much of the early social llife of the village centred on the various churches, just as in other areas, with parades, concerts, trips and teas. Wardle also has its tales and characters - one of whom, a cottager named Shepherd from Wall Stones, near Brown Wardle, was reputedly a 'coiner.'
In 1930 Wardle was provided with the County’s first non-selective senior school in the area: Wardle Central School. Built at a cost of around £9,000, the school had 5 classrooms for a total of 250 senior pupils. It also had a science room, a special subject’s room for domestic science and handicrafts and an assembly hall. There were playing fields at the rear for football & hockey and two asphalt tennis courts were planned; the school also boasted showers for its pupils to use after their exertions on the pitches.
EARLY SETTLERS
As with the surrounding areas, Wardle has been inhabited since Mesolithic times. In her book ‘Rochdale Retrospect,’ Rebe P. Taylor tells us that ‘concentrations’ of ‘pygmy flints’ (so called because of their size) have been found on Middle Hill, north of Brown Wardle. These flints were tiny scrapers and barbs, used by the people of the Stone Age in their hunting of wild horses, red & roe deer, pigs and hares etc.
Rebe Taylor goes on to tell us about the discovery of a barrow and human remains on Hades Hill. Her description follows:
HADES HILL BARROW AND HUMAN BONES.
In I 898, during a bitterly cold and wet winter, Messrs. J. T. Hill, W. A. Parker and W. H. Sutcliffe opened up a “round” barrow which measured 52 by 45 feet. They found inside it, protected by a covering and circle of sandstones, the remains of a two-tier urn and the broken, partly burnt bones of a small person, probably a woman, together with burnt flint implements and flakes, part of a jasper flint being marked with the signs of the sun and moon. There was no metal, but there were also animal hones, including the burnt tooth of an ox, and quartz pebbles.
A striking fact was the lack of human teeth, which may have been kept to form a memorial necklet or amulet. The urn bore the marks of its maker’s hand, being of partly baked clay, and ornamented with a kind of chevron design, perhaps the imprint of a grass rope. This might he considered an early attempt at twisting fibres: specimens of Bronze Age woollen cloth have been found on the Pennine moors near Halifax.
The shape of the barrow, the two—tier urn and the ox tooth all suggest that this was a Bronze Age or Early Celtic burial place.
PLACE NAMES
Place names can also give us some clues to the past. H. C March, in his book ‘East Lancashire Nomenclature & Rochdale Names’ gives a few examples related to the Wardle area. He believed that Higher & Lower Pemmins could be traced to Celtic origins. ‘Pen’ was the celtic for ‘head,’ and ‘maen’ was the word for ‘stone’ – hence ‘Stony Head’ or ‘Pemmins.’ Similarly ‘bryn’ meant hill ridge, and ‘bron’ meant a round hill, so he inferred that ‘Brown Wardle’ could mean Wardle hill or ridge.
Knowl Syke brook and Howarth Knowl might originate in the Anglo-Saxon for hill top, which was ‘cnoll.’ The Anglo-Saxon for hedge was ‘hagga,’ and March believed that this word gave us hey, haw and haigh within place names. Thus Calf Hey, Walkden Hey and Bank Hey may all have been farms or fields surrounded by hedges or walls in the past.
CHURCH & CHAPEL
ST. JAMES THE APOSTLE
The church of St James the Apostle was consecrated on January 21st 1858 by the Bishop of Manchester. The Vicar of Smallbridge, Rev. R. K. Cook had long felt that there should be a church in Wardle – he had written to the Bishop of Chester expressing his belief that Wardle needed a church in June 1843. (At that time there was no Diocese of Manchester).
A National School (run by the Church of England) had been opened at Wardle in 1842, and a room in the school was used to celebrate divine services there, in addition to the weekday & Sunday Schools. In December 1844 an assistant Curate was assigned to the area.
The foundation stone was laid on Friday 16th May 1856 by the Vicar (Rev Cook) with the accompanying service held by the Vicar of Rochdale, Dr. Molesworth. The building costs were £2,759. 2s 6d; the site, valued at £300 was the gift of James Whittaker, who also contributed a further £400 to the building costs – along with another £100 towards the spire. The balance of payment for the spire was the gift of the Freemasons.
WARDLE METHODIST CHAPEL
As in other areas, early Methodist services were held in cottages in the village. For a long time meetings were held in a room above the ‘Spring Gardens Inn,’ at Wardle Fold, and it became known as the Wardle Fold Society. Legend has it that John Wesley preached to the Wardle Methodists in 1760.
Earlier, in 1744, a farmer called Leech asked William Darney (also known as ‘Scotch Willie’) of Rossendale to come and preach at Dobbin Farm on Dobbin Hill. John Leech, the son of the farmer who brought Darney to Wardle to preach, became a local preacher himself. Born in 1736, he was finally ordained as a Methodist Minister in 1773, and his first appointment as a minister was in Sheffield, from there he moved to Redruth in Cornwall. In 1803, after preaching in many parts of the country, his failing health brought him back to Rochdale where he preached occasionally and visited the sick. His greatest wish, however, was for a chapel in Wardle, and in 1809 this was granted, and he was able to perform the opening ceremony and preach the first sermon. He was to die in the following year, on 12th January 1810, at the age of 74.
Revd. Leech donated the whole of his life’s savings to the building of the chapel – a sum of £90. The total cost of the chapel was £707. 2s. 10d.
At the chapel the young were taught to read and write at the Sunday School. The Sunday School had alphabet books, spelling books, writing paper and bibles for this purpose.
By 1872 the Trustees decided that the congregation needed a new chapel, as the membership had grown considerably. A tender for £3,200 was accepted for the new chapel on 23rd January 1873, and the foundation stone was laid on 11th April that year. Six hundred people walked in a procession to the service. The Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Class set to and raised money to pay for the entrance porch. The Chapel was opened on Wednesday 8th April 1874 by Revd. T. Perks, who was the President of the Wesley Conference. It was the 39th chapel he had opened in that year!
There were 116 male scholars attending the Sunday school, with 21 male teachers, whilst 17 female teachers attended to the education of 146 female scholars.
On the 5th & 6th of April 1924 the whole of Wardle village was decorated for the 50th anniversary of the ‘new’ chapel, and Littleborough Brass Band led a procession through the streets. A special service was held on the Sunday when the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ was sung.
In July 1959 a ‘triple jubilee’ service was held at the chapel – celebrating 150 years of the old chapel, with a pageant that told the story of the church – from its origins at Dobbin Farm to the chapel at Wardle Square.
By 1968 the chapel had become too large for modern usage and the Trustees decided that the building should be renovated to fit the needs of the present day congregations. As a result the upper part of the chapel was floored for use as a schoolroom and the lower part became the church. As a result, the old chapel, which had been used as the Sunday School & Youth Club, fell into disuse, until in 1976 Wardle Scout Group leased the building from the trustees.
WATERGROVE UNITED WESLEYAN CHAPEL
Watergrove Chapel was opened in October 1852. It was built by James Cryer of Littleborough at a cost of £900.It had a small gallery at the time although another was added later, along with two vestries. In 1857 the Watergrove Wesleyan Association changed its name to the ‘Watergrove United Methodist Free Church, following an amalgamation between the Wesleyan Reformers and the protestant Methodists.
In October 1902 the Watergrove Methodists held a Golden Jubilee for their Chapel. They marked the occasion with a procession from the Chapel down to Lawflat and back on the Saturday afternoon. Littleborough brass Band accompanied the procession and there was tea in the chapel afterwards (6d for adults and 4d for children).
The Baptism Register has entries from 1854 – 1933. In 1933 the Watergrove United Methodists were forced to leave their chapel to the rising waters of the new reservoir and as a result joined the Wardle Methodist congregation. Their baptism register held 616 records, starting with Betty, the daughter of Thomas & Mary Cryer of Roads, on 1st May 1854, and ending with Brenda, daughter of Mr & Mrs James Kershaw on 11th June 1933.
Watergrove Chapel closed after a final service on Sunday 23rd July 1933. There was a very large congregation – reportedly as many people outside as inside the chapel. It was surely a very sad occasion.
PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHAPEL
On 3rd April 1869 the Rochdale Observer reported on the laying of the corner stone of a new Primitive Methodist Chapel at Newhouse at the top of Birch Road – an area commonly known as Sleighty. The corner stone was laid by Henry Bamford of Wardle. Prior to the building of the chapel, the congregation had met in a small warehouse at Crossfield Mill, which belonged to Mr Bamford. They had also used the room as a schoolroom.
SCHOOLS
Wardle had two ‘elementary’ schools in the 19th century. St James’ School, or the ‘National School,’ was founded in 1842 and served the area for more than 130 years. It cost £750 to build – including £100 for the site. In 1847 the sum of £2. 11s 6d was spent on fuel and candles to provide heat and light for the pupils. The first schoolmaster arrived at the school aged 25, having worked as a tailor for five years before undertaking six months training at the Chichester Diocesan Institute. He received a salary of £10 per year, with an additional £25 per year.
By the 1860’s there was also a Wesleyan School in Wardle. The Wesleyans had built a school adjoining their chapel, and by 1870 they had 150 pupils, thirty more than their ‘rival’ C of E school. This meant that their government grant was £77 in comparison to the Church School’s £56. In the early 20th century the Wesleyan school became a Council school. In both schools children progressed through the ‘Standards’ until they reached school leaving age at 13. Of course, many children were half-timers, working as ‘little piecers’ in the mills. In 1930, when the Central School opened, catering for secondary education, the Wesleyan School closed and the Church School became an infant and junior school for all the children of the village aged between 5 and 11 years. Mr Griffith James Griffiths became headmaster of the Wardle central School in 1933, a post he held until his retirement in 1961. In1979 the old church school for infants & juniors closed and children transferred to a new school located in the new housing development at the other end of the village. In the same year the new Wardle High School opened.
INDUSTRY IN WARDLE
COAL MINES
The earliest reference to coal mining in the Wardle area is recorded by Henry Fishwick in his book ‘A History of the Parish of Rochdale.’ In it he states that: Alice Wolstenholme had a lease for 21 years from the Duchy, dated 10th November, 20 James (1623), which empowered her to “search, myne, dig and drayne for coals” within parts of Shore Moor (in Wardle) which were part of the copyhold lands of the late Henry Bamforthe, and she was entitled to sell the coals to the “most profit and advantage, the better to enable her to bring up the children of the said Henry Bamforthe, who are many and meanly provided for.” A marginal note in the survey adds that the lease was not enrolled, and that she had destroyed much timber for supporting of her pits.”
A.P. Wadsworth, writing of mining in the Rochdale district, gave details of some of the leases and royalties relating to collieries. In 1736, the mine on Stott’s Tenement at Wardle was leased for 21 years and the owners paid 8d for every 20 horseloads of coal. In 1763 Ridings Colliery was under a 70 year lease and paid out 6d for every 20 horseloads. By 1793 a colliery identified simply as ‘Wardle’ was paying 6d for every 30 baskets of coal extracted.
The Trade Directories for 1867 and 1872 give us the names of ten collieries in the Wardle area, together with their owners. They were:
Bank Hey Edmund Fairburn
Benscar Ralph Derbyshire
Birch Hey Stott, Bamford & Co
Cartridge Nook James Dearden
Crook Bank Charles Crossley
Crook Executors of J. S. Jennings
Hey Clough Samuel Stott & Co.
Lower House James Mills
Ridings Riding Colliery Co.
Wall Nook James Dearden.
Most of these mines were drift mines – that is, they were essentially tunnels dug into the hillsides, rather than having deep shafts. As with all mines in the area, the tunnels were very low in height – with the seams averaging around 30cm thick, and miners had to lie on their sides or kneel to get the coal with their picks. Ridings Colliery had a 54 foot shaft going down to the ‘Lower Mountain Mine’ level, and in October 1872 the tunnel fell in, trapping the men and boys who were working there at the time.
TEXTILE INDUSTRY
Many of the oldest houses in Wardle village, with their three storeys and weaving ‘lights’ attest to its early development as part of the domestic textile industry. All the processes for the spinning & weaving of woollen cloth were carried out locally. Handloom weavers, who lived in these cottages, and the surrounding farms, would take their pieces of newly woven cloth (known as ‘cuts’) to one of the fulling mills in the area, then collect a fresh supply of wool from a carding mill, to take home for spinning and weaving. In earlier days still, the farmers would, of course, clean and card their own wool.
The Ordnance Survey maps for 1851 & 1890 show a number of mills in the Wardle & Watergrove aeas. These included Rydings Mill (woollen), Flat Mill (woollen) – called Lawflat Mill on the 1890 map; Wasp Mill (woollen), Clough House Mill (woollen) – and another woollen mill near to Clough House itself, shown on the 1890 map as Clough House Fulling Mill. Wardle Mill, (woollen) had its own gasometer, and by 1890 was shown as manufacturing both cotton and woollen cloth. Alder bank (fulling), Roads Mill (fulling) & Hades Mill (fulling) followed the brook up through the Watergrove area. On the 1890 map, Hades Mill is called Lee Mill – and is shown as disused. There was also an un-named worsted mill near to Hurstead Nook on the 1851 map – by 1890 this was called Hurstead Nook Mill and is shown as a woollen mill (worsted was of course a woollen cloth). Further along on the 1851 map was Whostones Mill; by 1890 this mill had changed its name to Wall Stones Mill, and was disused.
By 1890 there were a number of other mills. These included Brook Mill (woollen), Lodge Mill (woollen), and Watergrove Mill (cotton). Two other disused mills are shown, although these do not appear on the 1851 map; these were Crossfield and Waterhouse Mill. At that time, wool, rather than cotton, appears to have been ‘king’ in Wardle.
The Rochdale & District Commercial Directory for 1894 details some of the millowners. James Bamford & his Brothers produced flannel at Brook Mill, whilst John Kershaw is shown as a fuller at Wardle Mill. Adam Mills & Co. were listed as flannel manufacturers at Law Flat Mill, with Edmund Leach manufacturing flannel at both Lodge & Crossfield Mills. Flannel, of course, was another fine woollen cloth. At Ridings, W. Shaw and Sons were both flannel manufacturers and Colliery proprietors. Similarly, John Stott & Bros. Ltd. were flannel manufacturers and finishers at Wasp Mill, and are also listed as coal proprietors. Watergrove mills, where cotton was spun, belonged to J. Stott & Co. Clough House Mill shed is also listed as a cotton mill by this time, belonging to James Taylor, whose residence is given as 11 Ramsden Road. Richard Wallwork is listed as a fuller and finisher at Rhodes (Roads) Mill.
OTHER INDUSTRIES
Wardle, like Littleborough, had stone quarries as well as coal mines. There were also a number of brewers, including the Littlefield Brewery run by Benjamin Butterworth in the 1890’s, plus Wardle Brewery run by J & J Butterworth and Lawflat Brewery run by John Rigg. Perhaps the quality of water in the brooks that tumbled down from the surrounding hills made a good pint! In 1894 there was an oatcake baker (Richard Howarth) alongside shoe and bootmakers and cloggers. A number of farmers supplemented their income as ‘carriers,’ and by 1894 the area had its quota of tradesmen, including builders, joiners and plumbers.
Mapleton's
In the early 1900’s a firm called ‘Mapleton’s’ took over Whitaker Mill in Wardle, where they proceeded to manufacture vegetarian and health foods. Their fruitcake, apparently, was famous. Sadly, problems with transport and accessibility caused the business to re-locate to an urban area. In an article in the Rochdale Observer in 1975, reference is made to a lady who recalled working at Mapleton’s as a half-timer, where she earned 2/6d a week for sorting dates. She was, predictably, told that she could eat as many as she liked – and perhaps also predictably, she was soon “sick of the sight of them.” During their time in Wardle, Mapleton’s used to put on dances and concerts on the top floor of the store. These were greatly enjoyed by the local young people, who could attend on Tuesday & Saturday nights for 3d a time, including refreshments - with a piece of the famous fruitcake.
A contemporary advert for the firm (accompanying the lithograph of the oil painting of the factory, reads: Mapleton's Nut Foods are made from the purest products of sun and air - Nuts and Fruit - and are manufactured under equally ideal conditions. believing that "Helath Foods" cannot be manufactured among city smoke, we have at great expense established ourselves among the green meadows, where mountain and moor, stream and sunshine, lend sweetness to the air.
Farming.
Farming was an important part of the local economy in the Wardle area. It was mostly hill farming of course, on marginal land that was not very fertile. Sheep were important, and most farmers would have some cattle – particularly dairy cattle as dairy farming was quite profitable in areas close to industrial towns like Rochdale.
Wardle’s Agricultural Fair of 1907 is shown in the photograph. These fairs drew large crowds of visitors from the surrounding areas. Duncan's Rochdale Directory for 1894-95 lists no fewer than 72 farmers for Wuerdle & Wardle. This number included farms at Wuerdle, Smallbridge, Eafield & Great Howarth, as well as Wardle & Watergrove.
Many of the farms in the Watergrove area were to be lost when the reservoir was built in the 1930’s. Some were drowned and others were destroyed because their lands were to be part of the reservoir’s ‘gathering grounds.’
