Middleton [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,]
Durnford St Secondary School (c.1910) Architect Edgar Wood.
Middleton Suffragettes (c.1910)
St Leonards Church, Middleton, photographed by the Jackson Bros (1860)
Sam Bamford of Middleton. Radical from 'Peterloo' who became a writer (c.1856)
Old Gaff Theatre, Middleton (c.1920)
Middleton was incorporated as a Borough by Royal Charter on 21st July 1886, when the Corporation consisted of the Mayor, 6 Aldermen and 18 Councillors. It was described in Slater's Directory of Lancashire, 1901, as a Municipal Borough, ancient market town and parish, in a fertile vale on the river Irk. In 1770 Middleton was a village with 20 houses, and yet it boasted a Grammar School. It gained its Market Charter around 20 years later, in 1791, market day then being Friday. Like many other villages & towns in the area, the 1780's began to see a growth in population & trade. Middleton was a centre for silk manufacturing at that time.
Silk weaving was still described as the chief trade in 1901, alongside a fast growing cotton trade, with its calico printing, bleaching & dying. Middleton handloom weavers were depicted by the artist Frederick W Jackson. Other allied trades included iron foundries, engineering, soap manufacture and chemical production. As with other towns, the increase in population and industry led to rapid urbanisation with a concurrent depletion of countryside. Alongside the industrial growth and the increasing population came unrest and radical politics. Middleton had Luddite riots and was the home of the Radical writer, Sam Bamford.
The people of Middleton, like their neighbours in the surrounding areas, celebrated the local traditons of the Pace Egg and Rushbearing. Sam Bamford, in his autobiography 'Early Days' in 1848, wrote about the Rushbearing in the chapter on 'The Wakes.'
Middleton now forms part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, a town lying 5 miles to the north of Middleton.
Middleton's Parish Church is dedicated to St. Leonard and has a low tower with an unusual wooden belfry. Part of the tower arch is believed to date from the 11th century, but the main body of the church was built & consecrated in 1412 by Thomas Langley, Cardinal Bishop of Durham, and Lord Chancellor. A window in the church commemorates the Battle of Flodden Field (9 September 1513) where Richard Assheton, the then Lord of the Manor, took a contingent of Middleton Archers to fight. Alongside the village were the Halls of the area, including Assheton Hall, Tonge Hall & Hopwood Hall.
Middleton's civic development in the late 19th century gave it a Fire Brigade, Library & Parks, Schools, a Public Baths, improved sanitation, and improved roads. By that time too it was well served by road and railway - complementing the earlier canal links to Manchester & through Rochdale to West Yorkshire & beyond. The area had its complement of Churches & Chapels ( the Methodist Chapel on Long Street being designed by the Middleton born architect, Edgar Wood). Alkrington was developed as a 'Garden Suburb,' and in the post war years came Langley, an overspill estate for Manchester.
The people of Middleton enjoyed trips to the theatre and cinema and strolled in their parks. Like many others they also spent some of their leisure time in pubs and spent time playing sports like football, tennis and cricket.
You can discover more about the fascinating history of Middleton by reading Historical Middleton by John Dean.
