Milnrow
Encyclopedia
Milnrow is a suburb
an town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
, in Greater Manchester
, England. It lies on the River Beal
at the foothills of the South Pennines
, and forms a continuous urban area with Rochdale
. It is 1.9 miles (3.1 km) east of Rochdale's town centre, 10.4 miles (16.7 km) north-northeast of the city of Manchester
, and spans across urban, suburban and rural locations—from Windy Hill
in the east through to the Rochdale Canal
in the west. Milnrow includes the villages of Tunshill
and Newhey
, and is adjacent to junction 21 of the M62 motorway
.
Historically
a part of Lancashire
, Milnrow during the Middle Ages
was a hamlet
located within the township of Butterworth
and parish of Rochdale
. It was named by the Anglo-Saxons
, but the Norman conquest of England
resulted in its ownership by minor Norman
families, such as the Schofields and Cleggs. In the 15th century, the descendants of these families successfully agitated for a chapel of ease
to be constructed in Milnrow by the banks of the River Beal, triggering its development as the main settlement in Butterworth. Despite this distinction, Milnrow did not increase much further in size or population until the dawn of the woollen trade in the Late Middle Ages
.
To supplement their income, the inhabitants of Milnrow entered the domestic system, producing flannel
and woollen cloth in purpose-built weavers' cottage
s, some of which from the Early Modern period
have survived as listed buildings. Coalmining and metalworking also flourished in this period, but the Industrial Revolution
supplanted the domestic industries and converted Milnrow into an urban mill town
that mass-produced textile goods in cotton mill
s, such as Ellenroad Ring Mill
(now a museum). The Milnrow Urban District
was established in 1894 and was governed thereafter by its own district council until its abolition in 1974.
Milnrow has been described as "the centre of the south Lancashire dialect". John Collier
(who wrote under the pseudonym of Tim Bobbin) was an acclaimed 18th-century caricaturist and satirical poet from Milnrow who wrote in a broad Lancashire dialect
. Rochdale-born poet Edwin Waugh
was influenced by Collier's work, and wrote an extensive account of Milnrow during the mid-19th century in a tribute to Collier. Although Milnrow's heavy textile industries declined during the mid-20th century, the town has continued to grow as a result of suburbanisation, urban renewal
and its immediate proximity to road, rail and motorway networks.
human activity in Milnrow is evidenced with an ancient stone axe found at Hollingworth. Bronze
and Iron Age
peoples left thousands of flint tools which have been found on the moorland surrounding Milnrow, including a stone hammer found at Low Hill in 1879. Low Hill was the site of an ancient burial mound
where a funerary urn
was found. A small Roman statue of the goddess Victory
was discovered at Tunshill Farm in 1793. During excavations at Piethorne Reservoir
in the mid-18th century, a Celt
ic spear-head with a 5 inches (127 mm) blade was unearthed, implying human habitation in the locality during the British Iron Age
. There is no physical manifestation of the Anglo-Saxons
and Norsemen
in the locality, but toponymic evidence
implies they have been present.
The name Milnrow is derived from Old English, but its meaning has not been deciphered with any certainty. The name may be a corruption of an old pronunciation of "Millner Howe", a water driven corn mill
at a place called Mill Hill on the River Beal
that was mentioned in deeds dating from 1568. Another explanation is that it means a "mill with a row of houses", combining the Old English elements myne and raw. Others have suggested that the name "Milnrow" is derived from a local family with the surname Milne, who owned a row of houses in the locality. A map from 1292 shows "Milnehouses" at Milnrow's present location, other spellings have included "Mylnerowe" (1545) and "Milneraw" (1577).
Milnrow emerged as a settlement after the Norman conquest of England
in 1066; the Norman
families of "de Butterworths", "de Turnaghs", "de Schofields", "de Birchinleghs", "de Wylds" and "Cleggs" controlled the lands which formed the township of Butterworth
from which Milnrow evolved as its main settlement. In addition to the chapelry
of Milnrow, Butterworth encompassed the hamlets
of Clegg, Wildhouse, Belfield, Butterworth Hall, Lowhouse, Newhey
, Ogden, Tunshill
, Haughs, and Bleaked-gate-cum-Roughbank. Butterworth was linked, ecclesiastically, with the parish of Rochdale
.
During the Middle Ages
, the small, scattered community in and around Milnrow was primarily agrarian, with the growing and milling of grain and cereal being the main labour of the people. Dry ironstone
smelting was introduced in to Milnrow at a very early time as evidenced from ancient kiln
s found at Tunshill. A chantry
was constructed in the year 1400 by the Byron
s—the then Lords of the Manor
—and a chapel
for the wider community in 1496; A document dated 20 March 1496, during the reign of Henry VII
, proclaims that open land by the River Beal would be the site of the new chapel.
Legal documents dated 1624 state that Milnrow consisted of six cottages; there were a further nine at Butterworth Hall, and three at Ogden. Milnrow did not expand until the introduction of a woollen weaving
trade which began in the Late Middle Ages
and continued until the 19th century. During this time nearby Rochdale—the local market town
—was used as a central marketing, finishing and fellmonger
ing hub. The handloom weaving of woollen cloth and flannel
s in the domestic system became the staple industry of Milnrow, facilitating the community's growth and prosperity. Between 40,000 and 50,000 sheep skins were needed every week to provide for Milnrow's industries, and as early as the 16th century, the demand for wool
was so great it had outstripped the local supply of the region and had to be imported from Ireland
and the English Midlands
. As a consequence of the woollen trade, rows of "fine stone domestic workshops" or weavers' cottage
s were constructed beyond Milnrow's original core, with dwelling quarters on the lower floors and loom
-shops on the top floor.
With the onset of the Industrial Revolution
, the River Beal was used to power large weaving mills. Within one generation during the late-19th century, and following a boom in nearby Oldham
, Milnrow's staple industry changed from wool weaving to cotton
spinning. Soon, distinctive rectangular brick-built mills dominated Milnrow's landscape. Milnrow, the location of some of the earliest ring spinning
companies, had many of the characteristics of a company town
. The Heaps of Milnrow exercised significant deferential and political influence in the local area. Following the Great Depression
, the region's textile sector experienced a decline until its eventual demise in the mid-20th century. Milnrow's last cotton mill
was Butterworth Hall Mill, demolished in the late 1990s. Milnrow experienced population growth and suburbanisation in the second half of the 20th century, spurred by the construction of the M62 motorway
through the area, making Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire
commutable.
of Lancashire
since the early 12th century, Milnrow was a chapelry
and component area of Butterworth
, an ancient township
within the parish of Rochdale
and hundred of Salford
. Under feudalism
, Butterworth was governed by a number of ruling families, including the Byrons
, who obtained the title of Lords of the Manor
. Throughout the Late Middle Ages
, local men acted as jurors and constables for the purposes of upholding law and order in Butterworth. Butterworth in the 19th century constituted a civil parish, until its dissolution in 1894.
Milnrow's first local authority was a Local board of health
established in 1870. Milnrow Local Board of Health was a regulatory body responsible for standards of hygiene and sanitation in the wards
of Belfield, Haugh and Milnrow. In 1879, a part of Castleton
and another part of Butterworth were included in the area of the Local board. Under the Local Government Act 1894
, the area of the local board broadly became the Milnrow Urban District
, a local government district in the Rochdale Poor Law Union
and administrative county
of Lancashire. Under the Local Government Act 1972
, the Milnrow Urban District was abolished, and Milnrow has, since 1 April 1974, formed an unparished area
of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
, within the metropolitan county
of Greater Manchester
. In anticipation of the new local government arrangement, Milnrow Urban District Council applied for successor parish
status to be granted to the locality after 1974, but the application was not successful.
From 1983 to 1997, Milnrow was represented in the House of Commons
as part of the parliamentary constituency of Littleborough and Saddleworth
. Between 1997 and 2010 it was within the boundaries of Oldham East and Saddleworth. In 2010 Milnrow became part of the Rochdale constituency
, which is represented by Simon Danczuk
MP, a member of the Labour Party
.
At 53°36′36"N 2°6′40"W (53.6101°, -2.1111°), and 168 miles (270 km) north-northwest of central London
, Milnrow stands roughly 830 feet (253 m) above sea level
, on the western slopes of the Pennines
, 10.4 miles (16.7 km) north-northeast of Manchester city centre
, in the valley of the River Beal. Blackstone Edge
and West Yorkshire
are to the east; Rochdale
and Shaw and Crompton
are to the west and south respectively. Milnrow, considered as the area covered by the former Milnrow Urban District Council, extends over 8.1 square miles (21 km²).
The River Beal, a tributary of the River Roch
, runs centrally through Milnrow from the south through Newhey
. The soil is light gravel and clay, with subsoil of rough gravel, and the local geology
is carboniferous coal measures
. Milnrow's highest point (1310 feet (399 m)) is by its east-southeastern border with the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham
at Denshaw
and Bleakedgate Moor, above the rugged, upland Piethorne Valley and close to Windy Hill
. From this point the average height of the land falls gradually towards the direction of Rochdale to the northwest, into a mixture of undulating farmland and suburb
ia. Milnrow experiences a temperate
maritime climate
, like much of the British Isles
, with relatively cool summers and mild winters. There is regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year.
In 1855, the poet Edwin Waugh
said of Milnow:
Surrounded by open moor and grassland on its northern and eastern sides, Milnrow forms a continuous urban area with neighbouring Rochdale to the west, and, according to the Office for National Statistics
, is part of the Greater Manchester Urban Area
, the United Kingdom's third largest conurbation.
There are a number of small named-places in and around Milnrow, including Clegg, Firgrove, Gallows, Haugh, Newhey, Kitcliffe, Ogden, and Tunshill
. Newhey
, at the south of Milnrow by Shaw and Crompton
, is the most distinct of these areas, and, with its own parish church
and railway station, is invariably given as a separate village. The Gallows public house
is said to occupy the land of an ancient execution site; Gallows, a former hamlet at northeastern Milnrow, is named in reference to a baron
ial gallows
. Kitcliffe, Ogden and Tunshill, to the east of central Milnrow, are hamlets that occupy the upper, mid and lower Piethorne Valley respectively.
, at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001
, Milnrow (urban-core and sub-area) had a total resident population of 12,541. The electoral ward
of Milnrow (which has different boundaries) had a population of 11,561. Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary
(2007) estimated Milnrow's population to be 12,800 in 2001.
Of the residents in the electoral ward of Milnrow, which includes Newhey and the Piethorne Valley, 40.8% were married, 10.3% were cohabiting
couples, and 9.5% were lone parent families. Twenty-seven percent of households were made up of individuals and 13% had someone living alone at pension
able age.
The ethnicity
of the community was given as 98% white, 0.7% mixed race
, 0.8% Asian, 0.2% black and 0.3% Chinese or other.
The place of birth of the town's residents was 97% United Kingdom (including 95.04% from England), 0.6% Republic of Ireland
, 0.5% from other European Union
countries, and 2.6% from elsewhere in the world. Religion was recorded as 80% Christian, 0.8% Muslim, 0.1% Hindu, 0.1% Buddhist, and 0.1% Jewish. Some 12.2% were recorded as having no religion, 0.2% had an alternative religion, and 6.1% did not state their religion. Historically, in addition to the established church
, Nonconformism
– particularly Wesleyanism
– was a branch of Christian theology
practised in Milnrow by a significant part of the local population.
The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 45% in full-time employment, 12% in part-time employment, 7.7% self-employed, 2.6% unemployed, 2.1% students with jobs, 3.1% students without jobs, 13% retired, 4.6% looking after home or family, 7.4% permanently sick or disabled, and 2.3% economically inactive for other reasons. This was roughly in line with the national figures.
. Industries ancillary to textile production were also operational, such as coal mining
at Tunshill
, and metalworking
at Butterworth Hall. Butterworth Hall Colliery was the largest colliery in the Rochdale region, employing around 300 men in 1912. Modern sectors in the area include engineering
, packaging materials, dye
ing and finishing, and ink
production. The main street comprises a variety of shops, restaurants and food outlets.
The biggest employers are Holroyd Machine Tools, who have been based in the town since they moved from Manchester to Milnrow in 1896. In the early 20th century they operated a foundry
in Whitehall Street and employed engineers and apprentices. As of 2006 Holroyd had a workforce of 160, but its parent company Renold PLC employs a further 200 people at a base in there. Global industrial and consumer packaging company Sonoco operate a warehouse in the town.
The Kingsway Business Park will be a 420 acres (1.7 km²) "business-focused, mixed use development" occupying land between Milnrow and Rochdale, adjacent to junction 21 of the M62 motorway
; it is expected to employ 7,250 people directly and 1,750 people indirectly by around 2020. Kingsway Metrolink station
is a station proposed in Phase 3a of the Manchester Metrolink
expansion, and will serve Kingsway Business Park.
The Grade II listed Church of St James, Milnrow's Anglican
parish church
, was built in 1869 and is dedicated to James the Apostle. It is part of the Church of England
and lies within the Diocese of Manchester
. The origins of the church can be traced to a chantry
built by the Byrons
in the year 1400. When that baronial family moved from Milnrow to another of their homes following the Wars of the Roses
, the local population was left without a place of worship and a chapel was constructed by the River Beal
to serve this community. This structure existed until the 1790s, when a "poorly designed" chapel was erected and consecrated; however, due to structural weaknesses, that church was demolished in 1814. Following an interim period when a "plain building" was used for worship, the present church building was built and consecrated by the Bishop of Manchester
on 21 August 1869.
Described as "by far the most distinctive and splendid building in the district", the neo-Gothic
Newhey, St Thomas parish church was built in 1876 and served a new Anglican parish of Newhey created in the same year. Dedicated to Thomas the Apostle
, it is part of the Church of England, and its patron is the Bishop of Manchester. The church was extensively damaged in an arson attack on 21 December 2007.
Milnrow War Memorial is located in Memorial Park at Newhey, and is a Grade II listed structure. The war memorial
was originally sited in central Milnrow, set back from the road near Milnrow Bridge, and was unveiled on 3 August 1924 by Major General A. Solly-Flood, a former commander of 42nd (East Lancashire) Division
. The memorial is constructed of sandstone surmounted by a bronze statue of a World War I
infantry
soldier with rifle and fixed bayonet
symbolic of the young manhood of the district in the early days of World War I. In selecting the design the Milnrow War Memorial Committee was influenced by the statue unveiled at Waterhead in Oldham
; the work of George Thomas. Thomas sculpted Milnrow's memorial in 1923. The plinth holds bronze and slate panels recording the names of those who died in the two World Wars.
Clegg Hall
is a 17th-century hall and Grade II* listed building situated in green space
between Milnrow, Rochdale
and Littleborough. It was constructed in about 1610 for Theophilus Aston and may have been built on the site of a mediaeval house and inn.
In Newhey is the Ellenroad Steam Museum, the retained engine house, boiler house, chimney and steam engine
of Ellenroad Mill, a former 1892-built cotton mill
designed by Sir Philip Stott, 1st Baronet
. Now operated as an industrial heritage
centre, the mill itself is no longer standing, but the steam engine (the world’s largest working steam mill engine) is maintained and steamed once a month by the Ellenroad Trust. The museum has the only fully working cotton mill engine with its original steam-raising plant in the world. Ellenroad Mill produced fine cotton yarn
using mule spinning
.
Hollingworth Lake
lies beyond Milnrow, by Littleborough and is part of a local country park
. It was built in 1801 as a feeder reservoir for the Rochdale Canal
, but it soon became a tourist destination for local people during their leisure time. The lake covers an area of 130 acre (0.5260918 km²) and the path around it originally measured 2.5 miles (4 km).
Public transport
in Milnrow is co-ordinated by Transport for Greater Manchester, and services include bus and rail transport. Major A roads link Milnrow with other settlements, including the A640 road
, which forms a route from Rochdale and over the Pennines into Huddersfield
and West Yorkshire
.
Milnrow railway station
was on the Oldham Loop Line which connected Manchester
, Oldham
and Rochdale
. The station was constructed in 1862 by navvies drafted by contractors under the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
. On 12 August 1863, the line was opened to commercial traffic and 2 November 1863, to passenger trains. Milnrow station was originally staffed, and the line through it was dual-track; however this section was reduced to single-track in 1980. Milnrow railway station closed on 3 October 2009 to be converted for use with an expanded Manchester Metrolink
network. The station is planned to reopen in 2012 as Milnrow Metrolink station; also opening at this time will be Kingsway Metrolink station
and New Hey railway station
.
Milnrow is situated at Junction 21 of the trans-Pennine M62 motorway
. Construction of the Milnrow part of the M62 began in April 1967, a process which spread mud and dirt throughout the town. The official opening of the motorway on 13 October 1971 was by Queen Elizabeth II
, who was welcomed by Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe
in his role as Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire
, as well as the Chairman of Milnrow Urban District Council and his wife. Once opened, the Queen cast aside protocol for an informal meeting with the people of Milnrow.
The Rochdale Canal
—one of the major navigable broad canals of Great Britain—passes along Milnrow's north-western boundary which divides it from the village of Wardle and districts of Belfield
and Castleton
in Rochdale. The Rochdale Canal was historically used as a highway of commerce for the haulage of cotton, wool, and coal to and from the area.
Bus services operate to Rochdale, Newhey, Oldham, Manchester and Littleborough, mainly operated by First Manchester
.
was the caricaturist John Collier
. Newhey Council School was constructed in 1911. Milnrow St James School evolved into the modern primary school, Milnrow Parish Church of England Primary. It is a denominational school with the Church of England
, linked with Milnrow's Anglican
parish church, St James's. There are further primary schools, in central Milnrow named Moorhouse County Primary and Crossgates County Primary, and at Newhey named Newhey Community Primary, all of which are non-denominational. Hollingworth Business and Enterprise College (formerly Hollingworth High) is a secondary school
in Milnrow. It is a co-educational school of non-denominational religion, and was given Business and Enterprise College
status under the Specialist School Programme
. Other learning facilities in Milnrow include a 1907-built Carnegie library
.
is a cricket
club based at Ladyhouse in Milnrow, and which has played in the Central Lancashire Cricket League
since its foundation in 1892. Milnrow C.C. formed in 1857 from a group of local businessmen who felt the district deserved its own distinct team. Members of the club were recruited and teams were selected to play other clubs in the surrounding townships.
The Soccer Village consists of four indoor pitches in an arena with grandstand spectator seating for 300. It is used for casual, amateur and organised leagues and tournaments.
There has been a golf course
at Tunshill
since 1901. It is affiliated with the English Golf Union
.
New Milnrow and Newhey Rugby League Club is the local Rugby league
team.
Home Office
policing in Milnrow is provided by the Greater Manchester Police
. The force's "(P) Division" have their headquarters for policing the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
in Rochdale and the nearest police station is at Littleborough to the north. Statutory emergency fire and rescue service
is provided by the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
, which has one station in Rochdale on Maclure Road.
There are no hospitals in Milnrow—the nearest are in the larger settlements of Oldham and Rochdale. The Rochdale Infirmary in north-central Rochdale and Birch Hill Hospital near the villages of Wardle and Littleborough, are NHS
hospitals administrated by Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
. Birch Hill occupies the former Rochdale Union Workhouse
at Dearnley. The North West Ambulance Service
provides emergency patient transport.
Waste management
is co-ordinated by the local authority via the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority
. Milnrow's Distribution Network Operator
for electricity is United Utilities
; there are no power station
s in the area, but a Wind farm
exists on Scout Moor which consists of 26 turbines on the high moors between Rawtenstall
and Rochdale, generating 65MW of electricity. United Utilities also manages Milnrow's drinking
and waste water; water supplies are sourced from several local reservoirs, including Kitcliffe
, Piethorne
and Rooden
in Milnrow's outlying moorland between Newhey
and Denshaw
.
(who wrote under the pseudonym of Tim Bobbin) was an acclaimed 18th-century caricaturist and satirical poet who was raised and spent all his adult life in Milnrow. Born in Urmston
in 1708, Collier was schoolmaster
for Milnrow. Inspired by William Hogarth
, Collier's work savagely lampooned the behaviour of upper
and lower classes alike, and was written in a strong Lancashire dialect
. Many of his works and personal possessions are preserved in Milnrow's library, and he is commemorated in the name of a "prominent pub" in central Milnrow. Francis Robert Raines
(1805–1878) was the Anglican vicar of Milnrow, and an antiquary. He edited 23 volumes for the Chetham Society publications. He was ordained in 1828, and after short appointments at Saddleworth
and Rochdale, he was vicar at Milnrow for the rest of his life. John Milne
was a professor, geologist
and mining engineer
who invented a pioneering seismograph (known as the Milne-Shaw seismograph) to detect and measure earthquakes. Although born in Liverpool
in 1850 owing to a brief visit there by his parents, Milne was raised in Rochdale and at Tunshill in Milnrow. Other notable people of Milnrow include Lizzy Bardsley
, who, in 2003, gained fame from appearing on Channel 4
's Wife Swap
.
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
an town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
The Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after its largest town, Rochdale, but spans a far larger area which includes the towns of Middleton, Heywood, Littleborough and Milnrow, and the village of Wardle.The borough was...
, in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
, England. It lies on the River Beal
River Beal
The Beal is a small river in Greater Manchester, England, and is a tributary of the River Roch. It rises in the Beal Valley in green space between Sholver and Royton, before continuing northwards through, Shaw and Crompton, Newhey, Milnrow and Belfield....
at the foothills of the South Pennines
South Pennines
South Pennines is a region of moorland and hill country in northern England lying towards the southern end of the Pennines. It is bounded to the west by the Forest of Rossendale and the Yorkshire Dales to the north...
, and forms a continuous urban area with Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
. It is 1.9 miles (3.1 km) east of Rochdale's town centre, 10.4 miles (16.7 km) north-northeast of the city of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, and spans across urban, suburban and rural locations—from Windy Hill
Windy Hill (Pennines)
Windy Hill is a hill in Greater Manchester, and a part of the South Pennines, in northern England. It is located between the A672 road and Junction 22 of the M62 Motorway, just within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale; West Yorkshire is immediately to the east. A radio transmitter is located at...
in the east through to the Rochdale Canal
Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes....
in the west. Milnrow includes the villages of Tunshill
Tunshill
Tunshill is a hamlet at the northeastern edge of Milnrow, within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines, east of Rochdale and north-northeast of Oldham....
and Newhey
Newhey
Newhey is a suburban village in the Milnrow area of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England...
, and is adjacent to junction 21 of the M62 motorway
M62 motorway
The M62 motorway is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting the cities of Liverpool and Hull via Manchester and Leeds. The road also forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E20 and E22...
.
Historically
Historic counties of England
The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...
a part of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, Milnrow during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
was a hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
located within the township of Butterworth
Butterworth (ancient township)
Butterworth was a township occupying the southeastern part of the parish of Rochdale, in the hundred of Salford, Lancashire, England. It encompassed of land by the South Pennines which spanned the settlements of Belfield, Bleaked-gate-cum-Roughbank, Butterworth Hall, Clegg, Firgrove, Haughs,...
and parish of Rochdale
Rochdale (ancient parish)
Rochdale was an ecclesiastical parish of early-medieval origin in northern England, administered from the Church of St Chad, Rochdale. At its zenith, it occupied of land amongst the South Pennines, and straddled the historic county boundary between Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire...
. It was named by the Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
, but the Norman conquest of England
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
resulted in its ownership by minor Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
families, such as the Schofields and Cleggs. In the 15th century, the descendants of these families successfully agitated for a chapel of ease
Chapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....
to be constructed in Milnrow by the banks of the River Beal, triggering its development as the main settlement in Butterworth. Despite this distinction, Milnrow did not increase much further in size or population until the dawn of the woollen trade in the Late Middle Ages
Late Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages was the period of European history generally comprising the 14th to the 16th century . The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern era ....
.
To supplement their income, the inhabitants of Milnrow entered the domestic system, producing flannel
Flannel
Flannel is a soft woven fabric, of various fineness. Flannel was originally made from carded wool or worsted yarn, but is now often made from either wool, cotton, or synthetic fibre. Flannel may be brushed to create extra softness or remain unbrushed. The brushing process is a mechanical process...
and woollen cloth in purpose-built weavers' cottage
Weavers' cottage
A weavers' cottage was a type of house used by weavers for cloth production in the Domestic system.Weavers' cottages were common in Great Britain, particularly in Yorkshire, usually with dwelling quarters on the lower floors and loom-shops on the top floor...
s, some of which from the Early Modern period
Early Modern Britain
Early modern Britain is the history of the island of Great Britain, roughly corresponding to the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Major historical events in Early Modern British history include the English Renaissance, the English Reformation and Scottish Reformation, the English Civil War, the...
have survived as listed buildings. Coalmining and metalworking also flourished in this period, but the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
supplanted the domestic industries and converted Milnrow into an urban mill town
Mill town
A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories .- United Kingdom:...
that mass-produced textile goods in cotton mill
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
s, such as Ellenroad Ring Mill
Ellenroad Ring Mill Engine
The Ellenroad Ring Mill Engine is a preserved stationary steam engine in Milnrow, Greater Manchester. It powered the Ellenroad Ring Mill from 1917, and after the mill's closure the engine is still worked under steam as a museum display....
(now a museum). The Milnrow Urban District
Milnrow Urban District
Milnrow Urban District was, from 1894 to 1974, a local government district of the administrative county of Lancashire, in northwest England. It covered an area to the east and southeast of the County Borough of Rochdale, and included the town of Milnrow, the village of New Hey, and the Piethorne...
was established in 1894 and was governed thereafter by its own district council until its abolition in 1974.
Milnrow has been described as "the centre of the south Lancashire dialect". John Collier
John Collier (caricaturist)
John Collier was an English caricaturist and satirical poet known by the pseudonym of Tim Bobbin, or Timothy Bobbin. Collier styled himself as the Lancashire Hogarth....
(who wrote under the pseudonym of Tim Bobbin) was an acclaimed 18th-century caricaturist and satirical poet from Milnrow who wrote in a broad Lancashire dialect
Lancashire dialect and accent
Lancashire dialect and accent refers to the vernacular speech in Lancashire, one of the counties of England. Simon Elmes' book Talking for Britain said that Lancashire dialect is now much less common than it once was, but it is not yet extinct...
. Rochdale-born poet Edwin Waugh
Edwin Waugh
Edwin Waugh , poet, son of a shoemaker, was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, and, after a little schooling, apprenticed to a printer, Thomas Holden, at the age of 12...
was influenced by Collier's work, and wrote an extensive account of Milnrow during the mid-19th century in a tribute to Collier. Although Milnrow's heavy textile industries declined during the mid-20th century, the town has continued to grow as a result of suburbanisation, urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
and its immediate proximity to road, rail and motorway networks.
History
NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
human activity in Milnrow is evidenced with an ancient stone axe found at Hollingworth. Bronze
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
peoples left thousands of flint tools which have been found on the moorland surrounding Milnrow, including a stone hammer found at Low Hill in 1879. Low Hill was the site of an ancient burial mound
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
where a funerary urn
Urn
An urn is a vase, ordinarily covered, that usually has a narrowed neck above a footed pedestal. "Knife urns" placed on pedestals flanking a dining-room sideboard were an English innovation for high-style dining rooms of the late 1760s...
was found. A small Roman statue of the goddess Victory
Victoria (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion, Victoria was the personified goddess of victory. She is the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Nike, and was associated with Bellona. She was adapted from the Sabine agricultural goddess Vacuna and had a temple on the Palatine Hill...
was discovered at Tunshill Farm in 1793. During excavations at Piethorne Reservoir
Piethorne Reservoir
Piethorne Reservoir is the largest of several reservoirs in the Piethorne Valley above Milnrow, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. It was built in 1866....
in the mid-18th century, a Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic spear-head with a 5 inches (127 mm) blade was unearthed, implying human habitation in the locality during the British Iron Age
British Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
. There is no physical manifestation of the Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
and Norsemen
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
in the locality, but toponymic evidence
British toponymy
The toponymy of England examines the linguistic origins of place names in England, and trends in naming. Toponymy is distinct from the study of etymology, which is concerned mainly with the origins of the words themselves. English toponymy is rich, complex and diverse...
implies they have been present.
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
at a place called Mill Hill on the River Beal
River Beal
The Beal is a small river in Greater Manchester, England, and is a tributary of the River Roch. It rises in the Beal Valley in green space between Sholver and Royton, before continuing northwards through, Shaw and Crompton, Newhey, Milnrow and Belfield....
that was mentioned in deeds dating from 1568. Another explanation is that it means a "mill with a row of houses", combining the Old English elements myne and raw. Others have suggested that the name "Milnrow" is derived from a local family with the surname Milne, who owned a row of houses in the locality. A map from 1292 shows "Milnehouses" at Milnrow's present location, other spellings have included "Mylnerowe" (1545) and "Milneraw" (1577).
Milnrow emerged as a settlement after the Norman conquest of England
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
in 1066; the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
families of "de Butterworths", "de Turnaghs", "de Schofields", "de Birchinleghs", "de Wylds" and "Cleggs" controlled the lands which formed the township of Butterworth
Butterworth (ancient township)
Butterworth was a township occupying the southeastern part of the parish of Rochdale, in the hundred of Salford, Lancashire, England. It encompassed of land by the South Pennines which spanned the settlements of Belfield, Bleaked-gate-cum-Roughbank, Butterworth Hall, Clegg, Firgrove, Haughs,...
from which Milnrow evolved as its main settlement. In addition to the chapelry
Chapelry
A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England, and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel which acted as a subsidiary place of worship to the main parish church...
of Milnrow, Butterworth encompassed the hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Clegg, Wildhouse, Belfield, Butterworth Hall, Lowhouse, Newhey
Newhey
Newhey is a suburban village in the Milnrow area of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England...
, Ogden, Tunshill
Tunshill
Tunshill is a hamlet at the northeastern edge of Milnrow, within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines, east of Rochdale and north-northeast of Oldham....
, Haughs, and Bleaked-gate-cum-Roughbank. Butterworth was linked, ecclesiastically, with the parish of Rochdale
Rochdale (ancient parish)
Rochdale was an ecclesiastical parish of early-medieval origin in northern England, administered from the Church of St Chad, Rochdale. At its zenith, it occupied of land amongst the South Pennines, and straddled the historic county boundary between Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire...
.
During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, the small, scattered community in and around Milnrow was primarily agrarian, with the growing and milling of grain and cereal being the main labour of the people. Dry ironstone
Ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...
smelting was introduced in to Milnrow at a very early time as evidenced from ancient kiln
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...
s found at Tunshill. A chantry
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
was constructed in the year 1400 by the Byron
Baron Byron
Baron Byron, of Rochdale in the County Palatine of Lancaster, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1643, by letters patent, for Sir John Byron, a Cavalier general and former Member of Parliament...
s—the then Lords of the Manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
—and a chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
for the wider community in 1496; A document dated 20 March 1496, during the reign of Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
, proclaims that open land by the River Beal would be the site of the new chapel.
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
trade which began in the Late Middle Ages
Late Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages was the period of European history generally comprising the 14th to the 16th century . The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern era ....
and continued until the 19th century. During this time nearby Rochdale—the local market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
—was used as a central marketing, finishing and fellmonger
Fellmonger
A fellmonger was a dealer in hides or skins, particularly sheepskins, who might also prepare skins for tanning. The name is derived from the Old English ‘fell’ meaning skins and ‘monger’ meaning dealer...
ing hub. The handloom weaving of woollen cloth and flannel
Flannel
Flannel is a soft woven fabric, of various fineness. Flannel was originally made from carded wool or worsted yarn, but is now often made from either wool, cotton, or synthetic fibre. Flannel may be brushed to create extra softness or remain unbrushed. The brushing process is a mechanical process...
s in the domestic system became the staple industry of Milnrow, facilitating the community's growth and prosperity. Between 40,000 and 50,000 sheep skins were needed every week to provide for Milnrow's industries, and as early as the 16th century, the demand for wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
was so great it had outstripped the local supply of the region and had to be imported from Ireland
Lordship of Ireland
The Lordship of Ireland refers to that part of Ireland that was under the rule of the king of England, styled Lord of Ireland, between 1177 and 1541. It was created in the wake of the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169–71 and was succeeded by the Kingdom of Ireland...
and the English Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
. As a consequence of the woollen trade, rows of "fine stone domestic workshops" or weavers' cottage
Weavers' cottage
A weavers' cottage was a type of house used by weavers for cloth production in the Domestic system.Weavers' cottages were common in Great Britain, particularly in Yorkshire, usually with dwelling quarters on the lower floors and loom-shops on the top floor...
s were constructed beyond Milnrow's original core, with dwelling quarters on the lower floors and loom
Loom
A loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads...
-shops on the top floor.
With the onset of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, the River Beal was used to power large weaving mills. Within one generation during the late-19th century, and following a boom in nearby Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, Milnrow's staple industry changed from wool weaving to cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
spinning. Soon, distinctive rectangular brick-built mills dominated Milnrow's landscape. Milnrow, the location of some of the earliest ring spinning
Ring spinning
Ring spinning is a method of spinning fibres, such as cotton, flax or wool, to make a yarn. The ring frame developed from the throstle frame, which in its turn was a descendant of Arkwright's water frame. Ring spinning is a continuous process, unlike mule spinning which uses an intermittent action...
companies, had many of the characteristics of a company town
Company town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
. The Heaps of Milnrow exercised significant deferential and political influence in the local area. Following the Great Depression
Great Depression in the United Kingdom
The Great Depression in the United Kingdom, also known as the Great Slump, was a period of national economic downturn in the 1930s, which had its origins in the global Great Depression...
, the region's textile sector experienced a decline until its eventual demise in the mid-20th century. Milnrow's last cotton mill
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
was Butterworth Hall Mill, demolished in the late 1990s. Milnrow experienced population growth and suburbanisation in the second half of the 20th century, spurred by the construction of the M62 motorway
M62 motorway
The M62 motorway is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting the cities of Liverpool and Hull via Manchester and Leeds. The road also forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E20 and E22...
through the area, making Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
commutable.
Governance
Lying within the historic county boundariesHistoric counties of England
The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...
of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
since the early 12th century, Milnrow was a chapelry
Chapelry
A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England, and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel which acted as a subsidiary place of worship to the main parish church...
and component area of Butterworth
Butterworth (ancient township)
Butterworth was a township occupying the southeastern part of the parish of Rochdale, in the hundred of Salford, Lancashire, England. It encompassed of land by the South Pennines which spanned the settlements of Belfield, Bleaked-gate-cum-Roughbank, Butterworth Hall, Clegg, Firgrove, Haughs,...
, an ancient township
Township (England)
In England, a township is a local division or district of a large parish containing a village or small town usually having its own church...
within the parish of Rochdale
Rochdale (ancient parish)
Rochdale was an ecclesiastical parish of early-medieval origin in northern England, administered from the Church of St Chad, Rochdale. At its zenith, it occupied of land amongst the South Pennines, and straddled the historic county boundary between Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire...
and hundred of Salford
Salford (hundred)
The hundred of Salford was an ancient division of the historic county of Lancashire, in Northern England. It was sometimes known as Salfordshire, the name alluding to its judicial centre being the township of Salford...
. Under feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
, Butterworth was governed by a number of ruling families, including the Byrons
Baron Byron
Baron Byron, of Rochdale in the County Palatine of Lancaster, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1643, by letters patent, for Sir John Byron, a Cavalier general and former Member of Parliament...
, who obtained the title of Lords of the Manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
. Throughout the Late Middle Ages
Late Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages was the period of European history generally comprising the 14th to the 16th century . The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern era ....
, local men acted as jurors and constables for the purposes of upholding law and order in Butterworth. Butterworth in the 19th century constituted a civil parish, until its dissolution in 1894.
Milnrow's first local authority was a Local board of health
Local board of health
Local Boards or Local Boards of Health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate slaughterhouses and ensure the proper supply of water to their...
established in 1870. Milnrow Local Board of Health was a regulatory body responsible for standards of hygiene and sanitation in the wards
Wards of the United Kingdom
A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...
of Belfield, Haugh and Milnrow. In 1879, a part of Castleton
Castleton, Greater Manchester
Castleton is an area of Rochdale and an electoral ward of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It is south-southwest of Rochdale town centre and north-northwest of the city of Manchester....
and another part of Butterworth were included in the area of the Local board. Under the Local Government Act 1894
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level under the Local Government Act 1888...
, the area of the local board broadly became the Milnrow Urban District
Milnrow Urban District
Milnrow Urban District was, from 1894 to 1974, a local government district of the administrative county of Lancashire, in northwest England. It covered an area to the east and southeast of the County Borough of Rochdale, and included the town of Milnrow, the village of New Hey, and the Piethorne...
, a local government district in the Rochdale Poor Law Union
Poor Law Union
A Poor Law Union was a unit used for local government in the United Kingdom from the 19th century. The administration of the Poor Law was the responsibility of parishes, which varied wildly in their size, populations, financial resources, rateable values and requirements...
and administrative county
Administrative counties of England
Administrative counties were a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government from 1889 to 1974. They were created by the Local Government Act 1888 as the areas for which county councils were elected. Some large counties were divided into several administrative...
of Lancashire. Under the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
, the Milnrow Urban District was abolished, and Milnrow has, since 1 April 1974, formed an unparished area
Unparished area
In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish. Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparished. Many towns and some cities in otherwise rural districts are also unparished areas and therefore no longer have a town council or city...
of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
The Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after its largest town, Rochdale, but spans a far larger area which includes the towns of Middleton, Heywood, Littleborough and Milnrow, and the village of Wardle.The borough was...
, within the metropolitan county
Metropolitan county
The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level administrative division of England. There are six metropolitan counties, which each cover large urban areas, typically with populations of 1.2 to 2.8 million...
of Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
. In anticipation of the new local government arrangement, Milnrow Urban District Council applied for successor parish
Successor parish
Successor parishes are civil parishes with a parish council created by the Local Government Act 1972 in England. They replaced, with the same boundaries, a selected group of urban districts and municipal boroughs that were abolished in 1974. Most successor parish councils exercised the right to...
status to be granted to the locality after 1974, but the application was not successful.
From 1983 to 1997, Milnrow was represented in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
as part of the parliamentary constituency of Littleborough and Saddleworth
Littleborough and Saddleworth (UK Parliament constituency)
Littleborough and Saddleworth was a parliamentary constituency in Greater Manchester, England. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
. Between 1997 and 2010 it was within the boundaries of Oldham East and Saddleworth. In 2010 Milnrow became part of the Rochdale constituency
Rochdale (UK Parliament constituency)
Rochdale is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
, which is represented by Simon Danczuk
Simon Danczuk
Simon Christopher Danczuk is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Rochdale since 2010.-Early life and career:...
MP, a member of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
.
Geography
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
, Milnrow stands roughly 830 feet (253 m) above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
, on the western slopes of the Pennines
Pennines
The Pennines are a low-rising mountain range, separating the North West of England from Yorkshire and the North East.Often described as the "backbone of England", they form a more-or-less continuous range stretching from the Peak District in Derbyshire, around the northern and eastern edges of...
, 10.4 miles (16.7 km) north-northeast of Manchester city centre
Manchester City Centre
Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England. It lies within the Manchester Inner Ring Road, next to the River Irwell...
, in the valley of the River Beal. Blackstone Edge
Blackstone Edge
Blackstone Edge is a gritstone escarpment at 1,549 feet above sea level in an area of moorland on the Greater Manchester–West Yorkshire county boundary, England....
and West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
are to the east; Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
and Shaw and Crompton
Shaw and Crompton
Shaw and Crompton is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines, north of Oldham, southeast of Rochdale, and to the northeast of the city of Manchester...
are to the west and south respectively. Milnrow, considered as the area covered by the former Milnrow Urban District Council, extends over 8.1 square miles (21 km²).
The River Beal, a tributary of the River Roch
River Roch
The River Roch is a river in Greater Manchester in North West England, a tributary of the River Irwell that gives Rochdale its name.-Course:...
, runs centrally through Milnrow from the south through Newhey
Newhey
Newhey is a suburban village in the Milnrow area of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England...
. The soil is light gravel and clay, with subsoil of rough gravel, and the local geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
is carboniferous coal measures
Coal Measures
The Coal Measures is a lithostratigraphical term for the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. It represents the remains of fluvio-deltaic sediment, and consists mainly of clastic rocks interstratified with the beds of coal...
. Milnrow's highest point (1310 feet (399 m)) is by its east-southeastern border with the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham
Metropolitan Borough of Oldham
The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It has a population of 219,600, and spans . The borough is named after its largest town, Oldham, but also includes the outlying towns of Chadderton, Failsworth, Royton and Shaw and Crompton, the village of...
at Denshaw
Denshaw
Denshaw is a village in Saddleworth—a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies by the source of the River Tame, high amongst the Pennines above the village of Delph, northeast of Oldham, and north-northwest of Uppermill...
and Bleakedgate Moor, above the rugged, upland Piethorne Valley and close to Windy Hill
Windy Hill (Pennines)
Windy Hill is a hill in Greater Manchester, and a part of the South Pennines, in northern England. It is located between the A672 road and Junction 22 of the M62 Motorway, just within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale; West Yorkshire is immediately to the east. A radio transmitter is located at...
. From this point the average height of the land falls gradually towards the direction of Rochdale to the northwest, into a mixture of undulating farmland and suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
ia. Milnrow experiences a temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
maritime climate
Oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
, like much of the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
, with relatively cool summers and mild winters. There is regular but generally light precipitation throughout the year.
In 1855, the poet Edwin Waugh
Edwin Waugh
Edwin Waugh , poet, son of a shoemaker, was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, and, after a little schooling, apprenticed to a printer, Thomas Holden, at the age of 12...
said of Milnow:
Surrounded by open moor and grassland on its northern and eastern sides, Milnrow forms a continuous urban area with neighbouring Rochdale to the west, and, according to the Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
, is part of the Greater Manchester Urban Area
Greater Manchester Urban Area
The Greater Manchester Urban Area is an area of land defined by the Office for National Statistics consisting of the large conurbation that encompasses the city of Manchester and the continuous metropolitan area that spreads outwards from it, forming much of Greater Manchester in North West England...
, the United Kingdom's third largest conurbation.
There are a number of small named-places in and around Milnrow, including Clegg, Firgrove, Gallows, Haugh, Newhey, Kitcliffe, Ogden, and Tunshill
Tunshill
Tunshill is a hamlet at the northeastern edge of Milnrow, within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines, east of Rochdale and north-northeast of Oldham....
. Newhey
Newhey
Newhey is a suburban village in the Milnrow area of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England...
, at the south of Milnrow by Shaw and Crompton
Shaw and Crompton
Shaw and Crompton is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines, north of Oldham, southeast of Rochdale, and to the northeast of the city of Manchester...
, is the most distinct of these areas, and, with its own parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
and railway station, is invariably given as a separate village. The Gallows public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
is said to occupy the land of an ancient execution site; Gallows, a former hamlet at northeastern Milnrow, is named in reference to a baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
ial gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
. Kitcliffe, Ogden and Tunshill, to the east of central Milnrow, are hamlets that occupy the upper, mid and lower Piethorne Valley respectively.
Demography
According to the Office for National StatisticsOffice for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
, at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
, Milnrow (urban-core and sub-area) had a total resident population of 12,541. The electoral ward
Wards of the United Kingdom
A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...
of Milnrow (which has different boundaries) had a population of 11,561. Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary
Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary
Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary is a gazetteer by the publisher Merriam-Webster. The latest edition was released in 2001, edited by Daniel J. Hopkins and contained over 54,000 entries...
(2007) estimated Milnrow's population to be 12,800 in 2001.
Of the residents in the electoral ward of Milnrow, which includes Newhey and the Piethorne Valley, 40.8% were married, 10.3% were cohabiting
Cohabitation
Cohabitation usually refers to an arrangement whereby two people decide to live together on a long-term or permanent basis in an emotionally and/or sexually intimate relationship. The term is most frequently applied to couples who are not married...
couples, and 9.5% were lone parent families. Twenty-seven percent of households were made up of individuals and 13% had someone living alone at pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
able age.
The ethnicity
Ethnic groups of the United Kingdom
People from various ethnic groups reside in the United Kingdom. Migration from what are now the Northern European states has been happening for millennia, with other groups such as British Jews also well established...
of the community was given as 98% white, 0.7% mixed race
Multiracial
The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
, 0.8% Asian, 0.2% black and 0.3% Chinese or other.
The place of birth of the town's residents was 97% United Kingdom (including 95.04% from England), 0.6% Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, 0.5% from other European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
countries, and 2.6% from elsewhere in the world. Religion was recorded as 80% Christian, 0.8% Muslim, 0.1% Hindu, 0.1% Buddhist, and 0.1% Jewish. Some 12.2% were recorded as having no religion, 0.2% had an alternative religion, and 6.1% did not state their religion. Historically, in addition to the established church
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, Nonconformism
Nonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
– particularly Wesleyanism
Wesleyanism
Wesleyanism or Wesleyan theology refers, respectively, to either the eponymous movement of Protestant Christians who have historically sought to follow the methods or theology of the eighteenth-century evangelical reformers, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, or to the likewise eponymous...
– was a branch of Christian theology
Christian theology
- Divisions of Christian theology :There are many methods of categorizing different approaches to Christian theology. For a historical analysis, see the main article on the History of Christian theology.- Sub-disciplines :...
practised in Milnrow by a significant part of the local population.
The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 45% in full-time employment, 12% in part-time employment, 7.7% self-employed, 2.6% unemployed, 2.1% students with jobs, 3.1% students without jobs, 13% retired, 4.6% looking after home or family, 7.4% permanently sick or disabled, and 2.3% economically inactive for other reasons. This was roughly in line with the national figures.
| Year | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1939 | 1951 | 1961 | 1971 | 2001 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 8,241 | 8,584 | 8,390 | 8,623 | 8,265 | 8,587 | 8,129 | 10,345 | 12,541 | ||||
| Source:A Vision of Britain through Time | |||||||||||||
Economy
Prior to deindustrialisation in the late-20th century, Milnrow's economy was linked closely with a spinning and weaving tradition which had evolved from developments in textile manufacture during the Industrial RevolutionTextile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution
The industrial revolution changed the nature of work and society. Opinion varies as to the exact date, but it is estimated that the First Industrial Revolution took place between 1750 and 1850, and the second phase or Second Industrial Revolution between 1860 and 1900. The three key drivers in...
. Industries ancillary to textile production were also operational, such as coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
at Tunshill
Tunshill
Tunshill is a hamlet at the northeastern edge of Milnrow, within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines, east of Rochdale and north-northeast of Oldham....
, and metalworking
Metalworking
Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate jewelry. It therefore includes a correspondingly wide range of skills,...
at Butterworth Hall. Butterworth Hall Colliery was the largest colliery in the Rochdale region, employing around 300 men in 1912. Modern sectors in the area include engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, packaging materials, dye
Dye
A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
ing and finishing, and ink
Ink
Ink is a liquid or paste that contains pigments and/or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing and/or writing with a pen, brush, or quill...
production. The main street comprises a variety of shops, restaurants and food outlets.
The biggest employers are Holroyd Machine Tools, who have been based in the town since they moved from Manchester to Milnrow in 1896. In the early 20th century they operated a foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
in Whitehall Street and employed engineers and apprentices. As of 2006 Holroyd had a workforce of 160, but its parent company Renold PLC employs a further 200 people at a base in there. Global industrial and consumer packaging company Sonoco operate a warehouse in the town.
The Kingsway Business Park will be a 420 acres (1.7 km²) "business-focused, mixed use development" occupying land between Milnrow and Rochdale, adjacent to junction 21 of the M62 motorway
M62 motorway
The M62 motorway is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting the cities of Liverpool and Hull via Manchester and Leeds. The road also forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E20 and E22...
; it is expected to employ 7,250 people directly and 1,750 people indirectly by around 2020. Kingsway Metrolink station
Kingsway Metrolink station
Kingsway Metrolink Station is a future station proposed in Phase 3 of the Manchester Metrolink and will serve Kingsway Business Park between Milnrow and Rochdale...
is a station proposed in Phase 3a of the Manchester Metrolink
Manchester Metrolink
Metrolink is a light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. It consists of four lines which converge in Manchester city centre and terminate in Bury, Altrincham, Eccles and Chorlton-cum-Hardy. The system is owned by Transport for Greater Manchester and operated under contract by RATP Group...
expansion, and will serve Kingsway Business Park.
Landmarks
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
, was built in 1869 and is dedicated to James the Apostle. It is part of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and lies within the Diocese of Manchester
Anglican Diocese of Manchester
The Diocese of Manchester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York, England. Based in the city of Manchester, the diocese covers much of the county of Greater Manchester and small areas of the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.-History:...
. The origins of the church can be traced to a chantry
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
built by the Byrons
Baron Byron
Baron Byron, of Rochdale in the County Palatine of Lancaster, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1643, by letters patent, for Sir John Byron, a Cavalier general and former Member of Parliament...
in the year 1400. When that baronial family moved from Milnrow to another of their homes following the Wars of the Roses
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...
, the local population was left without a place of worship and a chapel was constructed by the River Beal
River Beal
The Beal is a small river in Greater Manchester, England, and is a tributary of the River Roch. It rises in the Beal Valley in green space between Sholver and Royton, before continuing northwards through, Shaw and Crompton, Newhey, Milnrow and Belfield....
to serve this community. This structure existed until the 1790s, when a "poorly designed" chapel was erected and consecrated; however, due to structural weaknesses, that church was demolished in 1814. Following an interim period when a "plain building" was used for worship, the present church building was built and consecrated by the Bishop of Manchester
Bishop of Manchester
The Bishop of Manchester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester in the Province of York.The current bishop is the Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, the 11th Lord Bishop of Manchester, who signs Nigel Manchester. The bishop's official residence is Bishopscourt, Bury New Road,...
on 21 August 1869.
Described as "by far the most distinctive and splendid building in the district", the neo-Gothic
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
Newhey, St Thomas parish church was built in 1876 and served a new Anglican parish of Newhey created in the same year. Dedicated to Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
, it is part of the Church of England, and its patron is the Bishop of Manchester. The church was extensively damaged in an arson attack on 21 December 2007.
War memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in war.-Historic usage:...
was originally sited in central Milnrow, set back from the road near Milnrow Bridge, and was unveiled on 3 August 1924 by Major General A. Solly-Flood, a former commander of 42nd (East Lancashire) Division
42nd (East Lancashire) Division
The 42nd Division was a Territorial Force division of the British Army. Originally called the East Lancashire Division, it was redesignated as the 42nd Division on 25 May 1915. It was the first Territorial division to be sent overseas during the First World War. The division fought at Gallipoli,...
. The memorial is constructed of sandstone surmounted by a bronze statue of a World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
soldier with rifle and fixed bayonet
Bayonet
A bayonet is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear...
symbolic of the young manhood of the district in the early days of World War I. In selecting the design the Milnrow War Memorial Committee was influenced by the statue unveiled at Waterhead in Oldham
Waterhead, Greater Manchester
Waterhead , is an area of Oldham, and an electoral ward of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England...
; the work of George Thomas. Thomas sculpted Milnrow's memorial in 1923. The plinth holds bronze and slate panels recording the names of those who died in the two World Wars.
Clegg Hall
Clegg Hall
Clegg Hall is a 17th-century hall in Littleborough, Greater Manchester . It is situated just outside Smithy Bridge, Greater Manchester.The "Clegg" in the name of the current hall refers to the location rather than the local family by the same surname – the house was built by a Theophilus...
is a 17th-century hall and Grade II* listed building situated in green space
Open space reserve
Open space reserve, open space preserve, and open space reservation, are planning and conservation ethics terms used to describe areas of protected or conserved land or water on which development is indefinitely set aside...
between Milnrow, Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
and Littleborough. It was constructed in about 1610 for Theophilus Aston and may have been built on the site of a mediaeval house and inn.
In Newhey is the Ellenroad Steam Museum, the retained engine house, boiler house, chimney and steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
of Ellenroad Mill, a former 1892-built cotton mill
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
designed by Sir Philip Stott, 1st Baronet
Sir Philip Stott, 1st Baronet
Sir Philip Sidney Stott, 1st Baronet , usually known as Sidney Stott until 1920, was an English architect, civil engineer and surveyor....
. Now operated as an industrial heritage
Industrial heritage
Industrial heritage is an aspect of cultural heritage dealing specifically with the buildings and artifacts of industry which are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations, often forming a significant attraction for tourism.The...
centre, the mill itself is no longer standing, but the steam engine (the world’s largest working steam mill engine) is maintained and steamed once a month by the Ellenroad Trust. The museum has the only fully working cotton mill engine with its original steam-raising plant in the world. Ellenroad Mill produced fine cotton yarn
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
using mule spinning
Spinning mule
The spinning mule was a machine used to spin cotton and other fibres in the mills of Lancashire and elsewhere from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century. Mules were worked in pairs by a minder, with the help of two boys: the little piecer and the big or side piecer...
.
Hollingworth Lake
Hollingworth Lake
Hollingworth Lake is a reservoir in the Hollingworth area of Littleborough — part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. Also known as the Weaver's Seaport, Hollingworth Lake was originally built as the main water source for the Rochdale Canal, but forms part of...
lies beyond Milnrow, by Littleborough and is part of a local country park
Country park
A country park is an area designated for people to visit and enjoy recreation in a countryside environment.-History:In the United Kingdom the term 'Country Park' has a special meaning. There are over 400 Country Parks in England alone . Most Country Parks were designated in the 1970s, under the...
. It was built in 1801 as a feeder reservoir for the Rochdale Canal
Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes....
, but it soon became a tourist destination for local people during their leisure time. The lake covers an area of 130 acre (0.5260918 km²) and the path around it originally measured 2.5 miles (4 km).
Transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
in Milnrow is co-ordinated by Transport for Greater Manchester, and services include bus and rail transport. Major A roads link Milnrow with other settlements, including the A640 road
A640 road
The A640 is a road in England which runs between Rochdale in Greater Manchester and Huddersfield in West Yorkshire.The Rochdale terminus is the junction of Drake Street and Manchester Road...
, which forms a route from Rochdale and over the Pennines into Huddersfield
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....
and West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
.
Milnrow railway station
Milnrow railway station
Milnrow railway station which opened on 2 November 1863 served the town of Milnrow, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England...
was on the Oldham Loop Line which connected Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
and Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
. The station was constructed in 1862 by navvies drafted by contractors under the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...
. On 12 August 1863, the line was opened to commercial traffic and 2 November 1863, to passenger trains. Milnrow station was originally staffed, and the line through it was dual-track; however this section was reduced to single-track in 1980. Milnrow railway station closed on 3 October 2009 to be converted for use with an expanded Manchester Metrolink
Manchester Metrolink
Metrolink is a light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. It consists of four lines which converge in Manchester city centre and terminate in Bury, Altrincham, Eccles and Chorlton-cum-Hardy. The system is owned by Transport for Greater Manchester and operated under contract by RATP Group...
network. The station is planned to reopen in 2012 as Milnrow Metrolink station; also opening at this time will be Kingsway Metrolink station
Kingsway Metrolink station
Kingsway Metrolink Station is a future station proposed in Phase 3 of the Manchester Metrolink and will serve Kingsway Business Park between Milnrow and Rochdale...
and New Hey railway station
New Hey railway station
New Hey railway station, known by its archaist name, which opened on 2 November 1863 served Newhey, a suburb of Milnrow in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England ....
.
Milnrow is situated at Junction 21 of the trans-Pennine M62 motorway
M62 motorway
The M62 motorway is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting the cities of Liverpool and Hull via Manchester and Leeds. The road also forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E20 and E22...
. Construction of the Milnrow part of the M62 began in April 1967, a process which spread mud and dirt throughout the town. The official opening of the motorway on 13 October 1971 was by Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
, who was welcomed by Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe
Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe
Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe PC was a British Conservative Party politician.He was Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe from 1934 to 1945, for the City of London from 1945 to 1950, and for Blackburn West from 1950 to 1955.In the wartime government under Winston Churchill, he was Minister of...
in his role as Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire
Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire
This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire.-References:* The Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire, Lancashire County Council...
, as well as the Chairman of Milnrow Urban District Council and his wife. Once opened, the Queen cast aside protocol for an informal meeting with the people of Milnrow.
The Rochdale Canal
Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is a navigable "broad" canal in northern England, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. The "Rochdale" in its name refers to the town of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, through which the canal passes....
—one of the major navigable broad canals of Great Britain—passes along Milnrow's north-western boundary which divides it from the village of Wardle and districts of Belfield
Belfield, Greater Manchester
Belfield is a locality within Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Beal and River Roch, east-northeast of Rochdale's town centre...
and Castleton
Castleton, Greater Manchester
Castleton is an area of Rochdale and an electoral ward of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It is south-southwest of Rochdale town centre and north-northwest of the city of Manchester....
in Rochdale. The Rochdale Canal was historically used as a highway of commerce for the haulage of cotton, wool, and coal to and from the area.
Bus services operate to Rochdale, Newhey, Oldham, Manchester and Littleborough, mainly operated by First Manchester
First Manchester
First Manchester is one of the bus companies serving Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. It forms part of FirstGroup, a company operating transport services across the British Isles and in North America...
.
Education
The Free School of Milnrow was founded in 1726. From 1739 until his death in 1786 the schoolmasterSchoolmaster
A schoolmaster, or simply master, once referred to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British public schools, but is generally obsolete elsewhere.The teacher in charge of a school is the headmaster...
was the caricaturist John Collier
John Collier (caricaturist)
John Collier was an English caricaturist and satirical poet known by the pseudonym of Tim Bobbin, or Timothy Bobbin. Collier styled himself as the Lancashire Hogarth....
. Newhey Council School was constructed in 1911. Milnrow St James School evolved into the modern primary school, Milnrow Parish Church of England Primary. It is a denominational school with the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, linked with Milnrow's Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
parish church, St James's. There are further primary schools, in central Milnrow named Moorhouse County Primary and Crossgates County Primary, and at Newhey named Newhey Community Primary, all of which are non-denominational. Hollingworth Business and Enterprise College (formerly Hollingworth High) is a secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in Milnrow. It is a co-educational school of non-denominational religion, and was given Business and Enterprise College
Business and Enterprise College
Business and Enterprise Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields...
status under the Specialist School Programme
Specialist school
The specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...
. Other learning facilities in Milnrow include a 1907-built Carnegie library
Carnegie library
A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems...
.
Sports
Milnrow C.C.Milnrow C.C.
Milnrow Cricket Club, based in Milnrow, an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, are an English cricket team who as of 2011 play in the Central Lancashire League ....
is a cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
club based at Ladyhouse in Milnrow, and which has played in the Central Lancashire Cricket League
Central Lancashire Cricket League
The Central Lancashire League is a fifteen team cricket league, traditionally based in Lancashire, England. It is now based around Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire. The league runs competitions at First Team, Second Team, Third Team, Under 18, Under 15, Under 13 and Under 11 levels.The...
since its foundation in 1892. Milnrow C.C. formed in 1857 from a group of local businessmen who felt the district deserved its own distinct team. Members of the club were recruited and teams were selected to play other clubs in the surrounding townships.
The Soccer Village consists of four indoor pitches in an arena with grandstand spectator seating for 300. It is used for casual, amateur and organised leagues and tournaments.
There has been a golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
at Tunshill
Tunshill
Tunshill is a hamlet at the northeastern edge of Milnrow, within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines, east of Rochdale and north-northeast of Oldham....
since 1901. It is affiliated with the English Golf Union
English Golf Union
The English Golf Union is the governing body for men's and boys' amateur golf in England. It represents over 1,900 golf clubs with over 740,000 members and is affiliated to The R&A, which is the global governing body of golf outside the United States and Mexico.The English Golf Union was founded in...
.
New Milnrow and Newhey Rugby League Club is the local Rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
team.
Public services
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
policing in Milnrow is provided by the Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police is the police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England...
. The force's "(P) Division" have their headquarters for policing the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
The Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after its largest town, Rochdale, but spans a far larger area which includes the towns of Middleton, Heywood, Littleborough and Milnrow, and the village of Wardle.The borough was...
in Rochdale and the nearest police station is at Littleborough to the north. Statutory emergency fire and rescue service
Fire service in the United Kingdom
The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales...
is provided by the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England.Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service covers an area of approximately...
, which has one station in Rochdale on Maclure Road.
There are no hospitals in Milnrow—the nearest are in the larger settlements of Oldham and Rochdale. The Rochdale Infirmary in north-central Rochdale and Birch Hill Hospital near the villages of Wardle and Littleborough, are NHS
National Health Service (England)
The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...
hospitals administrated by Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Pennine Care NHS Trust is a NHS Trust established in April 2002 and became the 100th trust to be awarded Foundation status in July 2008.The Trust provides community and mental health services in Bury, Oldham and the Rochdale borough, as well as mental health services in Stockport and Tameside and...
. Birch Hill occupies the former Rochdale Union Workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
at Dearnley. The North West Ambulance Service
North West Ambulance Service
The North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust was formed on 1 July 2006 as part of Health Minister Lord Warner's plans to reduce the number of NHS ambulance service trusts operating in the United Kingdom....
provides emergency patient transport.
Waste management
Waste management
Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal,managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics...
is co-ordinated by the local authority via the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority
Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority
The Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority is a waste disposal authority created under the Local Government Act 1985 to carry out the waste management functions and duties of the Greater Manchester County Council after its abolition in 1986....
. Milnrow's Distribution Network Operator
Distribution Network Operator
Distribution network operators are companies licensed to distribute electricity in Great Britain by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets....
for electricity is United Utilities
United Utilities
United Utilities Group PLC is the UK's largest listed water business. The Group owns and manages the regulated water and waste water network in the north west England, through it subsidiary United Utilities Water PLC , which is responsible for the vast majority of the group's assets and...
; there are no power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
s in the area, but a Wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
exists on Scout Moor which consists of 26 turbines on the high moors between Rawtenstall
Rawtenstall
Rawtenstall is a town at the centre of the Rossendale Valley, in Lancashire, England. It is the seat for the Borough of Rossendale, in which it is located. The town lies 18 miles north of Manchester, 22 miles east of the county town of Preston and 45 miles south east of Lancaster...
and Rochdale, generating 65MW of electricity. United Utilities also manages Milnrow's drinking
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
and waste water; water supplies are sourced from several local reservoirs, including Kitcliffe
Kitcliffe Reservoir
Kitcliffe Reservoir is a reservoir in Piethorne Valley in between Ogden and Piethorne Reservoirs in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, within Greater Manchester, England....
, Piethorne
Piethorne Reservoir
Piethorne Reservoir is the largest of several reservoirs in the Piethorne Valley above Milnrow, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. It was built in 1866....
and Rooden
Rooden Reservoir
Rooden Reservoir is a reservoir in the Piethorne Valley in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, within Greater Manchester, England. It is close to Denshaw in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham....
in Milnrow's outlying moorland between Newhey
Newhey
Newhey is a suburban village in the Milnrow area of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England...
and Denshaw
Denshaw
Denshaw is a village in Saddleworth—a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies by the source of the River Tame, high amongst the Pennines above the village of Delph, northeast of Oldham, and north-northwest of Uppermill...
.
Notable people
John CollierJohn Collier (caricaturist)
John Collier was an English caricaturist and satirical poet known by the pseudonym of Tim Bobbin, or Timothy Bobbin. Collier styled himself as the Lancashire Hogarth....
(who wrote under the pseudonym of Tim Bobbin) was an acclaimed 18th-century caricaturist and satirical poet who was raised and spent all his adult life in Milnrow. Born in Urmston
Urmston
Urmston is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of around 41,000. Historically a part of Lancashire, it lies about six miles to the southwest of Manchester city centre. The southern boundary is marked by the River Mersey and the...
in 1708, Collier was schoolmaster
Schoolmaster
A schoolmaster, or simply master, once referred to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British public schools, but is generally obsolete elsewhere.The teacher in charge of a school is the headmaster...
for Milnrow. Inspired by William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
, Collier's work savagely lampooned the behaviour of upper
Upper class
In social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
and lower classes alike, and was written in a strong Lancashire dialect
Lancashire dialect and accent
Lancashire dialect and accent refers to the vernacular speech in Lancashire, one of the counties of England. Simon Elmes' book Talking for Britain said that Lancashire dialect is now much less common than it once was, but it is not yet extinct...
. Many of his works and personal possessions are preserved in Milnrow's library, and he is commemorated in the name of a "prominent pub" in central Milnrow. Francis Robert Raines
Francis Robert Raines
Francis Robert Raines was the Anglican vicar of Milnrow, Lancashire, known as an antiquary. He edited 23 volumes for the Chetham Society publications. He also transcribed 44 volumes of manuscripts.-Early life:...
(1805–1878) was the Anglican vicar of Milnrow, and an antiquary. He edited 23 volumes for the Chetham Society publications. He was ordained in 1828, and after short appointments at Saddleworth
Saddleworth
Saddleworth is a civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. It comprises several villages and hamlets amongst the west side of the Pennine hills: Uppermill, Greenfield, Dobcross, Delph, Diggle and others...
and Rochdale, he was vicar at Milnrow for the rest of his life. John Milne
John Milne
For other uses, see John Milne .John Milne was the British geologist and mining engineer who worked on a horizontal seismograph.-Biography:...
was a professor, geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
and mining engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
who invented a pioneering seismograph (known as the Milne-Shaw seismograph) to detect and measure earthquakes. Although born in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
in 1850 owing to a brief visit there by his parents, Milne was raised in Rochdale and at Tunshill in Milnrow. Other notable people of Milnrow include Lizzy Bardsley
Lizzy Bardsley
Elizabeth "Lizzy" Bardsley is an English media and television personality who rose to fame after appearing in the Channel 4 series Wife Swap in 2003...
, who, in 2003, gained fame from appearing on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's Wife Swap
Wife Swap
Wife Swap is a reality television program, originally produced by UK independent television production company RDF Media and created by Stephen Lambert. It was first broadcast in 2003 on the UK's Channel 4. Since 2004, a US version has also been broadcast on the ABC network...
.
External links
- www.ellenroad.org.uk, Ellenroad Engine House website.
- www.milnrow.com, a website about Milnrow.
- www.milnrowband.org.uk, past, present and future of the United Co-op Milnrow Band.
- www.link4life.org, the history of Milnrow and Newhey.