Anglezarke
Encyclopedia
Anglezarke is a sparsely populated civil parish in the Borough of Chorley
in Lancashire
, England. It is dominated by reservoirs that were built to supply water to Liverpool
, and a large expanse of moorland with evidence of Bronze Age
settlements. Popular with walkers and tourists, it lies in the West Pennine Moors
in Lancashire, sandwiched between the moors of Withnell
and Rivington
, and is close to the towns of Chorley
, Horwich
and Darwen
. At the 2001 census it had a population of 23.
Quarrying the hard millstone grit
for building and paving, mining for lead
and minerals, some small scale coal
mining and hill farming
were important in Anglezarke particularly from the 17th to the 19th centuries. There is no village, the settlement consisted of scattered farms with the hamlet
of White Coppice
close to the quarries. The area was subjected to depopulation after the reservoirs were built.
elements. In the first part comes from the name Anlaf, a form of the popular Scandinavia
n personal name of Olav. In the second part comes from the Old Norse
word erg or the Brythonic word cognate with Gaelic
word àiridh (dialect
al arke or argh) both meaning a 'hill pasture or shieling'. The two elements together mean 'Anlaf's hill pasture' - i.e. 'the hill pasture belonging to Anlaf'. The earliest spelling of the name was in 1202 when it was recorded as 'Andelevesarewe'. By 1225 this had become 'Anlavesargh', in 1351 'Anlasargh', and by 1559 'Anlazarghe'.
period, dated to 8th millennium BC
. Other sites include Pikestones
, a Neolithic
burial cairn
, and Round Loaf
, a Bronze Age tumulus
which can be seen from the route across Great Hill
from White Coppice.
s of land to Robert de Lathom for an annual rent of 3s
. In 1339 Edward III
granted free warren in Anglezarke to Thomas de Lathum. In 1298 Sir Robert Fitzhenry, Lord of Lathom gifted land as perpetual alms
to Burscough Priory
who earned income from rents, a confirmation charter was granted by Henry V
in 1422. The Knights Hospitallers held land at Anglezarke. In 1406 John of Stanley granted his property in the township held of William of Fulthorp to Edward of Lathom.
Anglezarke became a manor by custom in the 17th century, the manor court was a court baron
. In 1600 the Earl of Derby
, Thomas Ireland and Michaell Doughtye of Lathom sold the manor to London merchant, Frances Mosseley and Edward Mosseley of Grays Inn. In the 17th century the Standishes purchased the Stanley rights to the manor. In 1693 Dame Margaret Standish and her son Sir Thomas petitioned the House of Lords
against Lord Willoughby
for the redemption of a mortgage on the manor and lead mines. In 1721 Sir Thomas Standish leased common land
near White and Black Coppice to Sir Henry Hoghton of Hoghton Tower
for 21 years. In the mid 19th century land in the township was chiefly the property of William Standish who was lord of the manor. Percival Sumner Mayhew bought the Standish share in 1898 and held rights to shoot game
at the common near White and Black Coppice during his lifetime. At the turn of the 20th century Liverpool Corporation acquired a large part of the land to protect the Rivington water supply and many properties were demolished leaving only one or two working farms.
The Manor House, now a Grade II Listed building was formerly known as High Bullough, from a family of that name. It has a 1604 date stone and other stones inscribed "RS", "W S" and "WL 1778".
It is possible that lead
was mined during the Roman
occupation of Britain. A mine was started in 1692 by Sir Richard Standish in partnership with two farmers and a mining engineer and after several failures lead was extracted. In 1694 Richard Standish declared in the Chancery Court
that he could not sign over the mines to his wife as he was a tenant. After his death, his widow claimed the profits but lost the resultant court case and flooded the mines by diverting a stream. The operation restarted and was expanded and in 1788-1789, 73 tons of lead were produced. In the 1790s copper
and galena
were produced. Production ended in 1837 when a lease, granted by Frank Hall Standish in 1823 to the Thompsons of Wigan was relinquished and the unsuccessful enterprise was abandoned. Lead Mines Clough had numerous shafts up to 240 feet deep and on the site was a smelting mill, a smithy and a waterwheel provided power. There are remains of bell pit
s at Dean Brook and spoil heaps containing traces of barites, calcite and galena. The mines were sealed in 1930 but there has been speculation that the site was part of a secret operation in 1940.
The mineral witherite
(barium carbonate
) was discovered in spoil from the mines in the 18th century. It was distinct from other sources as it contained above two per cent of carbonate of strontites. Up to this time witherite was considered worthless and used as rat poison by locals. Josiah Wedgwood
used it to manufacture Jasper ware and tried to keep the source secret, but after a visit in 1782 by two Frenchmen, a local farmer, James Smithels, exported the mineral to Germany, charging five guineas
per ton.
There was a cotton mill
at White Coppice owned by Roger Lester at the start of the Industrial Revolution
originally powered by a waterwheel and later by a steam engine. Around 1900 the mill was owned by Alfred Ephraim Eccles a supporter of the Temperance movement
.
A major contributor to the economy in the 19th century was Lester or Leicester Mill Quarry which supplied hard gritstone
flags for paving the streets of the growing industrialised towns. The quarry, named after the millowner in the 18th century, is no longer operational. Millstones were produced at Black Coppice, where some remain.
Coal was mined for local or personal use from drift mines
where the coal seam outcropped from Fletcher Bank to Great Hill. The Margery Mine near White Coppice and the Sandbrook Mine in the Yarrow Valley were mined by six men in the 19th century. Drifts were opened up by locals during the 1926 General Strike.
In 1850 Thomas Pilkington of the Manor House sold land to Chorley Water Company to build High Bullough Reservoir
, the first reservoir in the area. Demand for stone increased with the building of the Anglezarke Reservoir
, the largest in the Rivington Reservoir Chain in the 1850s. Construction of the Yarrow Reservoir
designed by Liverpool's Borough Engineer, Thomas Duncan, began in 1867. It is fed from the River Yarrow
and Limestone Brook which have their sources on Anglezarke Moor.
. Unexploded ordnance
was cleared in 1946.
On 16 November 1943, a Wellington Bomber Zulu 8799 crashed into Hurst Hill
, just north of Winter Hill
, killing all onboard. The aircraft was flying from Wymeswold
in Leicestershire
on a Bullseye
exercise. The pilot of the plane was Joseph B Timperon from Ardrossan in South Australia, Australia
. Each year on Remembrance Sunday
, a service is held at the Wellington Bomber Memorial at Lead Mines Clough, next to Limestone Brook.
in the ancient parish
of Bolton le Moors
, itself part of the hundred
of Salford
in Lancashire
. In 1837, Anglezarke joined with other township
s (or civil parishes) in the area to form the Chorley
Poor Law Union
which took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law
in that area. In 1866, Anglezarke became a civil parish. It became part of the Chorley
Rural Sanitary District
from 1875 to 1894, and then part of the Chorley
Rural District
from 1894 to 1974. Since 1974, Anglezarke has been a civil parish of the Borough of Chorley
.
Anglezarke is part of the Chorley
parliamentary constituency, which elected Lindsay Hoyle
as Member of Parliament for the Labour party at the 2010 General Election.
on the western slopes of the West Pennine Moors
reaching about 1,000 feet above sea level. Anglezarke is a settlement of scattered farmhouses with no village centre. The hamlet of White Coppice
where there was a cotton mill
is in the north-west corner, and Hempshaws, now in ruins, in the south-east. The township is crossed by a minor road on the western border from Rivington to Heapey
. The underlying rocks are millstone grit
and sandstones of the lower Lower Coal Measures
. There were several quarries whose stone was used for road-making and lead mines. The source of the River Yarrow is at Will Narr on Anglezarke Moor. The west of the area is dominated by the Anglezarke and Yarrow Reservoirs.
In the early 20th century Foggs Buildings, close to Peewet Hall, was vacated. The land was farmed by the Cocker family in the 18th century and by the Pilkingtons in the early 19th century. As properties were abandoned and left to become derelict the population declined The remote farms are now landmarks for walkers and geocachers
.
The remains of Lower and Higher Hempshaw's, farms, inhabited by the Kershaws in the 19th century, are located by a tributary of the River Yarrow which is 300 metres to the southwest. Jepson's Farm and Jepson's Gate are waypoint
s en-route to Pikestones
. The last occupants of Old Rachel's were the Evans family in the 1880s. Simms is located on a private track and footpath. The property which got its water from Green Withins Brook
, a tributary of the River Yarrow, was occupied by the Chairman of Horwich
Urban District Council in 1928-29.
Waterman's Cottage is at the north end of Anglezarke Reservoir. Shorrocks was occupied by Abel Pilkington until his death in 1888, its ruins are by the bridge at White Coppice ponds at the north end of the reservoir.
and has been used for training by serious climbers such as Sir Chris Bonington
. Cricket
is played at White Coppice. The area was the location for the 2002 Commonwealth Games
Mountain Biking
competition. There is an extensive network of footpaths providing public access for hikers.
Anglezarke Quarry was used for filming the TV series Jewel in the Crown in 1984. Anglezarke is a setting in the book, "The Spook's Secret
" by Joseph Delaney
. Musician and poet, Richard Skelton
used the Anglezarke landscape to inspire his writing and music.
Chorley (borough)
Chorley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Chorley.-Creation:...
in 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...
, England. It is dominated by reservoirs that were built to supply water to 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...
, and a large expanse of moorland with evidence of Bronze Age
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...
settlements. Popular with walkers and tourists, it lies in the West Pennine Moors
West Pennine Moors
The West Pennine Moors cover an area of approximately of moorland and reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England.The West Pennine Moors are separated from the main Pennine range by the Irwell Valley. The moorland includes Withnell, Anglezarke and Rivington Moors in the extreme west,...
in Lancashire, sandwiched between the moors of Withnell
Withnell
Withnell is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 3,631. Withnell is about five miles north-east of Chorley itself and about away from Blackburn. It constituted an urban district from 1894 to 1974...
and Rivington
Rivington
Rivington is a small village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, occupying . It is about southeast of Chorley and about northwest of Bolton. Rivington is situated on the fringe of the West Pennine Moors, at the foot of Rivington Pike...
, and is close to the towns of Chorley
Chorley
Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry...
, Horwich
Horwich
Horwich is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest from the city of Manchester. It lies at the southern edge of the West Pennine Moors with the M61 motorway close to the...
and Darwen
Darwen
Darwen is a market town and civil parish located within Lancashire, England. Along with its northerly neighbour, Blackburn, it forms the Borough of Blackburn with Darwen — a unitary authority area...
. At the 2001 census it had a population of 23.
Quarrying the hard millstone grit
Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit is the name given to any of a number of coarse-grained sandstones of Carboniferous age which occur in the Northern England. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills...
for building and paving, mining for lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
and minerals, some small scale coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
mining and hill farming
Hill farming
Hill farming is extensive farming in upland areas, primarily rearing sheep, although historically cattle was often reared more intensively.Cattle farming is usually restricted by a scarcity of winter fodder, and sheep stocks, grazing at about 2 hectares per head, are often taken to lowland areas...
were important in Anglezarke particularly from the 17th to the 19th centuries. There is no village, the settlement consisted of scattered farms with the hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
of White Coppice
White Coppice
White Coppice is a hamlet near Chorley, Lancashire, England. It was the most populated part of the township of Anglezarke in the 19th century. Close to the settlement in the early 19th century were quarries and small coal mines. The hamlet lies to the north of Anglezarke Reservoir in the Rivington...
close to the quarries. The area was subjected to depopulation after the reservoirs were built.
Toponymy
The name Anglezarke is derived from two Norse-GaelicNorse-Gaels
The Norse–Gaels were a people who dominated much of the Irish Sea region, including the Isle of Man, and western Scotland for a part of the Middle Ages; they were of Gaelic and Scandinavian origin and as a whole exhibited a great deal of Gaelic and Norse cultural syncretism...
elements. In the first part comes from the name Anlaf, a form of the popular Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n personal name of Olav. In the second part comes from the Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
word erg or the Brythonic word cognate with Gaelic
Goidelic languages
The Goidelic languages or Gaelic languages are one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland through the Isle of Man to the north of Scotland...
word àiridh (dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
al arke or argh) both meaning a 'hill pasture or shieling'. The two elements together mean 'Anlaf's hill pasture' - i.e. 'the hill pasture belonging to Anlaf'. The earliest spelling of the name was in 1202 when it was recorded as 'Andelevesarewe'. By 1225 this had become 'Anlavesargh', in 1351 'Anlasargh', and by 1559 'Anlazarghe'.
Early history
Human activity around Anglezarke can be traced to pre-historic times. Rushey Brow on Anglezarke Moor has a site of special archaeological interest, a working floor from the MesolithicMesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
period, dated to 8th millennium BC
8th millennium BC
In the 8th millennium BC, agriculture became widely practised in the Fertile Crescent and Anatolia.Pottery became widespread and animal husbandry spread to Africa and Eurasia. World population was approximately 5 million.-Events:*c. 8000 BC—The last glacial period ends.*c...
. Other sites include Pikestones
Pikestones
Pikestones is the remains of a Neolithic Burial Cairn, located on Anglezarke moor in Lancashire, England. The site is approximately 150 feet long and 60 feet across at its widest point...
, a Neolithic
Neolithic
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...
burial cairn
Chambered cairn
A chambered cairn is a burial monument, usually constructed during the Neolithic, consisting of a cairn of stones inside which a sizeable chamber was constructed. Some chambered cairns are also passage-graves....
, and Round Loaf
Round Loaf
Round Loaf is a Neolithic or Bronze Age tumulus on the West Pennine Moors on Anglezarke Moor, within the locale of Chorley in Lancashire, England.It is the largest of its type in the North West of England, dating back 3500 years...
, a Bronze Age tumulus
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...
which can be seen from the route across Great Hill
Great Hill
Great Hill is a hill in Lancashire on Anglezarke Moor, between the towns of Chorley and Darwen. It is part of the West Pennine Moors and lies approximately 3 miles north of Winter Hill, which is the highest point in the area at 456 m ....
from White Coppice.
Manor
Anglezarke was dependent on the barony of Manchester. Albert Grelley gave two oxgangOxgang
An oxgang or bovate is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, and so could be as low as 15.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:...
s of land to Robert de Lathom for an annual rent of 3s
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
. In 1339 Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
granted free warren in Anglezarke to Thomas de Lathum. In 1298 Sir Robert Fitzhenry, Lord of Lathom gifted land as perpetual alms
Alms
Alms or almsgiving is a religious rite which, in general, involves giving materially to another as an act of religious virtue.It exists in a number of religions. In Philippine Regions, alms are given as charity to benefit the poor. In Buddhism, alms are given by lay people to monks and nuns to...
to Burscough Priory
Burscough Priory
Burscough Priory, at Burscough, Lancashire, England, was founded in c. 1190 by Robert Fitz-Henry, Lord of Lathom for Augustinian canons. It was dissolved c.1536 by Henry VIII although some remains still exist...
who earned income from rents, a confirmation charter was granted by Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
in 1422. The Knights Hospitallers held land at Anglezarke. In 1406 John of Stanley granted his property in the township held of William of Fulthorp to Edward of Lathom.
Anglezarke became a manor by custom in the 17th century, the manor court was a court baron
Court baron
A Court baron is an English or Scottish manorial court dating from the Middle Ages.It was laid down by Sir Edward Coke that a manor had two courts, "the first by the common law, and is called a court baron," the freeholders being its suitors; the other a customary court for the copyholders...
. In 1600 the Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the end of the reign of Henry III and died in 1279...
, Thomas Ireland and Michaell Doughtye of Lathom sold the manor to London merchant, Frances Mosseley and Edward Mosseley of Grays Inn. In the 17th century the Standishes purchased the Stanley rights to the manor. In 1693 Dame Margaret Standish and her son Sir Thomas petitioned the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
against Lord Willoughby
Hugh Willoughby, 12th Baron Willoughby of Parham
Hugh Willoughby, 12th Baron Willoughby of Parham was an English peer of the House of Lords. He was the eldest son of Thomas Willoughby, 11th Baron Willoughby of Parham and his wife Eleanor, daughter of Hugh Whittle of Horwich...
for the redemption of a mortgage on the manor and lead mines. In 1721 Sir Thomas Standish leased common land
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
near White and Black Coppice to Sir Henry Hoghton of Hoghton Tower
Hoghton Tower
Hoghton Tower is fortified manor house near the village of Hoghton in the Borough of Chorley to the east of Preston in Lancashire, England. It has been the ancestral home of the De Hoghton family since the time of William the Conqueror. It features a mile long driveway to the main gates...
for 21 years. In the mid 19th century land in the township was chiefly the property of William Standish who was lord of the manor. Percival Sumner Mayhew bought the Standish share in 1898 and held rights to shoot game
Game preservation
Game preservation is maintaining a stock of game to be hunted legally. It includes:*Preventing poaching*Preventing losses due to attack by predators.*Encouraging breeding, and sometimes captive breeding for release.-Game preservation in Britain:...
at the common near White and Black Coppice during his lifetime. At the turn of the 20th century Liverpool Corporation acquired a large part of the land to protect the Rivington water supply and many properties were demolished leaving only one or two working farms.
The Manor House, now a Grade II Listed building was formerly known as High Bullough, from a family of that name. It has a 1604 date stone and other stones inscribed "RS", "W S" and "WL 1778".
Industry
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
was mined during the Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
occupation of Britain. A mine was started in 1692 by Sir Richard Standish in partnership with two farmers and a mining engineer and after several failures lead was extracted. In 1694 Richard Standish declared in the Chancery Court
Chancery Court
The Chancery Court of York is an ecclesiastical court for the Province of York of the Church of England.The presiding officer, the Official Principal and Auditor, has been the same person as the Dean of the Arches since the nineteenth century . The Court comprises the Auditor, two clergy and two...
that he could not sign over the mines to his wife as he was a tenant. After his death, his widow claimed the profits but lost the resultant court case and flooded the mines by diverting a stream. The operation restarted and was expanded and in 1788-1789, 73 tons of lead were produced. In the 1790s copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and galena
Galena
Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral.Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms...
were produced. Production ended in 1837 when a lease, granted by Frank Hall Standish in 1823 to the Thompsons of Wigan was relinquished and the unsuccessful enterprise was abandoned. Lead Mines Clough had numerous shafts up to 240 feet deep and on the site was a smelting mill, a smithy and a waterwheel provided power. There are remains of bell pit
Bell pit
A bell pit is a primitive method of mining coal, iron ore or other minerals where the coal or ore lies near the surface.. A shaft is sunk to reach the mineral which is excavated by miners transported to the surface by a winch and removed by means of a bucket, much like a well. It gets its name...
s at Dean Brook and spoil heaps containing traces of barites, calcite and galena. The mines were sealed in 1930 but there has been speculation that the site was part of a secret operation in 1940.
The mineral witherite
Witherite
Witherite is a barium carbonate mineral, BaCO3, in the aragonite group. Witherite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and virtually always is twinned. The mineral is colorless, milky white, grey, pale yellow, green, to pale brown. The specific gravity is 4.3, which is high for a translucent...
(barium carbonate
Barium carbonate
Barium carbonate , also known as witherite, is a chemical compound used in rat poison, bricks, ceramic glazes and cement.Witherite crystallizes in the orthorhombic system...
) was discovered in spoil from the mines in the 18th century. It was distinct from other sources as it contained above two per cent of carbonate of strontites. Up to this time witherite was considered worthless and used as rat poison by locals. Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood was an English potter, founder of the Wedgwood company, credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery. A prominent abolitionist, Wedgwood is remembered for his "Am I Not A Man And A Brother?" anti-slavery medallion. He was a member of the Darwin–Wedgwood family...
used it to manufacture Jasper ware and tried to keep the source secret, but after a visit in 1782 by two Frenchmen, a local farmer, James Smithels, exported the mineral to Germany, charging five guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
per ton.
There was a 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....
at White Coppice owned by Roger Lester at the start 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...
originally powered by a waterwheel and later by a steam engine. Around 1900 the mill was owned by Alfred Ephraim Eccles a supporter of the Temperance movement
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
.
A major contributor to the economy in the 19th century was Lester or Leicester Mill Quarry which supplied hard gritstone
Gritstone
Gritstone or Grit is a hard, coarse-grained, siliceous sandstone. This term is especially applied to such sandstones that are quarried for building material. British gritstone was used for millstones to mill flour, to grind wood into pulp for paper and for grindstones to sharpen blades. "Grit" is...
flags for paving the streets of the growing industrialised towns. The quarry, named after the millowner in the 18th century, is no longer operational. Millstones were produced at Black Coppice, where some remain.
Coal was mined for local or personal use from drift mines
Drift mining
Drift mining is either the mining of a placer deposit by underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. Drift is a more general mining term, meaning a near-horizontal passageway in a mine, following the bed or vein of ore. A...
where the coal seam outcropped from Fletcher Bank to Great Hill. The Margery Mine near White Coppice and the Sandbrook Mine in the Yarrow Valley were mined by six men in the 19th century. Drifts were opened up by locals during the 1926 General Strike.
Reservoirs
High Bullough Reservoir
High Bullough reservoir is the oldest of all the reservoirs in the Rivington chain. Popular with walkers, it forms part of the Anglezarke trail, although it is also accessible from Manor House. Originally named as Chorley reservoir, it has since been disconnected from the rest of the system and...
, the first reservoir in the area. Demand for stone increased with the building of the Anglezarke Reservoir
Anglezarke Reservoir
Anglezarke Reservoir is the largest reservoir in the Rivington chain to the west of Anglezarke in Lancashire, England. Anglezarke Reservoir has three embankments, the longest, the Charnock Embankment is 777 metres long and 9.45 metres high, the Knowsley Embankment is 219.5 metres long and 14...
, the largest in the Rivington Reservoir Chain in the 1850s. Construction of the Yarrow Reservoir
Yarrow Reservoir
Yarrow Reservoir - named after the River Yarrow - is a reservoir in the Rivington chain in Anglezarke, Lancashire, England, and has a storage capacity second to Anglezarke Reservoir...
designed by Liverpool's Borough Engineer, Thomas Duncan, began in 1867. It is fed from the River Yarrow
River Yarrow (Lancashire)
The River Yarrow is in Lancashire, with its source at an area called Will Narr at Hordern Stoops, along Spitlers Edge - the Chorley/Blackburn boundary - on the West Pennine Moors. The river feeds the Yarrow Reservoir, which in turn feeds the Anglezarke and Upper and Lower Rivington Reservoirs...
and Limestone Brook which have their sources on Anglezarke Moor.
Second World War
The area was used for food production and military training in World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Unexploded ordnance
Unexploded ordnance
Unexploded ordnance are explosive weapons that did not explode when they were employed and still pose a risk of detonation, potentially many decades after they were used or discarded.While "UXO" is widely and informally used, munitions and explosives of...
was cleared in 1946.
On 16 November 1943, a Wellington Bomber Zulu 8799 crashed into Hurst Hill
Hurst Hill
Hurst Hill is a location on Anglezarke Moor, within the West Pennine Moors of Lancashire, England. Despite a modest height of 317 metres , the summit provides excellent views towards the Irish Sea. Of more note, however, is its location between Round Loaf and Pikestones, both of which are...
, just north of Winter Hill
Winter Hill (air disaster)
The Winter Hill air disaster occurred on 27 February 1958 when a Silver City Bristol 170 Freighter , travelling from the Isle of Man to Manchester, crashed into Winter Hill several hundred yards away from the Independent Television Authority's Winter Hill transmitting station.Thirty-five people...
, killing all onboard. The aircraft was flying from Wymeswold
Wymeswold
Wymeswold is a village and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England. It is in the north of Leicestershire, and north-east of Loughborough. It has a population of about 1,000...
in Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
on a Bullseye
Bullseye (target)
The bullseye, or bull's-eye, is the centre of a target , and by extension the name given to any shot that hits the bullseye...
exercise. The pilot of the plane was Joseph B Timperon from Ardrossan in South Australia, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Each year on Remembrance Sunday
Remembrance Sunday
In the United Kingdom, 'Remembrance Sunday' is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day. It is the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m...
, a service is held at the Wellington Bomber Memorial at Lead Mines Clough, next to Limestone Brook.
Governance
Until the early 19th century, Anglezarke was a townshipTownship (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...
in the ancient parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Bolton le Moors
Bolton le Moors
Bolton le Moors was a civil parish and ecclesiastical parish of the hundred of Salford in the historic county of Lancashire, England...
, itself part of the hundred
Hundred (division)
A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in England, Wales, Denmark, South Australia, some parts of the United States, Germany , Sweden, Finland and Norway, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions...
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...
in 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...
. In 1837, Anglezarke joined with other 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...
s (or civil parishes) in the area to form the Chorley
Chorley
Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry...
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...
which took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law
Poor Law
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
in that area. In 1866, Anglezarke became a civil parish. It became part of the Chorley
Chorley
Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry...
Rural Sanitary District
Sanitary district
Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1875 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures:*Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies...
from 1875 to 1894, and then part of the Chorley
Chorley
Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry...
Rural District
Rural district
Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the administrative counties.-England and Wales:In England...
from 1894 to 1974. Since 1974, Anglezarke has been a civil parish of the Borough of Chorley
Chorley (borough)
Chorley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Chorley.-Creation:...
.
Anglezarke is part of the Chorley
Chorley (UK Parliament constituency)
Chorley 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:...
parliamentary constituency, which elected Lindsay Hoyle
Lindsay Hoyle
The Honourable Lindsay Harvey Hoyle is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Chorley since 1997. He is the son of Lord Hoyle, a former Labour MP for Warrington North....
as Member of Parliament for the Labour party at the 2010 General Election.
Geography
Anglezarke covers 2,793 acres of high moorlandMoorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
on the western slopes of the West Pennine Moors
West Pennine Moors
The West Pennine Moors cover an area of approximately of moorland and reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England.The West Pennine Moors are separated from the main Pennine range by the Irwell Valley. The moorland includes Withnell, Anglezarke and Rivington Moors in the extreme west,...
reaching about 1,000 feet above sea level. Anglezarke is a settlement of scattered farmhouses with no village centre. The hamlet of White Coppice
White Coppice
White Coppice is a hamlet near Chorley, Lancashire, England. It was the most populated part of the township of Anglezarke in the 19th century. Close to the settlement in the early 19th century were quarries and small coal mines. The hamlet lies to the north of Anglezarke Reservoir in the Rivington...
where there was a 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....
is in the north-west corner, and Hempshaws, now in ruins, in the south-east. The township is crossed by a minor road on the western border from Rivington to Heapey
Heapey
Heapey is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, in Lancashire, England. The village is two miles from Chorley and on the western fringe of the West Pennine Moors. In 2001 the population was 955.- History:...
. The underlying rocks are millstone grit
Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit is the name given to any of a number of coarse-grained sandstones of Carboniferous age which occur in the Northern England. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills...
and sandstones of the lower Lower 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...
. There were several quarries whose stone was used for road-making and lead mines. The source of the River Yarrow is at Will Narr on Anglezarke Moor. The west of the area is dominated by the Anglezarke and Yarrow Reservoirs.
Population
| Population of the township/civil parish of Anglezarke | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Population | Year | Population | Year | Population | |||||
| 1801 | 1861 | 1921 | ||||||||
| 1811 | 1871 | 1931 | ||||||||
| 1821 | 1881 | 1951 | ||||||||
| 1831 | 1891 | 1961 | ||||||||
| 1841 | 1901 | 1971 | ||||||||
| 1851 | 1911 | 2001 | ||||||||
| Sources: (a) Pauline Tatton. (b) A vision of Britain through time. (c) Adlington in Context. | ||||||||||
Economy
Anglezarke's economy is primarily agricultural, with land used mostly for grazing. Some farmers have diversified into providing leisure and storage facilities for camping, caravanning and guest accommodation. Tourists are attracted by the historic landscape and scenery and access to a network of hiking trails.Landmarks
Geocaching
Geocaching is an outdoor sporting activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world....
.
The remains of Lower and Higher Hempshaw's, farms, inhabited by the Kershaws in the 19th century, are located by a tributary of the River Yarrow which is 300 metres to the southwest. Jepson's Farm and Jepson's Gate are waypoint
Waypoint
A waypoint is a reference point in physical space used for purposes of navigation.-Concept:Waypoints are sets of coordinates that identify a point in physical space. Coordinates used can vary depending on the application. For terrestrial navigation these coordinates can include longitude and...
s en-route to Pikestones
Pikestones
Pikestones is the remains of a Neolithic Burial Cairn, located on Anglezarke moor in Lancashire, England. The site is approximately 150 feet long and 60 feet across at its widest point...
. The last occupants of Old Rachel's were the Evans family in the 1880s. Simms is located on a private track and footpath. The property which got its water from Green Withins Brook
Green Withins Brook
Green Withins Brook in Lancashire, England, is a small tributary of the River Yarrow that runs from Standing Stones Hill on Anglezarke Moor, to the ruins of Simms.-References:...
, a tributary of the River Yarrow, was occupied by the Chairman of Horwich
Horwich
Horwich is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest from the city of Manchester. It lies at the southern edge of the West Pennine Moors with the M61 motorway close to the...
Urban District Council in 1928-29.
Waterman's Cottage is at the north end of Anglezarke Reservoir. Shorrocks was occupied by Abel Pilkington until his death in 1888, its ruins are by the bridge at White Coppice ponds at the north end of the reservoir.
Sport and culture
Anglezarke Quarry is a destination for rock climbingRock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
and has been used for training by serious climbers such as Sir Chris Bonington
Chris Bonington
Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL is a British mountaineer.His career has included nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas, including four to Mount Everest and the first ascent of the south face of Annapurna.-Early life and expeditions:Educated at University College School in...
. 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...
is played at White Coppice. The area was the location for the 2002 Commonwealth Games
2002 Commonwealth Games
The 2002 Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, England from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The XVII Commonwealth Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing London's 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating.After the 1996 Manchester...
Mountain Biking
Mountain biking
Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...
competition. There is an extensive network of footpaths providing public access for hikers.
Anglezarke Quarry was used for filming the TV series Jewel in the Crown in 1984. Anglezarke is a setting in the book, "The Spook's Secret
The Spook's Secret
The Spook's Secret is the third book in the Wardstone Chronicles series. In America, it was released as Night of the Soul-Stealer in the Last Apprentice series....
" by Joseph Delaney
Joseph Delaney
Joseph Henry Delaney is a British former educator and currently an author of science fiction and fantasy books.-Life and career:On first leaving school, Delaney started work as an apprentice engineer. Upon the completion of his schooling, he went on to become an English instructor, with his initial...
. Musician and poet, Richard Skelton
Richard Skelton
-Biography:Richard Skelton is a British musician. Following the death of his wife Louise in 2004, he began to make music as a way of coming to terms with the tragedy. Using a number of instruments, notably guitar and violin, his music has been compared to Arvo Pärt amongst others...
used the Anglezarke landscape to inspire his writing and music.