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Monkey Town: The History of Heywood

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The pages linked below will tell you all about Heywood and capital punishment, and some shocking local murder cases from history:

Link to article about hanging in Heywood, Lancashire.

Are the stories of people being hanged in Heywood really true?

Link to article about a murder in Birtle and the hanging of the murderer

Read about an horrific case of double murder and a hanging that shocked Birtle in 1826.

Link to story of a murder at Plumpton wood, Heywood, Lancashire

A hanging at Strangeways in 1911 featured a prisoner from Heywood and a hangman from Rochdale.

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© and website design: Christopher Dawson MPHA (Qld)

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Ashworth
Ashworth Valley
Bamford
Birtle
Cemeteries
Chartists
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Co-operative Movement
Coal mining
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factory conditions
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'The Old Mills of Heywood' Project

Explore the history of Heywood's old workplaces.

Popular Pages

The Devil and the Monkey Puzzle Tree

The Monkey Puzzle tree ( Araucaria araucana ) is not a common sight in Monkey Town. The rather exotic spiked trunk and winding branches always caught the attention of local children, and two in particular that stuck in the memory were the trees in a front garden on Heywood Hall Road (which was on the route to Queen’s Park for many people). One well-remembered aspect of these trees was the superstition surrounding them. Some parents actually told their children to be quiet as they passed the tree, various reasons being that they would have bad luck or lose something, or in some cases even grow a monkey’s tail! This led those children who actually wanted a monkey’s tail to shout out as they passed by the trees. Superstitions about the Monkey Puzzle tree can be found throughout Britain. One widely-shared bit of folklore is that the Devil himself sits in this tree and people have to be quiet when walking past or else they will attract the Devil’s attention and get bad luck. In some

General Timeline of Heywood History

This timeline of the history of Heywood is a work in progress. It is intended to be as accurate as possible, and suggested corrections or additions are welcome. Pre - A.D. 1270 7th century: Middleton is thought to have been settled by this time. 1086: Rochdale recorded in the Domesday Book as Recedham. 1164: Heywood family recorded in local area. 1183: Records for Ashworth start around this time. 1197: Reference to Birtle in records. 12th century: Hopwood family recorded at site of current Hopwood Hall. 1210: Reference to hamlets of Lumhalghs (Lomax) and Hep (Heap) in records. 1260: Land at Pilsworth granted to William de Radcliffe. 1270-1600 1260s-70s: Adam de Bury grants land to Peter de Heywood during this time. 1278: William del Bridge granted land near Bury. 1292: Reference to Hoppewode in records 13th century: Bamford family living in Bamford area. 13th century: Peter de Heywood builds Heywood Hall. 13th century: Woollen mill recorded

The Runaway Slave Who Took the 'Underground Railroad' from the Mississippi to... Heywood?

‘My name is John Brown. How I came to take it, I will explain in due time. When in Slavery, I was called Fed. Why I was so named, I cannot tell. I never knew myself by any other name, nor always by that; for it is common for slaves to answer to any name, as it may suit the humour of the master. I do not know how old I am, but think I may be any age between thirty-five and forty.' John Brown, 1855. So began the story of John Brown in his 1855 book, Slave Life in Georgia: A Narrative of the Life, Sufferings, and Escape of John Brown, A Fugitive Slave. The journey of his eventful life had taken him from the slave plantations of the American Deep South to the Free States of the north, thence to Canada, Cornwall, and eventually a settled life in London. Just before arriving in London, however, Brown worked for a short time in Heywood, Lancashire. Once again Heywood had, in its own small way, been touched by major historical events. Brown had been born as 'Fed' somet

The Graveyard at St Luke's Church

This Heywood Chapel was replaced by the current St Luke's Church . Not too many decades ago there was a graveyard in the centre of Heywood. It was attached to St Luke's Church, and had probably been there since the early years of the original church, dating back to before 1552. The first place of worship erected there had been founded as a chantry chapel for the Heywood family, and was rebuilt by Robert Heywood in 1640. During the 19th century it became too small for the growing cotton town around it, and so the current St Luke's Church was opened in 1862. Part of the graveyard there had to be demolished to make way for the new buildings, but a lot of it remained in place and was still used, although quite infrequently since the opening of the new Heywood Cemetery back in the 1850s. Municipal cemeteries were a creation of the early-to-mid 19th century, and before that time burial grounds were attached to churches. St Luke's was one of several church g

The 'Old Mills of Heywood' Project

Click here to view the interactive map! A-Z listing of mills and old workplaces: A-B C-E F-H I-N P-R S-U V -Y The aim of this project is to record details of as many of the mills, factories and works of early Heywood as possible. These will include all the cotton mills that once dominated the town, as well as other significant factories and works such as woollen mills, roperies and iron works. Many of these places are now lost to history - although a surprising number still survive - and together they represent the rich industrial heritage of Monkey Town. A few of these places are on the outskirts of Heywood, in either Middleton, Bury or Rochdale, but would have been familiar to Heywoodites at one time or another. I welcome any suggested additions or corrections to this information, as this project will remain a work in progress.

The Fall of the Weavers

‘Fifty years ago there lived in this district a goodly number of handloom weavers; a class of men to which Lancashire is indebted for much of its subsequent commercial prosperity. Some of these men had a narrow and stern piety, but their thoughtfulness, good common sense, and general sterling qualities left their mark upon us.’ ( Heywood Advertiser , 1908) ‘The handloom weavers... though they labour 14 hours upwards daily, earn only from five to seven shillings a week. They... are affected by all the causes of moral and physical depression... ill-fed, ill-clothed, half-sheltered and ignorant - weaving in close, damp cellars or crowded workshops.’ (Dr J.P. Kay, 1832) One of the trades worst affected by the onset of the Industrial Revolution during 1760-1840 was handloom weaving, in which cloth was spun and woven inside the home. When it came to weaving, Heywood was exclusively a cotton village (whereas Middleton had a thriving silk industry). Although the weavers were not a wea

Submit a Story

If you have researched any aspect of Heywood history and would like to submit an article to Monkey Town, please contact me.

Thanks to the following people for their contributions:

Michael Baron:

'The Age of the Electric Tram in Heywood'

Neil J Richardson:

'The Story of Michael Rukin and Charles Martin Newhouse'

Alan McCarthy:

'Heywood Spitfires'

This website created by Christopher Dawson.
Member of the Professional Historians Association (Qld).
BA Anthropology (University of Queensland); Grad. Dip. Applied and Local History (University of Queensland).
Back o'th' Moss/Mossfield Primary/Siddal Moor
All original material © C Dawson
dawsonchris@outlook.com

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