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Monkey Town: The History of Heywood

Old Heywood Shops

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'The Old Mills of Heywood' Project

Explore the history of Heywood's old workplaces.

Popular Pages

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

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

A List of Heywood Pubs and Beerhouses

Heywood area beerhouse keepers listed the 'Heap’s Bury Directory' for 1850: John Ashton, 78 Bury Street Ralph Ashton, Church Street Robert Brearley, Bury Street John Butterworth, Ashton’s buildings Thomas Chadwick, Heady Hill Robert Clifton, Miller Street Thomas Clegg, Peel Street John Bradshaw, Brunswick Street Benjamin Dearden, Heady Hill Ann Fitton, 7 Ashton Street Jacob Fitton, 60 Manchester Street William Fitton, Wilton Street James Fletcher, 23 Mount Street Samuel Frankland, Bury Street Alice Gee, 23 York Street Jacob Gee, New field John Glover, Church Street James Grindrod, 77 Bridge Street Robert Hamilton, 49 York Street Luke Helliwell, Church Street James Hilton, Manchester Street Alice Holt, Higher Lomax Hannah Horrox, Charlestown Jane Hutchinson, 44 Bury Street Job Leach, 59 Manchester Street Edmund Lee, 78 Manchester Street Henry McCraith, 64 Bridge Street John Mills, Aspinall Street John Mill, Mount Pleasant Robert Mills, Prettywoo

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 Lost Mills of Cheesden Valley

Cheesden Lumb Mill. ( Alan Rayner ) The passing of time often leaves little trace of what has gone before. The quiet course of Cheesden Brook is now flanked mostly by woods and moorland hills, but the valley has a significant industrial and cultural history. The Cheesden Valley was formed during the last Ice Age and visited by humans as far back as 4,000 years ago . For centuries, the population in the valley was sparse and scattered. One of the earliest records of activity there shows that John Blackwall was granted the right to mine coal in the valley by Elizabeth I around 1580. By the 17th century there were small communities (‘folds’) in the valley with their own mines. These people got by with a combination of livestock husbandry and cottage industries such as weaving. Mills started to appear in Cheesden Valley during the 18th century, the first probably being the one erected at Kershaw Bridge in 1780 by Thomas Allanson. It was a fustian mill , pr

The Lost World of Green Booth

(Greenbooth is in Rochdale but is covered here because reservoir was built by the Heywood and Middleton Water Board.) The old village of Green Booth now lies deep beneath the waters of the Greenbooth reservoir to the north of Heywood. For younger Heywoodites this conjures images of a Biblical inundation, leaving an underwater village unwillingly trapped in time. In reality, the village of Greenbooth was already dead when the Heywood and Middleton Water Board built the reservoir and submerged it in the 1960s. Green Booth village (Greenbooth Memories). Although the place now has the one-word name 'Greenbooth', it was originally called Green Booth, with Green Booth Woods being on the slopes. The area has some significant history, as it was visited quite often in the 1750s by John Wesley , the famous founder of the Methodist Church. He stayed just up the hill at Blomleys, where he established a small Methodist chapel. A weaving mill was built at Green Booth during the

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