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Monkey Town: The History of Heywood

The Land Before Heywood

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Millennia of human history had already unfolded before this place was even named Heywood. Although physical evidence is limited, we do know that people lived within the wider district during the Bronze Age, the Roman era and the Danelaw. It was only after this time, during the 13th century AD, that a settlement named Heywood (or Hewode) was created.

Link to history of Ice Age and Heywood, Lancashire

How the last great Ice Age shaped the valleys of Heywood, and how those waterways powered early local industries.

Link to the history of Heywood, Lancashire, during the Bronze Age

How archaeological evidence shows us that Bronze Age people were living - and dying - in the local district up to 4,000 years ago.

Link to Heywood and the Roman Conquest

What evidence is there that the Roman Empire touched the local area during the Roman occupation of Britain?

Link to story of Roman coins found in Heywood, Lancashire

How 19th-century labourers found and practically destroyed a large hoard of Roman coins in Heywood.

Link to history of Lancashire and the Viking settlement

The Domesday Book (AD 1086) shows us that Viking settlement reached the local district.

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© and website design: Christopher Dawson MPHA (Qld)

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'The Old Mills of Heywood' Project

Explore the history of Heywood's old workplaces.

Popular Pages

Picture This: A Walk Through the Centre of Heywood in February 1981

A lot of great photographs from personal collections have been posted on the 'Remembering Heywood' Facebook page, but one particular set that stands out was a series of photos taken around the town centre in the middle of a cold and grey day in February 1981. It was a pretty cold and grey time all round. There was a recession on, Margaret Thatcher was a deeply unpopular prime minister, and most people still thought the Falkland Islands were somewhere off the coast of Scotland. Locally, the Labour MP Joel Barnett was into his 17th year representing the old seat of 'Heywood and Royton'. The music charts were very diverse. This was just a couple of months after John Lennon had been shot dead, and during that time his re-released music had topped the chart non-stop, a run that ended when 'Woman' was knocked off the top spot in February by Joe Dolce's 'Shaddap You Face'. Shakin' Stevens, Julio Iglesias, Human League, the Specials and Smokey

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

Who was Living in Heywood in 1850?

The following is taken from the 'Bury Directory', published by John Heap in 1850. HEAP, COMPRISING HEYWOOD, HEADY HILL, HOOLEY BRIDGE, HEAP BRIDGE, AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD Population in 1831... - 10,429 Population in 1841... - 14,763 Increase... 4,334 POST OFFICE , Market place, HEYWOOD, Thomas Battersby, Post Master.- Letters from the NORTH arrive (from ROCHDALE) every morning at half-past six, and are despatched thereto at three in the afternoon. Letters from the SOUTH arrive (from BURY) every morning at ten, and are despatched thereto every morning at half-past six. GENTRY & CLERGY Booth, Mrs. Mary, Market place Briggs, Mrs. Mary, 10 York street Chadwick, Jacob, Esq., St. James terrace Fenton, James, Esq., Bamford hall Fenton, John, Esq., Crimble hall Fenton Josh., Esq., Crimble cottage Fenton, Wm., Esq., Meadowcroft Gee, Mrs. Ann, St. James' square Gee, Mrs. Elizabeth, 34 Bridge st Grundy, Edmund, Esq., Bridge hall Guttridge, Rev. John, 59 York st

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

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 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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