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Monkey Town: The History of Heywood

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You can explore over 150 informative pages all about different aspects of the history of Heywood through the links below:

Link to the history of the centuries before the creation of Heywood, Lancashire

The centuries before the creation of a place named Heywood. Ice Age landscape / Bronze Age people / Roman rule / Danelaw

Link to history of the early centuries of Heywood, Lancashire

The early centuries of the village of Heywood. Birth of Heywood / Dating the Heywood Charter / Elizabethan Map / People of 1655 / The Heywood family / Halls of Heywood

Link to history of place names associated with Heywood, Lancashire

The ever-changing place-names associated with Heywood. Meaning of the name / Spellings of 'Heywood' / Why 'Monkey Town'? / 1549 names at Ashworth / Old place names

Link to the history of early industries in Heywood, Lancashire.

The early industries that helped to shape the growing town. Coal mining / Mines and pits / Wool fullers / Paper-making / Cheesden Valley mills / Gnat Bank / Lost industries

Link to history of leisure and culture in Heywood, Lancashire

Culture in the town of Heywood. Folklore and superstition / Rushbearing / Festivals and holidays / Gristlehurst Boggart / The People's Park / Notable 19th-century Heywoodites / Old pubs / Countryside of Heywood / Cinemas / Deeply Vale music festivals

Link to history of political struggles in Heywood, Lancashire, after the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution sparks social change and conflict. Sam Bamford / People's Charter / Fall of the handloom weavers / Charles Howarth and the Co-op / Marx and Engels

Link to history of writings about 19th century Heywood, Lancashire

Memorable descriptions of the young town from visiting writers. Edwin Butterworth (1830) / 1840s Heywood / Edwin Waugh (1855) / To the cemetery (1850s) / Heywood in 1858

Link to histories of schools in Heywood, Lancashire,

Early years of education in Heywood. Heywood schools timeline / The Free School 1737-1891 / Hatter's School / Heywood Grammar

Link to history of churches in Heywood, Lancashire

Religion and churches in Heywood over the centuries. Heywood churches timeline / St Luke's graveyard / History of St Luke's / Whit Walks / Journey of a stained-glass window / Unitarianism / Cemetery photo gallery

Link to the history of the mills of Heywood, Lancashire

History of the mills that dominated and shaped Heywood. 'Old Mills of Heywood' map / Crimble Mill / Hooley Bridge in 1869 / Crooked chimney / Makin (Roach) Mill / Factory children

Link to history of hanging and murder in Heywood, Lancashire

Stories of murders and hangings associated with Heywood. Hanging in Heywood? / Murder at Birtle (1826) / The Plumpton Wood murder

Link to history of shops and shopping in Heywood, Lancashire

Some of the old shops that used serve the people of Heywood. Market Place in 1848 / Old shops / Heywood markets

Link to history of sports in Heywood, Lancashire

Sporting life in Heywood. Blood sports / Heywood Cricket Club / Early football / Sports stars

Link to the municipal history of Heywood, Lancashire

The changing official status of Heywood. Heywood becomes a town / The Mayors and MPs of Heywood

Links to the history of transport in early Heywood, Lancashire

How people used to get around - and in and out of - Heywood. Early transport / Electric trams

Link to history of wars and Heywood, Lancashire, over the centuries

How the various wars have affected Heywood. English Civil Wars / Crimean War / The 1860s cotton famine / Letter from Khartoum / Heywood and Gallipoli / Heywood MPs killed in action / Heywood Spitfires / Air raid shelters

Links to the story of modern Heywood, Lancashire

Life in Heywood after the decline of the cotton mills. Fall of King Cotton / Heywood in British Pathe / Green Booth / Darnhill / Bommy nights / Heywood in 1981 / River Roch slideshow

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© and website design: Christopher Dawson MPHA (Qld)

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Ashworth
Ashworth Valley
Bamford
Birtle
Cemeteries
Chartists
Churches
Co-operative Movement
Coal mining
Crime

factory conditions
Gnat Bank
Heap Bridge
Heritage
Heywood family
Hooley Bridge
Industrial Revolution
Natural resources
paper-making
Quarries
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wool industry

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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 ...

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. 1...

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...

The Old Mills of Heywood: P-R

Perseverance Mill, Green Lane. You can also find information about the following mills on this interactive map. See all the A-Z listing of old mills and workplaces of Heywood here Park Mill (originally River Street Mill ) Cotton spinning and manufacturing River Street, Hooley Brow 1848: Not present on OS map 1871 directory: Brocklehurst William & Co. (manufacturers), River street mill Hooley brow. 1890: Marked on OS map as unnamed cotton mill. 1922 directory: Operated by Kershaw, A. 1928: Named on OS map as Park Mill (cotton). 1937: Marked on OS map as ‘disused’. 1957: Marked on OS map as Park Mill (cotton). 2018: Building still present and in use. Park Mill, OS map, 1930. Park Street Mill Cotton spinning Park Street, Hopwood 1847: Not present on OS map. 1875 directory: Hoyle John, Park street mill, Heywood. 1888 directory: Park Street Cotton Spinning Co. Limited, Park Street Mill, Hopwood. 1891 directory: Park Street Cotton Spinning Co...

The Papermakers of Heap Bridge

Heywood was, for several centuries, little more than a hamlet within the boundaries of the small eastern Bury township of Heap. It was only after the rise of the local cotton industry in 18th-century Heywood that these positions were reversed and Heap became a part of its expanding neighbour. Cotton manufacturers had limited physical space to develop their industry at Heap Bridge. One side was bounded by the River Roch and Bury, the other by steep hills and established farmland, and the prime riverside land there was already home to a thriving papermaking centre. While cotton production did not commence in Heywood until the Wrigley Brook mill opened in the 1770s, there was a woollen mill operating at Heap Bridge by the late 16th century, and George Warburton was running a paper-making operation at Bridge Hall Mills in 1716. Warburton’s mills produced white paper, which was quite unusual as most paper made in Britain at that time was brown or wrapping paper. Warburton died in...

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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