Littleborough, Greater Manchester
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Littleborough | |
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  Littleborough shown within Greater Manchester |
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| Population | 13,807 |
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| OS grid reference | |
| Metropolitan borough | Rochdale |
| Metropolitan county | Greater Manchester |
| Region | North West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ROCHDALE |
| Postcode district | OL15-OL16 |
| Dialling code | 01706 |
| Police | Greater Manchester |
| Fire | Greater Manchester |
| Ambulance | North West |
| European Parliament | North West England |
| List of places: UK • England • Greater Manchester | |
Littleborough is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on River Roch and Rochdale Canal on the western side of the Pennines, 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Rochdale.
Hollingworth Lake, built as a reservoir to supply water to the canal, is a water sports venue with a country park and nature reserve.
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[edit] History
[edit] Toponymy
The name Littleborough, is commonly believed to derive from the words "little" and "borough", signifying its tiny size. However it has never been a borough and it is more probable that the borough part of the name is a corruption of "brook". The heart of the town is at the junction of the River Roch and Ealees Brook. The name of the village is given as Littlebrugh on Saxton's 1579 map of Lancashire.
[edit] Early history
Littleborough began as a scattering of weaving hamlets within the Parish of Hundersfield, a large area stretching from Rochdale to Todmorden. Then, a small town developed, merging the names of Blatchinworth and Calderbrook, which were areas to the east and west of the River Roch. Only recently did the name become Littleborough.
[edit] Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution brought roads, canals, and railways, as well as mills, foundries and coal-workings. Major civil engineering projects took place in town during the 19th century, mainly being part of the first trans-Pennine canal and railway links. The stretch of the Rochdale Canal which passes through Littleborough still has one of the largest concentrations of broad canal locks in the world and the Summit Tunnel was at the time of its construction (1841) the longest railway tunnel yet built.
During Victorian and Edwardian times, as Littleborough began to grow, three churches were built. There were however, mostly chapels which were then built, thus following the nonconformist principles of the time which happened to be predominant around the Littleborough area.
[edit] Governance
Between 1894 and 1974, Littleborough was in the administrative county of Lancashire. Since 1974, Littleborough has been a part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale of Greater Manchester.
[edit] Geography
The town is in the Roch valley, with the Pennines on one side and the Rossendale Fells a spur of the Pennines, on the other side. The valley narrows to the north, where the Summit Gorge creates a gap in the Pennines, and widens to the south where the land drains into the Irwell and Mersey watersheds. The River Roch and the Rochdale Canal run through the town centre. Hollingworth Lake, built as a reservoir to supply water to the canal, is a water sports venue with a country park and nature reserve.
The Pennine Way runs along the top of Blackstone Edge, with views across Greater Manchester and Lancashire to the north.
[edit] Present day
Today, Littleborough is quite a small town which is expanding, with more and more houses being built where old cotton mills once stood, which has particularly attracted young people to the town despite the lack of a secondary school.
Littleborough centre consists of Church Street, which runs towards Rochdale, and Hare Hill Road, which is perpendicular to Church Street.
[edit] Education
- St Mary's R.C. Primary School is positioned next to the Roman Catholic church of St. Mary on the main A58 Featherstall Road.
- Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School is relatively close to the centre of Littleborough across from the Coach House.
- Littleborough County Primary School (also an infant school) is the largest school in Littleborough, and is also the home of the Littleborough Juniors, and the Littleborough football fields, on which pub league teams play every Sunday.
The school is often referred to locally as "Central", a name derived from the school's history as one of the last central board schools in England and Wales. The original school building was an impressively large stone building overlooking Harehill Park. In the mid 1990s the building was demolished and the school moved to what had been the site of Littleborough High School before it was amalgamated with Roch Valley High School to form Hollingworth High School.
The school is close to Littleborough Cricket Club, which is the notable cricket team of the town.
[edit] Churches
- Dearnley Methodist Church - On the A58 towards Rochdale. [1]
- Greenhill Methodist Church - The smallest church in Littleborough, holds infrequent services. [2]
- Holy Trinity Church (Littleborough Parish Church) - Located across from the Coach House, is one of the larger churches in the area, and features gargoyles dating from the time it was built, somewhere near the inception of Littleborough in Edwardian times. [3]
- St Andrew's Church - Located near the main A58 towards Rochdale in the Parish of Dearnley. [4]
- St Barnabas' Church - Located around the Parish of Shore, of which it is the Parish Church, and is built on a field thought to have once been a lake. [5]
- St James' Church - The Parish Church of Calderbrook. [6]
- St Mary's Church - The local Roman Catholic church and is situated on the main A58 Featherstall Road.
- Smithy Bridge Methodist Church - Near Hollingworth Lake. [7]
[edit] Places of interest
- Hollingworth Lake
- The Summit Gorge, an ancient glacial meltwater channel that provides a spectacular low level route through the Pennines connecting the Yorkshire Calder and Lancashire Roch valleys.
- Blackstone Edge, and the historic packhorse, "Roman" and later coach toll roads near it.
- The "Roman" road over Blackstone Edge, believed by many to have been a significant Roman site (although this has been contested on many occasions).
- Annually (usually in September) the town hosts "Littleborough Arts Week", an art event comprising of a number of exhibitions from individual artists and organisations, as well as an open arts exhibition and arts events.
- One of the significant buildings in the town is Littleborough Coach House, which was restored by a confederation of local voluntary groups and is now a community space, cafe and shop. Hare Hill Park is another focus point for the community, which also houses Littleborough Library and Municipal Buildings as well as bowls lawns and children's play areas.
- On the outskirts of Littleborough, towards Rochdale, lies the seventeenth-century Clegg Hall, the impressive manor house which has been recently restored. [8]
- On the way up to Blackstone Edge, above Hollingworth Lake is the ancient farmstead, or fold, of Whittaker. The earliest house possibly dates back to the fourteenth century. Whittaker was restored in the early 90s. Close by is Whittaker Golf Club, and Whittaker Wood which is owned by the Woodland Trust. [9]
[edit] Notable people
- Agyness Deyn was raised in the village.
- Chris Lucketti was born in the village.
[edit] References
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