Failsworth - History

History

The name Failsworth derives from the Old English fegels and worth; it probably means an "enclosure with a special kind of fence". Unmentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, Failsworth does not appear in records until 1212, when the name was recorded as Fayleswrthe and the settlement was documented to have been a thegnage estate, or manor, comprising 4 oxgangs of land. 2 oxgangs with an annual rate of 4 shillings were payable by the tenant, Gilbert de Notton, to Adam de Prestwich who in turn paid tax to King John of England. The remaining 2 oxgangs were held by the Lord of Manchester as part of his fee simple. The Byron family came to acquire all four oxgangs in the mid-13th century, and thus held the entire township. However, apart from a small estate in the township held by Cockersand Abbey, Failsworth was acquired by the Chetham family, which was then broadly sold to smaller holders.

Little more than 300 years ago its population was over just 1,000, today it is about 20,555. Farming was the main industry of the area with villagers supplementing their meagre incomes by hand-loom weaving until the advent of cotton and the Industrial Revolution.

In 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed overnight at the Bulls Head public house.

In 1914 the regular Daisy Nook Easter Fair ceased due to the outbreak of war, but reopened in 1920. On 8 June 2007 a 1946 work by L. S. Lowry entitled "Good Friday, Daisy Nook" depicting the Easter Fair was sold for £3,772,000, the then highest price paid for one of his paintings at auction. Another painting by Lowry from 1953 titled ‘Fun Fair at Daisy Nook’, sold for £3.4 million in 2011.