Milnrow - History

History

Neolithic human activity in Milnrow is evidenced with an ancient stone axe found at Hollingworth. Bronze and Iron Age peoples left thousands of flint tools which have been found on the moorland surrounding Milnrow, including a stone hammer found at Low Hill in 1879. Low Hill was the site of an ancient burial mound where a funerary urn was found. A small Roman statue of the goddess Victory was discovered at Tunshill Farm in 1793. During excavations at Piethorne Reservoir in the mid-18th century, a Celtic spear-head with a 5-inch (130 mm) blade was unearthed, implying human habitation in the locality during the British Iron Age. There is no physical manifestation of the Anglo-Saxons and Norsemen in the locality, but toponymic evidence implies they have been present.

The name Milnrow is derived from Old English, but its meaning has not been deciphered with any certainty. The name may be a corruption of an old pronunciation of "Millner Howe", a water driven corn mill at a place called Mill Hill on the River Beal that was mentioned in deeds dating from 1568. Another explanation is that it means a "mill with a row of houses", combining the Old English elements myne and raw. Others have suggested that the name "Milnrow" is derived from a local family with the surname Milne, who owned a row of houses in the locality. A map from 1292 shows "Milnehouses" at Milnrow's present location, other spellings have included "Mylnerowe" (1545) and "Milneraw" (1577).

Milnrow emerged as a settlement after the Norman conquest of England in 1066; the Norman families of "de Butterworths", "de Turnaghs", "de Schofields", "de Birchinleghs", "de Wylds" and "Cleggs" controlled the lands which formed the township of Butterworth from which Milnrow evolved as its main settlement. In addition to the chapelry of Milnrow, Butterworth encompassed the hamlets of Clegg, Wildhouse, Belfield, Butterworth Hall, Lowhouse, Newhey, Ogden, Tunshill, Haughs, and Bleaked-gate-cum-Roughbank. Butterworth was linked, ecclesiastically, with the parish of Rochdale.

During the Middle Ages, the small, scattered community in and around Milnrow was primarily agrarian, with the growing and milling of grain and cereal being the main labour of the people. Dry ironstone smelting was introduced in to Milnrow at a very early time as evidenced from ancient kilns found at Tunshill. A chantry was constructed in the year 1400 by the Byrons—the then Lords of the Manor—and a chapel for the wider community in 1496; A document dated 20 March 1496, during the reign of Henry VII, proclaims that open land by the River Beal would be the site of the new chapel.

Legal documents dated 1624 state that Milnrow consisted of six cottages; there were a further nine at Butterworth Hall, and three at Ogden. Milnrow did not expand until the introduction of a woollen weaving trade which began in the Late Middle Ages and continued until the 19th century. During this time nearby Rochdale—the local market town—was used as a central marketing, finishing and fellmongering hub. The handloom weaving of woollen cloth and flannels in the domestic system became the staple industry of Milnrow, facilitating the community's growth and prosperity. Between 40,000 and 50,000 sheep skins were needed every week to provide for Milnrow's industries, and as early as the 16th century, the demand for wool was so great it had outstripped the local supply of the region and had to be imported from Ireland and the English Midlands. As a consequence of the woollen trade, rows of "fine stone domestic workshops" or weavers' cottages were constructed beyond Milnrow's original core, with dwelling quarters on the lower floors and loom-shops on the top floor.

With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the River Beal was used to power large weaving mills. Within one generation during the late-19th century, and following a boom in nearby Oldham, Milnrow's staple industry changed from wool weaving to cotton spinning. Soon, distinctive rectangular brick-built mills dominated Milnrow's landscape. Milnrow, the location of some of the earliest ring spinning companies, had many of the characteristics of a company town. The Heaps of Milnrow exercised significant deferential and political influence in the local area. Following the Great Depression, the region's textile sector experienced a decline until its eventual demise in the mid-20th century. Milnrow's last cotton mill was Butterworth Hall Mill, demolished in the late 1990s. Milnrow experienced population growth and suburbanisation in the second half of the 20th century, spurred by the construction of the M62 motorway through the area, making Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire commutable.