A study of the growth and decline of Haslingden Grane, a small community in East Lancashire. Often spelt Grain in older documents, the name derives from the Old Norse word grein, meaning a smaller valley branching off from a larger valley. It suggests that the locality may have been first settled in the 9th or 10th century, when the Norse incursions into Lancashire took place.
Geography
The community of Haslingden Grane formed in the valley between Haslingden Moor and Musbury Heights. The Ogden Brook flows from west to east through this valley. The valley must have been poorly drained because the 1st edition of the O.S. map describes the road running north from Heap Clough as an old causeway. The Holden Arms marks the entrance to the valley. The sides of the valley were populated by a number of isolated farmhouses and small hamlets.
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Haslingden Grane c.1845
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From the hamlet of Heap Clough, an old road ran north over the moors to Oswaldtwistle.
Haslingden Grane c.1845
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Continuing west along the turnpike, 19th-century travellers would have reached the village of Haslingden Grane.
Haslingden Grane c.1845
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Alley Cross marks the western end of the valley. From here, the turnpike road climbs out of the valley and continues to Blackburn.
Haslingden Grane c.1845
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A Brief History
There were isolated farmsteads in Haslingden Grane as far back as Tudor times, and many of them were rebuilt in stone in the 17th century, but it was the opening of the turnpike road from Blackburn to Haslingden in 1810 that saw the hamlet develop into a village. In 1815, a Wesleyan Methodist chapel opened and Holt Clough farmhouse was rebuilt by the textile entrepreneur, Ellis Ratcliffe. Like many farms in the valley, Holt Clough had several attached cottages. These cottages were built to house handloom weavers and incorporated loom shops. The cottages were later converted to separate businesses that included a grocer's shop, a butcher's shop, a smithy, a joinery and an unlicensed beer shop. On the north side of the turnpike road was the National School which opened in 1836. By the mid-1800s, six hundred people lived in the village, with a further nine hundred scattered throughout the valley.
In 1842, Holden Wood reservoir was constructed and by 1860 a second one had been built at Calf Hey. The water board bought up farms and their surrounding land in order to construct the reservoirs, but the community continued to thrive after the construction of the second reservoir, with St Stephen’s Church opening in 1867.
It was the building of the large Ogden Reservoir (completed in 1912) that finally sealed the fate of the inhabitants of Grane and by 1920 all the farms had been abandoned.
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Land ownership
A 1798 survey(1) reveals that ownership of land in Grane was divided between 23 owners. Eight of them owned more than one farm:
| NAME | FARMS OWNED | ACRES OF LAND |
| Hutchison | 10 | 235 |
| Ellis Ratcliffe | 5 | 29 |
| Henry Hargreaves | 4 | 95 |
| [Daniel] Lonsdale | 3 | 32 |
| Walmsley | 3 | 17 |
| Henry Kay | 2 | 72 |
| W.H. Hutchinson | 2 | 52 |
| John Anderton | 2 | 17 |
| Attorney Haworth | 1 | 79 |
| Edmund Haworth | 1 | 27 |
| John Nuttall | 1 | 26 |
| Thomas Duckworth | 1 | 26 |
| George Duckworth | 1 | 22 |
| John Rostron | 1 | 20 |
| Henry Haworth | 1 | 20 |
| Meadows | 1 | 19 |
| Mrs Rothwell | 1 | 17 |
| Taylor & Greenwood | 1 | 17 |
| Joseph Ramsbottom | 1 | 15 |
| James Barnes | 1 | 8 |
| Edmund Houghton | 1 | 7 |
| John Holding | 1 | 6 |
| John Haworth | 1 | 5 |
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Occupations
For centuries the inhabitants of Grane would have thought of themselves as farmers who did some weaving, but from the late 18th century the emphasis changed. For many, handloom weaving became their primary (and in many cases only) occupation. For around fifty years, the weavers had plenty of work and were well paid for it, but then the cottage industry of textile-making began to decline, with production shifting to water-powered mills at Calf Hey, Heap Clough, Broad Holden and Holden Wood.
Broad Holden Mill
The first building on this site was a water-powered carding mill, built in about 1795 by Henry Hargreaves. John Ratcliffe was running the factory in 1823, with a workforce of 31. An advertisement in the Blackburn Standard of 3rd June 1840 describes a new mill owned by Henry Hargreaves of Mellor:
To be let by ticket, all that excellent and newly-built mill or factory for the spinning and weaving of cotton and cotton goods … known as the Broad-Holden Mill, with the water wheel and steam engine thereto belonging, lately in the occupation of Mr John Ratcliffe. The said mill is three storeys high, exclusive of the attic, 30 yards long and 14 yards wide. The water wheel is 27 feet in diameter and 9 feet wide, and in excellent working condition, to which is attached a newly completed steam engine of 20 horse power by Messrs. Walker & Co. of Bury. There is a good supply of water from a lodge immediately adjoining the mill. Also nine cottages immediately contiguous to the said mill, all of which are in good condition.
It was in ruins by the 1890s and the site disappeared under the Ogden Reservoir twenty years later.
Calf Hey Mill
In 1798 there were two small carding mills on the Calf Hey estate owned by John Holding. By the 1830s ownership of the estate appears to have passed to Richard Roscow, proprietor of the local quarries.
Heap Clough (Paradise) Mill
This was established in 1846, by Joseph Pilling and associates, who included Richard Read and George Hoyle. Pilling became sole proprietor in 1855. The first building was a small weaving shed, but in 1853 a 3-storey spinning factory was added. It was in ruins by 1909.
Holden Wood Mill
Situated at the eastern end of the Grane valley, close to Helmshore, this was described as a new factory in 1823 when it was occupied by Abraham Emmett, a cotton spinner employing forty workers. Abraham had married the previous year and the couple's first five children were all born at Holden Wood. They left Grane in the early '30s, eventually settling in Edenfield.
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A directory of 1824(2) lists seven individuals from Grane who were involved in the textile industry:
| George Duckworth | cotton manufacturer |
| John Ratcliffe | cotton manufacturer |
| Abraham Emmett | cotton spinner |
| Taylor Ratcliffe | cotton spinner |
| John Taylor | cotton spinner |
| Henry Rothwell | flannel & blanket manufacturer |
| Peter Titherington | flannel manufacturer |
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An analysis of the 1841 Census shows us how dominant the cotton industry was:
The 1841 Census doesn't distinguish between handloom weavers and powerloom weavers, but it does record what they were weaving. The vast majority were cotton weavers, but there were three silk weavers and a couple of woollen weavers. The silk weavers were at Edgerton Moss, the most remote farm in the valley, so were undoubtedly weaving by hand.
If we look at the same four categories in 1851, we see that there has been a significant reduction in farming activity and a corresponding increase in cotton workers.
The 1851 Census also tells us how many of the weavers were still operating handlooms:
As in 1841, the silk weavers (and remaining handloom cotton weavers) were located in the remote regions at the western end of the valley. Silk weaving survived in these isolated areas until the 1870s.
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For those handloom weavers who didn't migrate to the factories, the main alternative was stone-quarrying. The Roscow family were responsible for developing stone-quarrying in the area. They opened a large quarry at Clough Head and another at Musbury Heights. An article in the Manchester Courier (9 April 1842) mentions that a number of carriers were employed in carting flags from Grane to Preston. In 1877 a tramway began operation, linking the quarries to the main rail line between Haslingden and Helmshore.
A brickworks was opened in 1895, but it was short-lived - the 25” O.S. map published in 1911 describes it as disused.
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Grane Farms
The 1798 survey(1) gives quite a detailed picture of the community at that time. Here is a list of the farms in order of size:| NAME OF FARM | ACREAGE | TENANT | OWNER |
| Edgerton Moss | 79 | - | Attorney Haworth |
| Old Syke Lane | 57 | Henry Ashworth | Henry Kay |
| Heap Clough 1 | 40 | Jonathan Duckworth | W.H. Hutchinson |
| Ormerods | 35 | John Haworth | Henry Hargreaves |
| Priestentax 1 | 30 | Widow Hurst | Hutchison |
| Quakers | 28 | John Herd | Hutchison |
| Hartley House | 27 | Richard & John Birtwistle | Hargreaves |
| Top of Moss | 27 | John Pilkington | Edmund Haworth |
| Alley Cross 1 | 26 | Thomas Duckworth | Thomas Duckworth |
| Higher Fowl Edge | 26 | John Nuttall | John Nuttall |
| Bentley Moss | 24 | - | Different persons |
| Grane Head 1 | 24 | John Haworth | Hutchison |
| Grane 1 | 24 | John Rostron | Hutchison |
| Grane Head 2 | 22 | George Duckworth | George Duckworth |
| Grane Head 3 | 20 | John Hargreaves | John Rostron |
| Bentley House | 20 | Peter Rothwell | Henry Haworth |
| Fowl Edge | 19 | George Haworth | Meadows |
| Leys End | 18 | James Ratcliffe | Hutchison |
| Bottom of Rough | 17 | Thomas Haworth | Taylor & Greenwood |
| Rothwell Fold | 17 | Mrs Rothwell | Mrs Rothwell |
| Finnes Fold | 15 | James Ratcliffe | Joseph Ramsbottom |
| Heap Clough 2 | 15 | James Ratcliffe | Hutchison |
| Sike Lane | 15 | Henry Kay | Henry Kay |
| Jacky Barnes | 14 | Edmund Ratcliffe | Hutchison |
| Priestontax 2 | 13 | Christopher Kenyon | Hutchison |
| Priestontax 3 | 12 | George Barnes | John Anderton |
| Grane 2 | 12 | John Hoyle | Hutchison |
| Black Hill | 12 | John Taylor | W.H. Hutchinson |
| Bickerhills | 11 | William Ashworth | [Daniel] Lonsdale |
| Broad Holden 1 | 11 | George Wilkinson | Henry Hargreaves |
| Dicken Height | 10 | George Barnes | Henry Hargreaves |
| Holt Clough | 8 | Ellis Ratcliffe | James Barnes |
| Lower Doles | 8 | William Roscoe | [Daniel] Lonsdale |
| Higher Doles | 7 | Ralph Holding | [Daniel] Lonsdale |
| Alley Cross 2 | 7 | James Duerden | Walmsley |
| Alley Cross 3 | 7 | James Haworth | Walmsley |
| Lower Ormerods | 7 | John Heap | Ellis Ratcliffe |
| Heap Clough 3 | 7 | James Rothwell | Henry Hargreaves |
| Slack | 7 | George Whittaker | Edmund Houghton |
| Ormerods 2 | 6 | Richard Hoyle | Ellis Ratcliffe |
| Broad Holden 2 | 6 | Ralph Rishton | Hutchison |
| Calf Hey End | 6 | John Holding | John Holding |
| Nearer Strange Clough | 6 | Ellis Ratcliffe | Ellis Ratcliffe |
| Souter Hill | 5 | John Haworth | John Anderton |
| Turf Pits | 5 | James Barnes | John Haworth |
| Strange Clough | 5 | John Haworth | Ellis Ratcliffe |
| Stone Holes | 4 | Richard Roscoe | Ellis Ratcliffe |
| Stone Walls | 3 | Laurence Greenwood | Walmsley |
| Grane Head 4 | 3 | William Rothwell | James Rothwell |
Several things are immediately obvious:
• There are several farms with the same name, suggesting that they were perhaps once a single property belonging to a yeoman farmer.
• Two-thirds of farms are less than 20 acres in size.
• There are very few owner-occupiers - just eight out of a total of forty-nine.
Analysis of the original document reveals that many of the farms had cottages attached (three or four in many cases), turning them into small hamlets. None of the cottages listed in the survey had land associated with them, so were almost certainly built to house handloom weavers.
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There is virtually nothing left of some of the farmsteads, but it is possible to identify the sites where they once stood.
HARTLEY HOUSE (SD 7516 2266)
Hartley House was about 300 yards west of Grane village, on an ancient routeway leading up the valley.
The name of the house derives from the Hartley family, yeoman farmers who lived there in the 17th century (as early as 1618). A family called Heap lived there at the end of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th century. By 1798, the house had been split into two separate dwellings occupied by Richard & John Birtwistle. The 1798 survey shows four cottages adjacent to Hartley House, three of which were occupied by weavers (Charles Scott, Henry Haworth and James Barnes). By 1827 the original farmhouse had been reconverted to a single dwelling and this was put up for sale(3), together with an adjoining cottage:
LOT 4 - All that messuage or dwelling-house, parcel of the Hartley House Estate, with the loomshop, shippon, outbuildings and two closes of land and other appurtenances thereto belonging and in the occupation of James Clarke as tenant thereof, and also the cottage thereto adjoining now or late in the occupation of George Southworth, as tenant thereof.
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LOWER ORMERODS (SD 7491 2268)
The Ormerods estate lay just west of Hartley House. Its main farm was Lower Ormerods, built in the 17th century, but much added to later.
The Ormerod family were prosperous clothiers who, in the late 16th or early 17th centuries, acquired land between Alley Cross and Hartley House. In the early 18th century, they sold the estate to Lawrence Taylor, a clothier from Constable Lee in Rossendale. Taylor reorganised the property to make it more suitable for handloom weaving on a larger scale. In 1790 it was bought by Ellis Ratcliffe, who added a long loomshop at the rear of the house and probably also added a couple of cottages, also with loomshops. It was occupied by Richard Hoyle in 1798, with an adjoining cottage occupied by John Heap.
The Ormerods estate was also involved in the huge sale that took place in 1827(3):
LOT 5 - All that messuage or dwelling-house called Lower Ormerods, with barn, shippon, loomshop, outbuildings and four closes of land and other apputenances thereto belonging, and now in the possession of George Greenwood as tenant thereof; and also two cottages thereto adjoining, with the loomshops and appurtenances thereto belonging, in the occupation of Robert Greenwood and Solomon Heap as tenants thereof; and also all that messuage or dwelling-house called Higher Ormerods, with the loomshop, barn, shippon, outbuildings and three closes of land and other appurtenances thereto belonging, and late in the occupation of Richard Hoyle, but now untenanted; and also a cottage thereto adjoining and the loomshop and appurtenances thereto belonging, late in the occupation of James Kenyon, but now untenanted.
Lot 5 also included buildings and land that were previously part of the Hartley House estate.
Joseph Kenyon (son of James?) was the tenant in 1841.
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UPPER ORMERODS (SD 7490 2262)
This farm was occupied by John Haworth in 1798 and 1841 (father and son?).
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HOLT CLOUGH
Like so many farms in the valley, this also had cottages with loom shops. The cottages were later converted to separate businesses that included a grocer's shop, a butcher's shop, a smithy, a joinery and an unlicensed beer shop. As mentioned above, the farmhouse was rebuilt by textile entrepreneur, Ellis Ratcliffe, and he was also probably responsible for converting the cottages into business premises. Holt Clough was another estate involved in the huge sale of 1827(3):
LOT 1 - All that messuage or dwelling-house called Holt Clough, with the grocer's shop, barns, stable, shippons, outbuildings and several closes of land and other appurtenances thereto belonging and now in the possession of James Ratcliffe, the younger, and of John Rothwell as tenants thereof, and also three cottages or dwelling houses, with the loomshops and appurtenances thereto belonging, one of which is now in the possession of James Ratcliffe, weaver, and the others are at present untenanted.
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SLATE PITS (SD 7467 2296)
Slate Pits was situated to the west of the village, on Stoney Rake - the original route through the valley. It was also put up for sale in 1827(3):
LOT 3 - All that messuage or dwelling-house called the Slate Pits, with the shippon, loomshop, outbuildings and four closes of land and other appurtenances thereto belonging and in the occupation of James Lonsdale as tenant thereof, together with a dwelling house adjoining now or lately occupied as two dwellings by James Rushton and Rachael Holden, as tenants thereof.
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BENTLEY HOUSE (SD 7495 2204)
A farm of 20 acres, occupied in 1798 by Peter Rothwell and in 1841 by John & William Rothwell.
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STRANGE CLOUGH
One of the properties owned by Ellis Ratcliffe. It was occupied John Haworth in 1798. The 1841 Census shows six buildings at the site: one occupied by a farmer (George Greenwood), one by a publican (Henry Holden), one by a shopkeeper (Richard Hargreaves), the others by a stonemason, a weaver and a labourer.
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TOP O' THE KNOLL (SD 7449 2245)
Occupied by Andrew Scholes in 1841. Not mentioned in the 1798 survey.
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UPPER HEIGHTS
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JACKY BARNES'S FARM (SD 7650 2318)
This was situated on the old packhorse trail from Haslingden to Blackburn. Just after the farm the trail drops down to Heap Clough between stone walls and then continues diagonally up the hillside ahead.
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PRIESTENTAX (SD 7630 2386)
These two lonely trees and a few discarded stones mark the site of Priestentax Farm. Priestentax is a corruption of 'Priests Intake' indicating that a priest took this land in from the moor and settled here probably in the 17th century. Two old roads cross here, the one going from right to left in the picture is the old 1620's intake road enclosing lands newly taken in from the moor and the one going from bottom to top of the photograph is the old road to Oswaldtwistle.
The 1798 survey lists three properties occupied by Widow Hurst (30a), Christopher Kenyon (13a) and George Barnes (12a). The 1851 Census lists four farmers: James Hearsnip (80a), William Rawstron (21a), Richard Barnes (19a) and John Barnes (19a).
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BLACK HILL (SD 7594 2364)
In 1798, this was a farm of twelve acres occupied by John Taylor. In 1851, it was recorded as a farm of nineteen acres occupied by George Haworth (72).
DICKEN HEIGHT (SD 7600 2322)
In 1798, this was a farm of ten acres occupied by George Barnes. In 1851, it was recorded as a farm of three acres occupied by Betty Shepherd (66).
HIGHER FOWL EDGE (SD 7506 2339)
In 1798, this was a farm of 26 acres, owned and occupied by John Nuttall. In 1851, it was occupied by 69-year-old Betty Nuttall.
TURF PITS (SD 7447 2321)
In 1798, the farm (5 acres) was occupied by James Barnes. In 1851, Richard Bentley (40) occupied the farmhouse and the adjoining cottage was occupied by by James Clayton (37), a handloom weaver.
LOWER DOLES (SD 7468 2329)
In 1798, the farm was occupied by William Roscoe. In 1841, by Richard Bentley (60). His son, Richard (30), a weaver, lived in the adjoining cottage.
STONE HOLES (SD 7412 2299)
One of many properties owned by Ellis Ratcliffe, this was occupied by Richard Roscoe in 1798 and Thomas Hargreaves, a labourer, in 1841.
SLACK (SD 7380 2316)
This small farm (7a) was occupied by George Whitaker in 1798 and Thomas Lee in 1841.
BOTTOM OF ROUGH (SD 7404 2293)
This seventeen acre farm was occupied by Thomas Haworth in 1798 and Matthew Adcroft in 1841.
GRANE HEAD (SD 7480 2219)
In 1798, there were three farms of around twenty acres occupied by John Haworth, George Duckworth and John Hargreaves, plus a weaver's cottage occupied by William Rothwell. Several more weavers' cottages were built in the next couple of decades, so that by 1841 six families were living at Grane Head. By 1851, the entire hamlet had been abandoned. The local Waterworks Company had bought the land and terminated the leases. One of the farmers was lucky enough to relocate to a farm at the other end of the valley and another started a joinery business in Grane Village. Jonathan Titherington, a weaver, moved to Lower Darwen to work as a stone quarryman.
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Watering holes
The Holden Arms stands at the entrance to the Ogden valley, where the road coming north from Bury meets the road coming south from Haslingden.
It has been at the centre of the Holden Wood community for over two hundred years and served as the watering hole for the navvies who dug the nearby Odgen Reservoir in the early 1900s. It was run in 1901 by Elizabeth Jenkinson (74).
The Duke of Wellington or Wellington Inn was situated about halfway between the Holden Arms and Grane village. It was run by Robert Haworth in the 1820s and by William Brooks in 1881. It closed in 2019.
The Seven Stars was at Crow Trees.
The Hare and Hounds was near Turf Pits. It was run in 1881 by Richard Rothwell (43) and in 1911 by Rowland Smith (29).
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Some notable Grane families
Most of the most prominent Grane families feature in a commercial directory of 1824:(4)
| NAME | OCCUPATION |
| George Duckworth | Cotton manufacturer |
| Richard Hargreaves | Cotton manufacturer |
| Robert Haworth | Innkeeper (Wellington Inn) |
| Charles Nuttall | Stonemason |
| James Ratcliffe | Coal proprietor & shopkeeper |
| John Ratcliffe | Cotton manufacturer & shopkeeper (Hannah Bank) |
| John Roscoe | Slate dealer |
| John Rothwell | Shopkeeper |
| John Taylor | Cotton spinner |
| Peter Titherington | Flannel manufacturer |
| George Wilson | Linen & woollen draper |
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RATCLIFFE
James Ratcliffe, a weaver, married Alice Rothwell at Haslingden in 1744. When he was buried in 1757, James was recorded as a yeoman in the church register.
Ellis Ratcliffe, son of James and Alice, was born at Grane and baptised in 1745. In 1766, he married Elizabeth Pilkington of the parish of Bury.
They had a daughter Jane (1767-87), but then Ellis seems to have disappeared for ten years, before returning to father two more children: James (1779) and Alice (1781).
He seems to have returned to Grane a wealthy man and bought several properties which he rented to 'putters-out' - people who then sub-let to handloom-weaving families.
The 1798 survey shows that he was the owner of ten houses: Stone Holes, Nearer Strange Clough, Strange Clough Cottage, [Higher] Ormerods with two cottages and Lower Ormerods with two cottages. He lived at Holt Clough in a property owned by James Barnes. Elizabeth died in 1794 and Ellis in 1814.
James Ratcliffe married Sarah Haworth of the parish of Bury in 1759. They set up home at Alley Cross and had seven children: Alice (1760), John (1762), Harry (1764), James (1765), Richard (1767), Jane (1769) and Margaret (1771).
John Ratcliffe, son of James and Sarah, was born at Grane and baptised at Haslingden in 1762. He married Ann Heap at Haslingden in 1791 (there are other possibilities) and their first child, Robert, was baptised in 1793. When Robert's sister, Elizabeth, was baptised in 1798, their residence was recorded as Holden Hall. John was listed as a cotton manufacturer/shopkeeper in 1824. He married for a second time in 1828. His bride was Hannah Pilling and they had six children, all born at Broad Holden. He died at Hannah Bank in 1839.
James Ratcliffe, son of Ellis and Elizabeth, married Susan Holden at Haslingden in 1803. In 1814, t the baptism of his fifth child, he is described as a grocer. He also seems to have been a keen farmer and a member of the Manchester Agricultural Society. The Manchester Mercury of 12 August 1817 records that he was presented with two silver cups at their annual meeting:
… for covering sixteen acres of land with good compost, a silver cup value five guineas.
… for draining twenty-two acres of land with stone, a silver cup value five guineas.
In 1820, when his final child is baptised, he is recorded as a yeoman. The directory of 1824 lists him as a coal proprietor. In 1841, he is living at Seven Stars (presumably no longer an alehouse) with his two youngest children. His occupation is recorded simply as farmer. In 1851, he is still farming but has moved to Crow Trees. His daughter is still unmarried and teaching at the local school.
Richard Ratcliffe, baptised in 1804, was the son of John & Ann, who were living at Broad Holden at the time. Richard married Mary Warburton at Haslingden in 1825 and they had seven children. He is listed as a farmer at Hannah Bank in 1841.
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DUCKWORTH
Thomas Duckworth, son of George (a yeoman) and Elizabeth, was born at Grane Head in 1725. He married Anne Rothwell in 1759. Their first child was born at Grane Head, but they moved to Alley Cross shortly afterwards. The 1798 survey shows Thomas as owner and occupier of a property at Alley Cross. He died in 1810.
Jonathan Duckworth was running one of the Grane pubs in 1746.
George Duckworth, son of Thomas and Anne, was born at Alley Cross in 1761. He married Betty Haworth in 1786 and they had seven children, all born at Alley Cross. The 1798 survey lists George as the owner and occupier of one of the buildings at Grane Head and the owner of the adjoining cottage, occupied by Hugh Pilkington. George is listed as a cotton manufacturer in 1824. In a directory of 1828-9, we find a listing 'Duckworth & Rothwell, manufacturers of cotton goods'.
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HARGREAVES
The Hargreaves family had a long association with Broad Holden. The Haslingden parish registers record the baptisms of Jenet, daughter of John Hargreaves junior of Broad Holden in 1633 and Susanna, the daughter of Henry Hargreaves, also of Broad Holden, in 1635.
When Henry Hargreaves married Elizabeth Cronkshaw in 1712, he was living at Broad Holden.
Henry Hargreaves (the younger) was born at Broad Holden in 1724. He was the son of Elizabeth and Henry (a yeoman). He married Elizabeth Halstead at Newchurch in 1746.
There was apparently a date stone 'Henry & Betty Hargreaves 1765’ at Broad Holden, and Henry is listed as the owner of a farm and four cottages there in the 1798 survey. He built a carding mill there in about 1795.
Members of the Hargreaves family also lived at Heap Clough. Christopher Hargreaves probably lived there after his marriage to Ann Rothwell in 1686. He died there in 1739.
Christopher's son, Henry Hargreaves, lived at Heap Clough after his marriage [to his cousin Ann?] in 1713.
Another Christopher Hargreaves lived at Heap Clough after his marriage to Mary Ratcliffe in 1741.
The 1798 survey records Henry Hargreaves as the owner of Ormerods, Hartley House and a property at Dicken Height, as well as the family's long-standing homes at Broad Holden and Heap Clough.
Richard Hargreaves is listed as a cotton manufacturer in a directory of 1824.
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ROSCOW/ROSCOE
Richard Roscow a slater of Bolton, married Ann Bentley, also of Bolton, in 1781. They had three children before moving to Grane and then five more, all born at Alley Cross.
William Roscow, eldest son of Richard and Ann, became a surgeon.
Baxter Roscow, son of Richard and Ann, was born at Harwood in 1788. He married Maria Hoyle in 1820 and they had six children. Baxter started married life as an innkeeper in Grane, then spent a year or two working as a labourer in Haslingden, before going into the family business as a dealer in stone. He returned to Grane in about 1825 and died at Calf Hey in 1840.
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William Roscow, a slater of Bolton, married Ellin Entwistle, also of Bolton, in 1785. They had two children before moving to Grane and then six more, all born at Alley Cross.
John Roscow, son of William and Ellen, was baptised at Edgworth in 1786 and married Ann Hoyle at Haslingden in 1806. They had eight children, all born in Grane. Between 1812 and 1821, John is described variously as a delfman, a weaver and a stonemason. It's likely that he was all these things.
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TITHERINGTON
William Titherington married Helen Haworth in 1764. They had seven children, the second being born at Holt Clough. In 1798 they appear to have been living in one of the cottages at Rothwell Fold.
Peter Titherington, son of William and Helen, was born at Grane in 1775. Peter, a weaver, married for the second time at Bury in 1810 (his first wife, Jane, having died earlier that same year). His second wife was Ann Taylor, a widow. There is no trace of his first marriage. He is listed as a flannel manufacturer in a directory of 1824.
Thomas Titherington, son of William and Helen, was born at Grane in 1780. The 1841 Census show him living in one of the cottages at Rothwell Fold. His occupation is given as woollen spinner.
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HAWORTH
Ralph Haworth, son of James and Anne of Alley Cross, was baptised at Haslingden in 1780 and married Jane Barnes in 1802. Ralph is recorded as a farmer at Alley Cross in the 1841 Census.
Ralph Haworth, son of Ralph and Jane of Alley Cross, was baptised at Haslingden in 1812. He is recorded as a stone quarryman living at Alley Cross in the 1841 Census.
Henry Haworth was born at Bentley House in 1760 and is listed as the owner of the house and also two attached cottages in the 1798 survey.
Edmund Haworth is shown as the owner of a farm at 'Top o' t' Moss' in the 1798 survey. It's likely that he is the son of John Haworth (a weaver) & Elizabeth who lived at Heap Clough.
The largest farm in the 1798 survey, Edgerton Moss, was owned by someone known as 'Attorney Haworth'.
Robert Haworth was running the Wellington Inn in 1824.
Numerous members of the Haworth family living in Haslingden in the 1820s were listed as cotton manufacturers in a directory of 1824.
John Haworth was farming at Higher Ormerods, with his wife Betty, in 1841.
Jonathan Haworth, son of John and Betty, was living at Higher Ormerods with his wife Alice in 1851 and is described as a cotton powerloom weaver. He probably worked at Calf Hey Mill. A few years later, they moved to Bentley House, a remote location on the edge of Musbury Heights. On 3 April 1857, police and excisemen raided the house and, at the back of the weaving shop, found a false wall concealing the entrance to a still-room cut into the solid rock. Jonathan was fined £10 and, despite selling some cattle, could not pay the fine and had to spend some time in prison.
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ROTHWELL
It is likely that there were Rothwells in Grane in the 16th century. In May 1604, Henry and Richard Rothwell both buried their wives. It seems likely that at least one of them lived in Grane.
The earliest baptisms are Grace, daughter of Richard Rothwell in October 1629 and James, son of a different Richard Rothwell, in May 1630.
A tailor named Richard Rothwell lived in Grane in the 1680s.
Richard and John Rothwell, both clothiers, lived there in the early 18th century.
Henry Rothwell was described as a yeoman of Grane when he married in 1749.
An 1824 directory lists Henry Rothwell as a flannel and blanket manufacturer and John Rothwell as a shopkeeper.
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ROSTRON
Commonly spelt RAWSTRON or RAWSTHORNE, the family feature in the 1798 survey as both owners and occupiers. John Rostron owns a property at Grane Head, whilst another John Rostron (his son?) occupies one in the village.
John & Deborah Rostron lived in Grane after their marriage in 1791 and raised five children. By 1802, they had moved to Deardengate in Haslingden. In 1824, John Rostron & Sons are trading as flannel manufacturers (still in Deardengate).
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HEAP
When Lawrence Heap died in 1638, he left an estate valued at over £500. This was probably the period when Heap Clough acquired its name.
There was no education of any kind in Haslingden until 1749, when John Heap from Grane paid for a schoolmaster to teach the children of the poor to read and write and to instruct them in the principles of the Church of England.
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ORMEROD
The Ormerod family were prosperous clothiers who, in the late 16th or early 17th century, acquired lands between Alley Cross and Hartley House. They built the house known as Lower Ormerods and, at some later date, the smaller house known as Higher Ormerods. When John Ormerod died in 1646, his estate was valued at £450.
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Notes
1. Haslingden Survey and Book of Rates, 1798. Lancashire Archives, PR 865
2. Edward Baines, History, Directory & Gazetteer of the County Palatine of Lancaster, 1824
3. Manchester Guardian, 29 December 1827
Other sources consulted
O.S. maps
Census returns
Parish registers
Alan Crosby, The History of Haslingden Grane, 1991
Mike Rothwell, Industrial Heritage - A guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Haslingden and Helmshore, 2009
http://www.abandonedcommunities.co.uk/haslingdengrane.html
http://lancashirepast.com/2020/01/26/the-lost-village-of-haslingden-grane/