Interesting Facts about Clayton Le Moors
 

Hi All!

My daughter has a project to do on Clayton Le Moors for school. Today we walked around most of it and took photos of the various landmarks (Mercer Park, All Saints Church, Sparth Manor and House, The Dunkenhalgh, The Canal, Wilsons playing fields, the area around Hyndburn Bridge and water street etc) but I wondered if anyone could offer any stories or unusual facts about the area that might not be common knowledge. We are visiting the library tomorrow to see what they have, but as the whole school year is doing this project I thought someone might have something different she could put in her project. Anything ghostly or ghastly would be brilliant (all 10 year olds love that!!) or any other suitable story we could look up.
Many thanks in anticipation of some good stuff!!

Bekibird.

Re: Interesting Facts about Clayton Le Moors
 

Try using the Accyweb search facility to find previous threads on Clayton and ghosts.

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Just looked through everything and not a bean! Lots about Accrington ghosts and the story of the Dunkenhalgh one (which we may have to rely on by the looks of it) but nothing in Clayton. :(

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There never was a ghost at Dunkenhalgh, that myth was laid to rest by the Accrington Pals, they were on night exercises in the grounds at Dukenhalgh, and the ghost turned out to be mist rising from the river.

Re: Interesting Facts about Clayton Le Moors
 

That's an interesting story Retlaw. Was it a normal thing for the Accrington Pals to do night exercises at the Dunk? We are going to put a piece in the project about the moorfield pit disaster as that affected a lot of Clayton families and also talk about some of the impressive buildings in the area. Any other noteworthy or interesting fact about Clayton Le Moors would be much appreciated.
Bekibird.

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The half way point for the Liverpool-Leeds Canal is just off Blackburn Road heading towards Clayton - marked by a mile post I believe.

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Clayton Hall: Grimshaw Family

Good Site too

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I am probably being really thick here but which current building is Clayton Hall? We took lots of pictures of the Dunk, Mercer House, Sparth House but I don't think its any of them... where is it?

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Only a couple of times. There is a book in Accrington library on the History of Clayton, one thing that sticks in my mind, the Bapstists that had the Macpelah church on Hyndburn Rd, where the petrol station is now, came from somewhere in Clayton around the mid 1700's, most of those grave stones that were on Hyndburn Rd are now in the grave yard up New lane Ossy.

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I have a friend who lives in the coach house of Clayton Hall.
There is a Clayton Hall drive shown on this map

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Cla...d+Kingdom&z=17

The road cannot be followed on Google maps because it is a private road.

When I have visited her I could not see the hall itself because the walls around it are very high.

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The book Retlaw refers to is A History of the township & manor of C-le-M by Richard Trappes-Lomax 1926. There's a 1790 plan with it, and there's much to be found on it - eg the line of the road to Acc before the turnpike was constructed. Be sure to read the last chapter -= 4 pages on modern developments. The road named after the athlete Ramsbottom (?), is another thing worth listing. Clayton has 1059 acres.

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That explains it then!! We parked in the car park of Wilsons to take pictures of the track and I noticed that there was no through road past Wilsons. How interesting! The website mentioned previously on this thread shows some really good pictures and gives an excellent history... shame its so out of the way. Is it occupied now do you know?

Re: Interesting Facts about Clayton Le Moors
 

I never thought a kids school project would interest me so much! We had a really good day out looking at the local historical sights of the town and I am really quite impressed by what such a small place has to offer. We've collected quite a bit of info so far but any other interesting facts and maybe even figures would be very much appreciated. Being Accrington born and bred means I have a lot of knowledge and information about Accrington but I've never really looked closely at Clayton Le Moors. I wonder if there are any pictures to be found (before 4th June... deadline for the projects to be in!!) of Whalley road area around the Hare and Hounds before the motorway... I think that info would look really good for kids who have only ever known the area as it is. I am going to Clayton Library tomorrow to see what they might have but if anyone thinks I should go elsewhere please let me know. I will also pop to Accy Library to look for the info mentioned by Retlaw. Thanks again everyone!! I just knew I'd get some good info from you all!!
Bekibird

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Also.... when we visited Water Street (Next to Hyndburn Bridge Pub) there is a gate right at the entrance to the little street which (although brand new) says the date 1784 on it... does this mean the row was constructed in this year... perhaps being one of the oldest streets in Clayton?

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Sorry Retlaw but the MYTH is going in!! Even if it is just a dodgy legend (which the Accy Pals prove) its still a much told and revered story. I think the class will enjoy it! Still, it would be good to find out more connections with the Accrington Pals with the people of Clayton... were many Pals from Clayton?? If you could provide a listing of those from Clayton we could do a section on that too.

Just a side note that probably won't be believed by many... My husband and I stayed overnight at the Dunk a few years back as a birthday treat for me. It was the worst nights sleep we'd ever had. Laying in bed that night we both felt the distinct presence of 'something' in the room. At first I thought it was me but when I asked my Husband if he was asleep he answered an affirmative NO! It was horrible, like someone was standing at the end of our bed. We didn't 'see' anything, but there was a really creepy feeling that something was in the room with us. We ended up turning all the lights on and attempting to sleep. It may have been something dodgy we'd both eaten that night at the Dunk Restaurant but when we mentioned it the following morning to staff they said we'd slept in the 'new' wing and that they'd never heard of anyone having a bad night before... spooky... yes it was!!!

Thanks again!!

Bekibird

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It must have been something you ate, I've yet to see a ghost that likes the look of the business end of a Winchester 44.
93 men from Clayton served in the 11th East Lancs,
12 of the original Pals from Clayton never came home, their names are on the Memorial.
As for a list of names I'm afraid that not possible, it would take too long to type all that in here, all that info is in another computer that has never been connected to the internet, and the programs they are in are not compatable with any of bill gates's programes.
I don't agree with perpetuating myths that have been proven wrong, thats just feeding the gullible, like that clown from Clitheroe does, why not show it up for what it is, a myth. Probably 1/2 the kids in the school will have included that myth, how many will be able to refute it.

Re: Interesting Facts about Clayton Le Moors
 

It's only a myth to those who don't believe Retlaw whoooooooooo! But I'm with you, if I don't see it I don't believe it, HOWEVER, I took a photo of a line of trees in the Dunk grounds, just because they looked nice. When the photo was developed I thought I had done a good job and showed it around, the reaction was certainly not expected, first, I could see nothing out of the ordinary, but a couple of the people who looked at the photo questioned who the lady was??? No lady there as far as I could see but then another couple of people ask who the lady was?? These comments were made by different people on different days who had not discussed the photo with each other. I still thought they were daft until I showed the photo to my grand daughter who asked "who is that lady holding the baby?" That was back in Canada and she didn't know where the photo was taken or any of the ghostly tale. And no, I still can't see a damn thing.

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Clayton Hall is occupied by some wealthy person who likes his privacy.

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How very romantic!!! Seriously though - your day with your lad will be with him for ever, and in hope it has started a lifelong love of local history. There has been at least one book on Clayton in recent years. Not great but better than nowt. It will still be on sale. Mention the man who made ice cream in a court room ( Wilson?) On old maps, the Dunk is called Duncan Hall. I think Duncan Square, Ossie, is so called, as the land agent ,Robert Addison, working for the Peels, who owned that land lived at Duncan Hall c 1820

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See 'memories of Clayton le Moors & Altham by Angela Davies. 2007 Local publisher -PM me for details

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Thanks for this... It will be especially good for the kids to know that 93 men came from Clayton and not the Pals were Accrington born.

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If you type in the search box Clayton Le Moors and then go to the sixth one down, click that you then come to wanting photos of c-le-m go down one click and you will find quite a lot of photos and interesting things about Clayton.

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This is an interesting local story I came across a while ago -don't know if it's the sort of thing you're looking for. In todays money £150,000 in 1896 is equivalent to nearly £56 million so like a massive lottery win...the link is to the original newspaper article.
15th Dec 1896 -Windfall
A canal boatman named Turner, employed on the Leeds and :Liverpool Canal, received notice lately through a firm of solicitors in Manchester that, owing to the death of an uncle, a successful gold-miner in Australia, he had fallen heir to a fortune of £150,000. The boatman resided at a township near Accrington called -Clayton-le-Moors, and up till the date of this good news had had, a very hard life.
15 Dec 1896 - WINDFALLS. THOS. BRASSEY'S CONTRACTS. £78,000,000.

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The industrial history of Clayton-le-Moors is well described by Rothwell and includes the following summary of the textile industry:

As in the neighbouring towns of Accrington, Church, Rishton and Great Harwood, cotton manufacture was the pre-eminent industrial trade of Clayton-le-Moors, providing employment for a large percentage of the township’s population. The primary site was Oakenshaw Calico Printworks, initially commenced by Peel, Yates & Company, but later associated with Richard Fort and Brothers. This company, through one of its partners, John Mercer, made a significant contribution to the nineteenth century textile industry and bequeathed to the trade the important process of mercerisation.

Canal Mill, Enfield, an impressive spinning and weaving factory built in 1835, was a worthy event in the introduction of the cotton industry to Clayton-le-Moors, but the real growth of the town came between 1851 and 1865 when Joseph Barnes actively encouraged the foundation of mills and factories on the Oakenshaw estate.
(Rothwell, Michael, 1979, Industrial Heritage – A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Clayton-le-Moors: Hyndburn Local History Society, Printed by Caxton Printing, Accrington)

The canal and Enfield Wharf were extremely important to the development of Clayton. Transport at the time of the Industrial revolution into and out of booming Accrington was mostly dependent on Church Wharf and Enfield Wharf. I don't know if you've looked into this aspect for your project but with the story of the boatman it could be an interesting sideline.

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This extract explains why the canal didn't go through Accrington as originally planned and this was an important factor in the eventual development of Clayton as the wharf and industrial area built up around it. There's a nice anecdote about the Petre family of The Dunk too!
"As the Leeds and Liverpool Canal winds its tortuous way through East Lancashire it seems to carefully avoid Accrington. However, when the canal’s route through East Lancashire was planned in 1793, it was to continue up the valley of the Hydburn, crossing it at a point close to the old Grammar School on Blackburn Road. The proposed Haslingden Canal was to join it here, creating a waterway link with Bury and Manchester. Had this happened there would have been a wharf near the junction where goods to and from the town could have been handled.

Instead the route was altered. The Peel family asked the canal company to avoid crossing the Hyndburn above their textile print works at Peel Bank. At that time it was one of the largest factories in the world and used the river's waters during the printing process. Building the embankment for the canal to cross the Hyndburn would have interrupted this supply and caused production problems. Instead, the canal was built downstream, rejoining the original line at a right angle junction at Church. Much of the land for the canal deviation had to be purchased from the Petre family of Dunkenhalgh. Although they were quite happy for the canal to be built, they requested that the towpath was made on the side of the canal away from their house and lands. They hoped that this would prevent poachers from gaining easy access to their estate!"

The stable block of what remains of Enfield Wharf is a Grade II listed building.

Info from this link: The Leeds-Liverpool Canal by Mike Clarke

Re: Interesting Facts about Clayton Le Moors
 

There is always the Dr Lovelace's floating soap factory too.
And Clayton was well visited for the whit walks. My dad used to tell me that they sat a pig on the wall of the canal bank where the Con club is...they did this so that the pig could watch the procession go by...although this story is apocryphal.

Re: Interesting Facts about Clayton Le Moors
 

Floating soap | Carol's Place
A snippet about the floating soap.

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Whalley Road from the Greyhound to the canal used to be called Napoleon Street.

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There were 62 men from Rishton as well.
One other thing when did Oakenshaw Chapel become known as Barnes Square Baptists ?. The font inside the chapel originally came for Rishton Weslyan Chapel, thats a bit more for you.

Re: Interesting Facts about Clayton Le Moors
 

It never was Barnes Square Baptists. The chapel that stood on Barnes Square was built by John Mercer as a Wesleyan Chapel, becoming Methodist after Methodist Union in 1932. There was also a Primitive Methodist Chapel in Barnes Street which closed in the 1960's. The Baptist Chapel stood on the corner of Blackburn Road and Atlas Street until it was knocked down and eventually a new chapel was built in Sparth Road.

Re: Interesting Facts about Clayton Le Moors
 

Quite right, my four daughters were all christened there always on a Sunday morning after the service and with all the congregation still there. Very nice way to hold a christening.

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I have a list of the Clayton men from World War 1, named as on the Oakenshaw Baptist R-O-H. That same R-O-H was recently recovered from a church which is now closed, which I was told was Barnes Sq Meths.

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I don't know of a Baptist Church down the bottom end of Clayton until the one on Sparth Road was built in the 1970's or 80's. I was told on another thread that Barnes Square Methodists had moved and were now meeting in Mercer Park so it would seem likely that the Roll of Honour is from there. Could it be a misprint that the list is referred to as the Oakenshaw Baptist Roll because even if there was an Oakenshaw Baptist that I'm not aware of I would have thought the roll would have stayed in Baptist hands.

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Just been doing some more digging and according to the July 1836 issue of the Baptist Magazine, the Baptist Church in the Accrington area began in 1735 by meeting in a house in Oakenshaw where a John Ellison lived. It was supplied with preachers from the Baptist Church in Bacup. The meeting moved to Accrington in about 1765.

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Even the relatives of the dead soldiers refered to it as Oakenshaw Baptists, when they were interviewed by an Observer reporter on their relatives death in action. I've even got newspaper reports that relatives have said their sons name is on such and such R-O-H, when its not, the biggest culprit for errors is St Mary's up Ossy.

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'The Baptist Churches of Accrington & District' by Rev Wylie(1923) tells that ' the first Baptist Meeting House built at Oakenclough was situate close by the Fort's Arms, Hotel, Barnes St....'

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The chapel near the Forts Arms was opened in 1849 as Oakenshaw Baptist. The chapel which was on the corner of Blackburn Road and Atlas Street was opened in 1888 and I believe was a replacement for the first chapel. I would be surprised if they kept the name when they moved up the top end but it's not impossible.

My grandparents started worshipping at Barnes Square Wesleyan (as it then was) when they moved from Padiham in 1913 because there wasn't a United Methodist Chapel in Clayton and my mother worshipped there all her life, having been born in Barnes Street in 1915. The minister at Barnes Square during the First World War was Rev James Thomas East. His son Kingsley was killed in action and his name certainly appeared on a memorial in the chapel that was knocked down around 1980 although I'm not sure he was resident in Clayton at the time of the war. If his name appears on the Roll of Honour that would prove it was from Barnes Square Wesleyan.

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Kingsley East his name is on a bronze plaque in Oakenshaw Chapel. That was the report in the Observer. There was also a portrate of him unveiled in the school. His address is given as Park View Clayton.
His name is on the R-O-H which I have a photograph of, the one that was recently removed from the chapel that was recently closed. The bronze plaque has also been removed.

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There is a memorial in the Park View WMC in Clayton listing the names and addresses of members of that club who died in WW1. Sadly it's quite a long list - makes me stop and think whenever I visit the club.

So many young men, all from one Working Men's Club. So Sad.

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Does any one know what the telephone No. is or when they are open so that I can photograph the memorial, I can't find any reference to it in Accy Library, it looks like one that Bill Turner & I missed.

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Have P.M.D yeh.

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Retlaw beat me to it. A pal of mine is Mike Coyle, who is North of England officer for War Memorials/ Rolls of Honour listing. He has told me that he is not aware of it. I will PM Retlaw with a view to getting this onto the official record. You've to get up early in the day to get one o'er on Retlaw I hope he will tell us about the names of the lads on it.

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I don't think your mate has 1/10th of Greater Accringtons Rolls of Honour, attached is a list of some of the sources found during my research.
Can't say I've heard of any working mens clubs outside Acc until the Park View name was mentioned.

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I am pleased that this is going to be noted and recorded for future generations to be able to remember these men.

The club has struggled over recent years and i was worried it may have ended up in some builders skip at some point in the future.

At least if it's documented, then it's part of the way to being kept safe.

Thank you.

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Retlaw may well be right that my pal, Mike Coyle, who contributes to the national war memorials website, does not have all the available information on Accrington's WMs/RoHs. I shall visit the club and take photos for him. He does not keep the information for private use. It seems a pity that our information is not available alongside that of other towns.

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After traipsing round Clayton for the past hour asking questions, I've got a mobile number for the key holder, he has agreed to allow me to photograph it later today.

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What do you mean that our information is not available alongside other towns. there are several R-O-H that Bill & I rescued over the years, they are in Accy Library.

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Got it, the steward kindly took it off the wall so I could stand it where it would get natural light for a better photo.
Seems their were 3 working mens clubs in Clayton at one time, known as Top, Middle & Bottom, bottom club is Park View, the other two, one has been demolished, and the other was a chinese for a time, now closed. Thats possibly 2 R-O-H that have disappeared.

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There was 3- bottom was Park View, Middle club was Come @ Welcome, Top club i think Whalley Rd, just before the Greyhound on other side of road coming from clayton, used em all at one time.:) in fact didn't know middle club was no more.

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Great news. Hopefully the other two are safe and well somewhere. A thread that started with a request for help on a kids school project has unearthed a forgotten WW1 memorial plaque.

Got to love the internet :-D

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Does anyone know what happened to the bust of Edward VII which used to stand outside the WMC opposite the Greyhound? When I was younng I used to catch the bus there when I went to visit my uncle. The bust always fascinated me.

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I don't think the other 2 have survived, I went in Clayton Library this aft during my search, and they had no knowledge of any working mens clubs in Clayton.
Even 10 years ago they were being dumped in skips if Bill & I weren't quick enough.
Also two church's in Acc have had theirs stolen in the past 20 odd years, Royds St Baptists hid theirs whilst the place was being renovated but some one found it and made off with it.

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I've checked the names on the Park View R-O-H.
There are 23 names, which include 7 spelling mistakes, and two men who don't exist, not in Soldiers died in the Great War, or Commonwealth War Graves, neither can they be found in Military Records, or Census returns as living in this part of Lancashire. The queerest one of all is a Jhon (sic) Holster. There are no Jhon, John or Jonathan Holster's resident in England in the 1911 census, but 4 men named John Holster are in the Medal Records, they are listed at Belgian Agents.

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Busts always fascinated me too; still do in fact.;) Oh, and butts too.:D

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Lived in Canada all those years, but still a Bottom Ender at heart and mind.

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"They change their skies above them,
But not their hearts that roam!"

Kipling The Native Born.;)

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There is the Moorfield pit disaster of 1883. The youngest to die was only 10 years old. Some of my ancestors worked the Clayton pits. There is Mr Mercer of mercerised cotton. He was a self-taught self-made man. I think a lot of his fortune was given away.

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To all who have provided info about Clayton I thank you kindly!! My daughter submitted her report (which ended up as four gigantic posters!!) and got excellent feedback! Throughout this process my family spent a lot of time appreciating the small town we live close to and seeing all the lovely things it has to offer. I will try to post a picture of what my daughter accomplished and again say thanks to everyone who contributed!

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From a post I made elswehere on here:

I've checked the 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses for Napoleon Street.

....between 1891 and 1901 Napoleon Street became (part of?) Whalley Rd, the odd numbers became the even numbers and the direction was reversed.

I've found the following matches :-

1 Napoleon Street = 170 Whalley Rd, 3 = 168, 27 = 144, 35 = 134, 45 = 124, 61-63 = 108-102, 71 = 98, 85 = 84, 93&95 = 76&74, 99 = 70, 105 = 64, 113 = 56, 155 = 12. Moorfield House = 8 Whalley Rd.

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The 10yrs old was James Atherton There were more at 11, 12 & 13yrs old The family lived in Petre St. His 12yrs old brother, Ben, was injured. Harry Tootle, author of 'The Moorfield Pit Disaster' believed that James would have been a 'door tenter'. He was buried at All Saints.