The historic parish of Bircle, near Bury,

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, was created on 1 July 1846, although the village of Bircle (now known as Birtle) has existed for many centuries. It is believed that 'Bircle' is a shortening of the phrase 'Birch Hill', as it was suggested that there were birch trees in the parish. Names such as "Cleggs Wood", "Simpson Clough" and "Dobb Wood" appear on early

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maps. "Hill' appeared in the fourteenth century in the name of 'Birkhill' but it never found a permanent place. Over time its name has also appeared as Brithull, 1243; Birlcil, 1246; Birkhill, 1334, 1573; but Bircle appears in the Diocese of Manchester directory in England. Bircle

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

is on Castle Hill Road.

Parish

Vicars of the parish

*Thomas Wilson 1846–1891 *Charles Renshaw 1891–1920 *R. P. Trend-Smith 1920–1935 *J. W. Maddison 1936–1957 *R. H. Pickering 1958–1962 *Arthur J. Dobb 1962–1972 *David Harrison 1972–1983 *Marcus Maxwell 1984–1993 *Arthur Ross Brockbank 1993–2012 *Gordon Joyce 2012–2019 *Harvie Nicol 2019–

The church

The church of

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, also known a
Bircle Church
is a listed building for its special architectural or historic interest. The church was designed by architect George Shaw and was first dedicated in 1846. It is a small church and is a relatively early example of ecclesiologically correct

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rock-faced

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

with ashlar dressings and slate roofs with stone-coped gables. The nave and chancel both have hammer beam roofs rising from stone

corbels In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a bearing weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applie ...

. Carved

angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

holding shields are on the ends of the hammer beams. There are four

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windows in the nave, which were given in memory of loved ones. They depict

Ruth Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Ark ...

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

and

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, the mother of

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. On the wooded ceiling are carved angel figures. Long:-2.260 Lat:53.607 The mural in Bircle church hall was painted by the local potter Harry Johnston.

The Workhouse

In 1852, plans were made for a workhouse to accommodate 400 inmates, with a separate 60-bed hospital in

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

. Jericho Workhouse, also known as th
Bury Union Workhouse
, was opened on 21 January 1857, and a year later the total expenditure for the scheme had swollen to £20,481. Inmates came from as far away as Spain. In the 1881 census a 64-year-old named Susannah Allport, a Bonnet Maker (Milliner) from

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was in residence. Today it is the site of Fairfield General Hospital.

Historical timeline of Bury Workhouse

The Road to Jericho 1775 – A workhouse was built on Manchester Road, Redvales, Bury. 1825 – Bury Select Vestry recommended that the town needed to build a new workhouse or improve the existing one. 1827 – The Vestry decided to extend the existing Bury workhouse. 1837 – The Poor Law Union was formally declared on 8 February. 1850 – The Bury Board of Guardians were refused an extension on the lease of land for the workhouses. 1852 – The Bury Board of Guardians gave notice that they were prepared to receive plans and specifications for a new Union workhouse capable of support 400 inmates with suitable outbuildings, yards and conveniences. 1853 – The Vaccination Act introduced compulsory vaccination against smallpox. It required that every child, health permitting should be vaccinated within 3 months, or in the case of orphans, 4 months of birth. 1855 – Work began on the new Bury Union workhouse at Jericho, almost two miles east of Bury on Rochdale Old Road. 1857 – The Bury Union workhouse opened on 21 January. The total cost of building and land was £21,418. 1858 – The Bury Union workhouse was consecrated by the Bishop of Manchester on 26 July. 1862 – Additions were made to the Bury Union workhouse providing separate infant accommodation. 1867 – The poor law guardians were to control vaccination districts and pay vaccinators from 1 – 3 shillings per child vaccinated in the district. 1868 – Additions were made to the Bury Union Workhouse to provide separate accommodation for the 'insane'. 1877 – On 9 June the foundation stone for a new 32 bed infectious diseases hospital at the Jericho site was made by Alderman John Duckworth, chairman of the Bury Board of Guardians. There was also to be a nurses' home and mortuary. 1878 – The infectious diseases unit was opened on 24 August. 1903–1905 – A new 126 bed infirmary with a maternity ward and staff accommodation was erected on the Jericho site. The site was officially opened on 20 September 1905. 1904 – The Registrar General requested that the workhouse births were to be disguised by the use of postal addresses. Birth certificates for those born in the Bury Union workhouse gave the address 380 Rochdale Old Road, Bury and did not name the workhouse. 1911 – Bury Union workhouse added an annexe to house male inmates. 1929 – Bury Union workhouse was renamed Jericho Institution. 1946 – The last burial took place at the Jericho Institution cemetery. 1948 – The Jericho Institution became part of the National Health Service and was renamed Fairfield General Hospital.

Cheesden Valley and the Lost Mills by Air

The

Cheesden Valley The Cheesden Valley is a valley on the border between the Borough of Rossendale in Lancashire and the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, England. It runs on a north–south alignment between Bury and Rochdale. Cheesden Brook runs through the valle ...

runs on a north-south alignment between Bury and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

. Cheesden Brook runs through the valley, joining with

Naden Brook Naden Brook is a watercourse in northwest England. It rises in the hills above Norden, near the boundary of Lancashire and Greater Manchester. From here it flows south to Heywood, where it merges with the River Roch The River Roch is a riv ...

to eventually run into the

River Roch The River Roch is a river in Greater Manchester in North West England, a tributary of the River Irwell. Course Rising on Chelburn Moor (south of Todmorden in the Pennines), the river flows south through Littleborough towards Rochdale where ...

near Heywood. During the industrial age, the valley became a centre of

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

production, dependent on running water. The valley is now reclaiming the once busy mills and returning them to nature. Th
Lost Mills
can be seen from the air. It encompasses Deeply Vale, Bircle Dene and Ashworth Valley.

Mining

As early as 1580,

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granted John Blackwall the right to mine coal in the Cheesden Valley. In addition, it is believed that during the 17th century, small communities – "folds" – could have had their own mines.

Pre-Industrial History

There are signs of human activity dating from about 8000 BC. Flints from the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

period have been found in the

an
Knowl Moor
areas. All were discovered on high ground close to a water source, and all are small and suitable for use as arrowheads and similar objects.

References

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BBC Domesday Reloaded BBC Domesday Reloaded was a local history web site for the digitised content of the BBC's 1986 Domesday Project. It was launched in May 2011 and included some updates contributed by users during 2011. During the site's first day of public opera ...

Archives+

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. The project includes statutory, university and voluntary organisations to provide a range of archive and heritage services from one location. Archives+ raises awareness of and provides access to histories. Bury, Greater Manchester