Blackrod is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

situated within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. Nestled in the historic County of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, Blackrod is positioned 3.9 miles (6.3 km) northeast of

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

and 6.6 miles (10.6 km) west of

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

. According to the United Kingdom Census of 2021, the town has a population of 5,345. Blackrod was once a centre for coal mining.

History

The name Blackrod derives from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

, ''blaec'' and ''rodu'', meaning a "dark clearing". The first mention of the town dates to 1189, when it was recorded as Blacherode. It was recorded as ''Blakerodein'' 1200, and ''Blacrode'' in 1220. Another suggestion is that "rod" may refer to Holy Rood, Cross of Christ.Billington, W.D. (1982). ''From Affetside to Yarrow: Bolton place names and their history'', Ross Anderson Publications (). Blackrod is reputed to be the site of a Roman station and they built a fort on the northern side of the town, on what is now a residential area called Castle Croft. The A6 road is built along the course of a Roman road that passes below the hill on which the town is built. In the first half of the 12th century the manor of Blackrod was held by William Peverel, but was confiscated by the king and in 1190 it was granted to Hugh le Norreys. In 1212 Hugh de Blackrod was tenant. In 1223 Hugh Norreys became lord of Blackrod and the manor descended through his family. Mabel Norris heiress of Blackrod and Haigh married Roger de Bradshaw and the manor remained with the Bradshaws until the 16th century. Arley Hall was an estate in the west of the township held by William le Walsh in 1393 and later by Standishes and Norrises. The hall was a moated manor house and is now the site of Wigan Golf Club. After the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

the main industry of the town was coal mining and there was a brickworks. In 1869, the collieries operating in Blackrod included Anderton Hall, Dootson Vauze, Park Hall, Rigby Hill, Marklands and Blackrod. The Scot Lane Colliery employed 628 men underground and 122 surface workers in 1923; it closed in 1932. There were formerly bleachworks, a calico-printing works, and a weaving mill was built in 1906.

Governance

Lying within the county boundaries of Lancashire since the early 12th century, Blackrod was a

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...

and township in the

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Bolton le Moors in the Hundred of Salford. It was part of the Wigan

Poor Law Union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

which after 1837 took responsibility for the administration and funding of the

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

in that area. The Blackrod Local Board of Health was established in 1872 and in 1894 it became Blackrod Urban District. Blackrod was within the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...

but after the passage of the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

the Urban District became part of Bolton Metropolitan Borough in Greater Manchester in 1974. Blackrod constitutes a

and is served by Blackrod Town Council.

Geography

Blackrod lies on hilly ground near the River Douglas, west of the

West Pennine Moors The West Pennine Moors is an area of the Pennines covering approximately of moorland and Reservoir (water), reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The West Pennine Moors are separa ...

, and covers 2,344 acres. It lies west of the M61 motorway, which divides it from Horwich. Besides Blackrod village, the parish includes the small settlements of Little Scotland and Scot Lane End. Between Blackrod, Lostock and Horwich is Red Moss, a 116.6 acre (47.2 hectare)

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

(SSSI) which was designated in 1995 for its biological interest. Red Moss is the best example of lowland raised

mire A peatland is a type of wetland whose soils consist of Soil organic matter, organic matter from decaying plants, forming layers of peat. Peatlands arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, du ...

in Greater Manchester and is one of 21 SSSIs in the area. The site is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside.

Demography

Population change

Education

The earliest school in the township was Blackrod Grammar School, founded in 1586 by John Holmes. It had a building, now demolished, near the church and in 1875 was amalgamated with Rivington Grammar School. In 1973 the Rivington and Blackrod Grammar School became Rivington and Blackrod High School in Horwich providing secondary education for many pupils in Blackrod. Blackrod has two primary schools: Blackrod Anglican Methodist Church School and Blackrod Primary School (formerly known as Blackrod County Primary School). A third school, Scot Lane End CofE Primary School, which was towards the southern end of the town, closed in 2008.

Religion

The earliest mention of a chapel in Blackrod was in 1338 when Dame Mabel de Bradshagh endowed a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantry chapel, a b ...

priest to say divine service and mass in the chapel of St Catherine. The present church, dedicated to St Katharine of Alexandria, is of Norman design though Elizabethan work can still be seen. The parish church was enlarged in 1776, galleries added in 1837, the roof renewed in 1894, the chancel rebuilt in 1905 and nave in 1911. During this time the spelling was changed to Catherine, and then again to the current Katharine. There are six bells in the west tower, cast in 1776, renewed in 1922, and the clock was illuminated in 1947. A full refurbishment of the belfry installation was completed in 2015. St Katharines from Winterhill

Transport

Blackrod is served by Blackrod railway station on the Manchester to Preston Line which opened in 1841 and where there was a branch line to Horwich. Mineral lines served the various collieries. The main road through the township was the A6, Manchester to Preston road which now bypasses the town centre. The B5408 goes through the town. There are roads to Horwich and Aspull. The M61 motorway, part of the national motorway network between the M60/ M62 (

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

orbital motorway) and the M6 ( Preston) was opened on 28 November 1969 by Fred Mulley, Minister of Transport.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North West and

ITV Granada ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

. Television signals are received from the nearby Winter Hill TV transmitter situated north east of the town. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Manchester, Heart North West, Smooth North West, Greatest Hits Radio Bolton & Bury, Capital Manchester and Lancashire and Bolton FM, a community-based radio station which broadcast from its studios in

. ''Horwich Advertiser'' is the local newspaper including other regional newspapers, ''

The Bolton News ''The Bolton News'' – formerly the ''Bolton Evening News'' – is a daily newspaper and news website covering the towns of Bolton and Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury in north-western England. Published each morning from Monday to Saturday and o ...

, and '' Manchester Evening News''.

References

Bibliography *

External links

Photos and information about Blackrod

GENUKI: Blackrod genealogy
{{authority control Towns in Greater Manchester Civil parishes in Greater Manchester Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton