Ron Freethy's England: Stanhill

WHEN I've been asked where the cotton industry started I might have thought of the typical mill towns such as Oldham, Bolton or perhaps Blackburn or Burnley. I would have been wrong.

The place to look is the one-time isolated hamlet of Stanhill situated between Blackburn and Oswaldtwistle.

Although now on a main road, Stanhill is still a wonderful spot and the post office is situated in an attractive cottage. On the wall is a plaque to say that James Hargreaves lived in the cottage during the period that he invented the Spinning Jenny.

Some say that Hargreaves named the machine either after his wife or his daughter who were named Jenny. Nobody knows for sure but I know that the Lancashire dialect word for a machine is 'Jinny'. This seems to me to be more likely.

There are two aspects to the production of textiles - spinning and weaving. The spinning process was slower than weaving and the spinners could not keep pace with the looms. Hargreaves produced his Jenny which mean that several spindles could be operated by one wheel.

The plaque on the wall indicates that some spinners were not happy to see automation and thought it would put some of them out of work.

James was warned by Robert Peel that it would be better to "flit" and do his experiments in Nottingham, which he did. Robert Peel was also a cotton man who lived in Stanhill but his line of business was as a textile printer. He also had a mill in Sawley and the water leat of this can still be seen near the bridge.

Robert Peel was the grandfather of the third generation of the same name and eventually became Prime Minister. He initiated the police force, first known as 'Peelers' and later as 'bobbies'.

Next to the Post Office there is a memorial garden celebrating James Hargreaves and a stone (mis-spelt) points out that the money was provided by public subscription and opened by the Earl Peel on July 13, 1957.

Whenever I think of 'Little Stanhill' I think of 'Big History'.

Few places are more important than Stanhill. The first Robert Peel was known as 'Parsley' because he always traced a leaf of this plant on his textiles as a sort of trademark.

There is a gentle stroll along a footpath sign-posted Duckworth Hill and which passes between the Post Office and the memorial garden. This walk through the countryside would have been known to James Hargreaves, the Stanhill chap who brought industry to Lancashire.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.