Failsworth

Failsworth derives from the Old English fegels and worth; it probably means an "enclosure with a special kind of fence".[5]

Early settlement in the area was due to its position on a road between Manchester and Yorkshire. This road, built by the Romans, was a secondary road that formed part of the network from Manchester up to the north, probably to Tadcaster near York.[6]^:5 This section of the road that ran through Failsworth is still in existence today and is known as Roman Road. It was built above marshland and was laid on brushwood with a hard surface. Roman Road has also been known as "Street" (a Saxon term meaning "metalled road"), indicating that the road was also used at the time of the Saxons.[6]^:5

Evidence from early sources suggest that the area was occupied during Saxon times.[6]^:5 The small hamlet was scattered with simple dwellings, put together with rough local stone, mud and clay with thatched roofs. The settlement was possibly located on ground higher than the surrounding marshland. Daily life in this small community would have centred on animal husbandry and land cultivation.[6]^:5

Unmentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, Failsworth does not appear in records until 1212, when the name was recorded as Fayleswrthe and the settlement was documented to have been a thegnage estate, or manor, comprising 4 oxgangs of land. 2 oxgangs with an annual rate of 4 shillings were payable by the tenant, Gilbert de Notton, to Adam de Prestwich who in turn paid tax to King John.[5][7] The remaining 2 oxgangs were held by the Lord of Manchester as part of his fee simple. The Byron family came to acquire all four oxgangs in the mid-13th century, and thus held the entire township. However, apart from a small estate in the township held by Cockersand Abbey, Failsworth was acquired by the Chetham family, which was then broadly sold to smaller holders.[7]

By 1663, 50 families were registered in Failsworth.[6]^:6 Everyday life centred on natural resources, cultivating the land and animal husbandry. Between 1600-1699, many people were employed as labourers to work the land, though tradespeople, including a tailor, felt maker, shoemaker, joiner and weaver, supported them. The earliest record of a place of worship at Dob Lane Chapel dates from 1698.[6]^:6

The Parish Church of St John was founded in 1845

In 1774, 242 families lived in Failsworth, with a total of around 1.400 inhabitants[6]^:6 and, by then, a large proportion of the population were involved in the manufacture of cloth. The development of the textile trade in England was supported by important legislation; between 1500 and 1760, a number of acts were passed to encourage the manufacture of cloth by the compulsory growing of flax. Grants were issued to flax growers and duties were imposed on foreign imports. There was an extensive linen trade in Manchester, with yarn being imported from Holland and Ireland.[6]^:6

In 1914 the regular Daisy Nook Easter Fair ceased due to the outbreak of war, but reopened in 1920. On 8 June 2007 a 1946 work by L.S. Lowry entitled "Good Friday, Daisy Nook" depicting the Easter Fair was sold for £3,772,000, the then highest price paid for one of his paintings at auction.[8] Another painting by Lowry from 1953 titled ‘Fun Fair at Daisy Nook', sold for £3.4 million in 2011.

The coat of arms of the former Failsworth Urban District council

Lying within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire since the early 12th century, Failsworth during the Middle Ages formed a township in the parish of Manchester, and hundred of Salford.[1]

Following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, Failsworth formed part of the Manchester Poor Law Union, an inter-parish unit established to provide social security.[1] Failsworth's first local authority was a local board of health established in 1863;[1] Failsworth Local Board of Health was a regulatory body responsible for standards of hygiene and sanitation in the township.[1] Following the Local Government Act 1894, the area of the local board became the Failsworth Urban District, a local government district within the administrative county of Lancashire.[1] In 1933, there was a small exchange of land with the neighbouring City of Manchester, and in 1954, parts of the Limehurst Rural District was added to Failsworth Urban District.[1] Under the Local Government Act 1972, the Failsworth Urban District was abolished, and Failsworth has, since 1 April 1974, formed an unparished area of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, a local government district of the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester.[1][10] Failsworth contains two of the twenty wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham; Failsworth East and Failsworth West.

Failsworth forms part of the Ashton-under-Lyne parliamentary constituency and is represented in the House of Commons by Angela Rayner MP, a member of the Labour Party.

At 53°30′37″N 2°9′27″W (53.5102°, −2.1575°) Failsworth lies 163 miles (262 km) north-northwest of London. Failsworth is the southernmost tip of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. It shares common boundaries with Manchester (from the north to the southwest) and Tameside (from the south to the east). Failsworth is traversed by the A62 road, from Manchester to Oldham, the former heavy rail line of the Oldham Loop and the Rochdale Canal, which crosses the north-west corner. The M60 motorway passes through Failsworth. For purposes of the Office for National Statistics, Failsworth forms part of the Greater Manchester Urban Area.[11]

The surface of the land in Failsworth gently slopes from east to west, away from the Pennines and from the brooks which bound it on the north-west (Moston Brook) and south-east (Lord's Brook).

Failsworth has a large country park, Daisy Nook, located on its eastern border, on land mostly belonging to the National Trust. The undulating, wooded land is a popular destination for visitors wishing to participate in walking, horse riding, fishing and many other outdoor pursuits.

The new Tesco supermarket viewed from Ash Street

Failsworth is a centre for the production of hats, manufacture began as a cottage industry before the firm of Failsworth Hats was set up in 1903 to manufacture silk hats. For a time the company operated from a factory near the former Failsworth Council offices and remains in the area to this day.[15] Today, Failsworth's main areas of economic activities are in electrical goods manufacture (such as Russell Hobbs) by Spectrum Brands (formerly Pifco Ltd, pre-2001), and plastic producers and distributors Hubron Limited. Many Failsworth residents work in Manchester, with many commuters choosing to live in the area because of its transport links which include the Metrolink tram service from Failsworth Metrolink station on the Oldham & Rochdale Line.

In July 2007, the Tesco supermarket chain opened one of their 24-hour Extra branches on the banks of the newly regenerated wharf. The move has not been welcomed by small shop owners who have claimed that they have lost customers to the new store and may be forced to close.[16][17][18][19] It was intended that Tesco's arrival would be a catalyst to attract other stores, bars and restaurants to Failsworth.[20] The only other large store in the Failsworth boundary is a branch of Morrisons which is situated in the converted Marlborough Mill.[21]

Oldham Caravans, a subsidiary of Glossop Caravans have an outlet on Oldham Road in Failsworth.

Failsworth Pole

A major landmark of the area is Failsworth Pole on Oldham Road. The first 'political pole' was erected in 1793 although a local historian suggests there were others before and that maypoles probably stood on the site for centuries. The pole that now stands on the site replaces one blown down in 1950.

Following a major restoration of the Pole, clock tower and gardens in 2006 a bronze statue of Benjamin Brierley was erected in the gardens.[22]

At the road junction of the A62 with Ashton Road West stands the cenotaph, built in 1923 in remembrance to over 200 Failsworth men who lost their lives in the First World War. Attendances at the cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday remain high, averaging around 2,000 people.[23] The annual Remembrance parade is led by 202 Field Squadron, RE (TA),[24] who are based in Failsworth. In June 2007 the war memorial was rededicated after at £136,000 makeover by the Failsworth War Memorial Steering Group, and opened by Colonel Sir John B. Timmins.

The local comprehensive is The Co-operative Academy of Failsworth, which moved to a new building in 2008 (previously two separate buildings known as the Upper School and the Lower School) which caters for children aged between 11–16 years of age. The £28 million project allowed secondary schooling in the town to come under one roof as opposed to the previous Lower and Upper schools on Partington Street and Brierley Avenue. The school has specialist Sports College status.[25]

The M60 motorway from Cutler Hill, Failsworth

Failsworth's main thoroughfare is Oldham road (A62) which links Manchester and Oldham. The M60 is an orbital motorway circling Greater Manchester with access gained via junction 22. The motorway's completion in the Failsworth area around 1995–2000 saw the installation of a huge graded junction amongst other notable changes to the A62 and the implementation of the motorway itself, meaning a large proportion of rows of buildings around the junction that ran down the A62 were demolished.

There are frequent buses running through Failsworth between Manchester city centre and Oldham on First Greater Manchester's 83 overground service. There is also a frequent service running to Manchester city centre and to Huddersfield/Saddleworth via Oldham with services 180 and 184. Other destinations which can be reached from Failsworth on the bus are Ashton-under-Lyne, Chadderton, Huddersfield, Rochdale, Royton, Saddleworth and Shaw and Crompton.

Failsworth tram stop, located on Hardman Lane, is on Manchester's Metrolink network. At peak times, trams run every 6 minutes towards East Didsbury via central Manchester and towards Rochdale or Shaw and Crompton via Oldham. At offpeak times, trams run every 12 minutes to East Didsbury and Rochdale. Previously it was an unmanned rail station managed by Northern and allowed passengers to transit to Manchester Victoria or Rochdale via Oldham.[46] It closed in October 2009 for conversion to Metrolink under the phase 3a extension of the Metrolink, and re-opened as a tram stop in 2012.[47]

Benjamin Brierley statue at Failsworth

In 1745, "Bonnie Prince Charlie" stayed overnight at the Bull's Head public house.[49]

The weaver, poet, essayist and writer, Benjamin Brierley, was born in Failsworth and was famed for his work in the Lancashire dialect. A statue was erected of him in 1898 in Queens Park, Manchester. A bronze statue is in the public gardens by The Pole.[50]

In the field of politics, Sir Elkanah Armitage was a 19th-century industrialist, Liberal Party politician and former Lord Mayor of Manchester.[51][52] In the modern politics, Jim McMahon MP, the former leader of Oldham Council represents the Oldham West and Royton parliamentary constituency for the Labour Party.

Gary Mounfield is a musician who was a member of the band the Stone Roses during the Madchester period and later joined the Primal Scream.[53][54] Dale Longworth is a musician and music producer with the electronic music group, N-Trance, who found fame with the record Set You Free.[55] James Mudriczki, Lowell Killen, Kevin Matthews, Tony Szuminski (and former member Neil McDonald) make up the line-up for the Alternative rock band Puressence. The Lancashire folk singer Harry Boardman was born in Failsworth.

Broadcaster, journalist and retired cricketer, Mike Atherton, was brought up in the Lord Lane area of the town. The former Lancashire and England captain has a road, Atherton Close, named after him opposite the cricket club in Woodhouses where he played in his youth.[56][57][58] Boxer, Anthony Farnell, is a former WBU Middleweight champion who was known as the Woodhouse Warrior.[59][60] Retiring at the age of 25, Farnell has since become a fight trainer and owns a gym (Arnie's Gym) in nearby Newton Heath where he has tutored David Barnes (BBBofC Light welterweight champion), Anthony Crolla (2006 ABA Lightweight champion)[61] and Frankie Gavin (2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships gold medal winner).[62] Former Manchester United footballer, Ronnie Wallwork, lived in Woodhouses. Supermodel Agyness Deyn was brought up in the area before her family moved to Ramsbottom.[63] Masters Athlete Mike Coogan, lived in Failsworth, attending St Mary's RC Primary School and is the current (2019) British, European and World 200m Champion.[64]

• Listed buildings in Failsworth

• Media related to Failsworth at Wikimedia Commons