From earliest times to what we can see today
Entwistle, in the County of Lancashire, England, is a small ancient township (village) lying between the major Lancashire towns of Bolton, Darwen and Bury. It is surrounded by the villages of Edgworth, Quarlton and Turton, and is on the railway line between Manchester and Blackburn.
The now un-manned railway station at Entwistle lies beside its only pub, the former Station Hotel, now named the Strawbury Duck. The rugged countryside of the lower Pennine hills forms a scenic setting for the present day Entwistle Hall, the family seat whose most famous former occupant was Bertine Entwistle.
Sir Bertine is reported to have been knighted on the battlefield at Agincourt in 1415 by King Henry V himself. He later perished at the 1st Battle of St. Albans fighting for Henry VI and the House of Lancaster in the Wars of the Roses.
Entwistle lies in the north-eastern corner of the old Turton Urban District, which included the villages of Edgworth, Quarlton, Bradshaw, Harwood, Turton and Longworth. At around a thousand feet above sea level, its1668 acres must have been bleak in winter!
Originally part of Edgworth, Entwistle became a separate Township in the early 1200s; the Manor of Entwistle (Hennetwisel) was held by the Entwistle Family from the Hospitallers. It was joined with a settlement of land given by William de Radcliffe to Robert de Entwistle as a dowry when he married Radcliffe’s daughter.
Joining these two parcels of land possibly led to the terms “Old Living” and “New Living”, each of which is an area of land containing a number of farmsteads. The original Entwistle Hall is believed to have been built around 1200 and was occupied by the family until 1555, when its ownership passed to the Tyldesleys.
Sir Bertine Entwistle was born at the Old Hall and on his return from Agincourt built his New Hall, which was either Lower House or Lower Crow Trees, the latter being used as a farmhouse until being submerged under the Wayoh Reservoir extension. The current Hall was rebuilt in the 1600s on the old site and since 1657 has been divided into three dwellings.
The Old Roman Road from Manchester to Ribchester runs through Entwistle going south to north past Pike House Farm at Whittlestone Head and possibly dividing the Township at the boundaries of the Old and New Livings. The Bolton to Blackburn Turnpike was built in 1797 and runs along the Western boundary of Entwistle at Bull Hill.
The Entwistle Reservoir was built in 1832 with a capacity of 726 million gallons and a top water area of 94 acres. The dam is 360 feet long and 108 feet high, the highest in Britain at the time it was built.
Several farms were lost when the Entwistle and Wayoh reservoirs were built, but a greater impact on the community came with the building of the railway in 1848. Three thousand men, women and children camped in the area during its construction. A mile long tunnel had to be cut under Cranberry Moss from Whittlestone Head to just short of Darwen. The whole project, including the viaduct at Entwistle, took three years to complete, at the cost of three lives.
Where to find Entwistle
| MultiMap Multimap.com – search for Entwistle or, increase the size of the map until Edgworth appears and you will see the pub named Strawbury Duck. Entwistle Hall is nearby. |
| Street Map – last time I looked at this, it said the website is for sale so if you find a problem using it, please let me know! Type Entwistle into the search box. Streetmap.co.uk |
A newer Entwistle!
| MultiMap Entwistle, Alberta, Canada You need to type Entwistle, Alberta into the search box on the new Bing/MultiMap page and select the correct one from the dropdown list. |