Crompton Moor (
archaically known as High Moor
) is an area of
moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...
in the
South Pennines, in
North West England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...
. It lies along the northeastern outskirts of
Shaw and Crompton, in the
Metropolitan Borough of Oldham,
Greater Manchester.
Spanning approximately , and reaching an elevation of at Crow Knowl, Crompton Moor is one of the largest open spaces run by Oldham Countryside Service.
It is a registered
common
Common may refer to:
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts
* Clapham Common, originally com ...
of Greater Manchester, and a
Site of Biological Importance since 2003.
The Friends of Crompton Moor are an active conservation group, who work in partnership with Oldham Countryside Service to maintain and protect this locally unique environment.
Most of Crompton Moor is covered in
purple moor grass
''Molinia caerulea'', known by the common name purple moor-grass, is a species of grass that is native to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to in the Alps. Like most grasses, it grows best in acid so ...
and
heather, but there is also a significant amount of
pine forest.
Wildlife on the moors includes
red grouse
The red grouse (''Lagopus lagopus scotica'') is a medium-sized bird of the grouse family which is found in heather moorland in Great Britain and Ireland. It is usually classified as a subspecies of the willow ptarmigan but is sometimes consider ...
,
golden plover, and the
meadow pipit.
An early type of axe known as a
palstave {{Short description, European Bronze Age axe
A palstave is a type of early bronze axe. It was common in the middle Bronze Age in northern, western and south-western Europe. In the technical sense, although precise definitions differ, an axe is gener ...
has been discovered on Crompton Moor, providing evidence of
Bronze Age human activity. During the 18th century Crompton Moor had several farms;
dry stone walls still exist from these times as evidence of field division for
pasture.
Crow Knowl, at the summit of Crompton Moor, features a transmitter station, Crow Knowl Telecommunications mast, and an
Ordnance Survey triangulation station (at grid reference SD960105). Crow Knowl overlooks
Rochdale to the northwest,
Manchester to the southwest and
Denshaw to the east, amongst other parts of Greater Manchester.
Crompton Moor has been the site of several
wildfires. A significant fire occurred in 1995, raging for over two weeks and burning a large proportion of the surface vegetation as well as the subsurface peat. Another took place in March 2007.
Brushes Clough and Pingot are former
coal and
sandstone quarries on Crompton Moor.
During the 1970s, quarrying was halted, the land was reclaimed, and thousands of
pine trees were planted. The area has since been used for recreation, including hiking, orienteering, cycling and horse riding.
was constructed in the 19th century by the
Oldham County Borough Council,
using stone quarried from this site. After being managed by
United Utilities for a number of years, the reservoir and some of the surrounding land is now privately owned.
An unnamed waterfall (provisionally called Crompton Waterfall) cascades off Crompton Moor into the now unused Pingot Quarry forming the
Old Brook
Old Brook is a small watercourse in Shaw and Crompton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester in the northwest of England. It flows from Crow Knowl on Crompton Moor to the River Beal
The Beal is a small river in Greater M ...
, a
tributary of the
River Beal
The Beal is a small river in Greater Manchester, England, and is a tributary of the River Roch. It rises in the Beal Valley in green space between Sholver and Royton, before continuing northwards through Shaw and Crompton, Newhey, Milnrow and ...
.
Gallery
File:Crompton Moor Trig Point (1).jpg, The Ordnance Survey triangulation station at Crow Knowl
File:Crow Knowl Telecommunications Mast.jpg, Crow Knowl Telecommunications Mast
File:QuarryWaterfall.JPG, The waterfall at Pingot Quarry
File:QuarryTrees.jpg, Trees in the dense forest in Crompton Moor
References
External links
Crompton Moor Walking Trailsbreathingplaces.org{Dead link, date=November 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes , The BBC's page on Crompton Moor.
Friends of Crompton MoorA volunteer conservation group working in partnership with the landowner.
trigpointinguk.com information on the trig point at Crow Knowl.
Computer generated summit panorama
Mountains and hills of Greater Manchester
Mountains and hills of the Peak District
Mountains and hills of the Pennines
Tourist attractions in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham
Moorlands of England
Shaw and Crompton