Newhey (

archaically In language, an archaism (from the grc, ἀρχαϊκός, ''archaïkós'', 'old-fashioned, antiquated', ultimately , ''archaîos'', 'from the beginning, ancient') is a word, a sense of a word, or a style of speech or writing that belongs to a hi ...

New Hey) is a suburban village in the

Milnrow Milnrow is a suburban town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Beal at the foothills of the South Pennines, and forms a continuous urban area with Rochdale. It is east of Rochdale to ...

area of the

Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale The Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after its largest town, Rochdale, The borough covers other outlying towns and villages with a population of 206,500 at the ...

,Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council (N.D.), p. 32. in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

, England. It lies at the foot of the

South Pennines The South Pennines is a region of moorland and hill country in northern England lying towards the southern end of the Pennines. In the west it includes the Rossendale Valley and the West Pennine Moors. It is bounded by the Greater Manchester ...

, by Junction 21 of the

M62 motorway The M62 is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of th ...

and on the River Beal, east-southeast of

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, northeast of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

a part of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, Newhey was anciently a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

within the township of Butterworth. It was described in 1828 as "consisting of several ranges of cottages and two public houses".Butterworth (1828), p. 113. In the early 19th century a major road was built through Newhey from Werneth to Littleborough. Newhey was incorporated into the

Milnrow Urban District Milnrow Urban District was, from 1894 to 1974, a local government district of the administrative county of Lancashire, in northwest England. It covered an area to the east and southeast of the County Borough of Rochdale, and included the town o ...

in 1894. Newhey expanded as part of an unplanned process of urbanisation, brought on by the introduction of

textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution Textile manufacture during the British Industrial Revolution was centred in south Lancashire and the towns on both sides of the Pennines in the United Kingdom. The main drivers of the Industrial Revolution were textile manufacturing, iron found ...

, and is now home to the Ellenroad Steam Museum - the engine house of the former Ellenroad Ring Mill, the rest of which was demolished in 1985. It holds the world's largest working steam engine.

History

Lying by the older localities of Milnrow, Ogden and Haugh, Newhey is thought to have acquired its name as a result of land reclamation. Newhey was home to the Newhey Brick and Terracotta Co. Ltd., a prosperous brick and tile works which opened on Huddersfield Road in 1899. Its bricks are found in buildings worldwide. Most mills and associated terraced houses in the Rochdale and

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

areas were built from this "Newhey brick". In the 1920s, Newhey had at least five

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven b ...

s, including Ellenroad, Newhey, Coral, Haugh and Garfield (demolished 1969).

Governance

From a very early time, Newhey was part of the Butterworth township of Rochdale parish, in the Hundred of Salfordshire. From 1894 to 1974, Newhey was part of

in 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 either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

of Lancashire. In the local government reforms of 1974, this urban district status was abolished and Newhey is now part of the

. Newhey was previously part of the Littleborough and Saddleworth constituency. It is now represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

as part of the parliamentary constituency of

Geography

The housing estate south of Newhey Road and east of Bentgate Street is known as Bentgate. Newhey

Localities in and around Newhey include Haugh and Woodbottom. Several reservoirs lie above and to the east, including Ogden, Kitcliffe and Piethorne.

Landmarks

Milnrow

War Memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

, a Grade II

listed structure In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, is in Newhey's Memorial Park. Originally in central Milnrow (set back from the road near Milnrow Bridge), it was unveiled in 1924 by Major General A Solly-Flood, a former commander of

42nd (East Lancashire) Division The 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force (TF), originally as the East Lancashire Division, and was redesignated as the 42nd (Ea ...

. Sculpted from

Sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

by G Thomas in 1923, the memorial is surmounted by a bronze statue of a

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

soldier with rifle and fixed bayonet, symbolic of the district's young manhood in early First World War. The plinth has bronze and slate panels which show the names of local men who died in the two World Wars. Ellenroad Engine House was designed by

Sir Philip Stott, 1st Baronet Sir Philip Sidney Stott, 1st Baronet (20 February 1858 – 31 March 1937), usually known by his full name or as Sidney Stott, was an English architect, civil engineer and surveyor. Early life and career Stott was born in Chadderton, Lancashire ...

. Its tall chimney makes it a local landmark. Newhey parish church, dedicated to St. Thomas, was built in 1876 to serve the new Anglican parish of Newhey. Its patron is the

Bishop of Manchester The Bishop of Manchester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester in the Province of York.'' Crockford's Clerical Directory 2008/2009 (100th edition)'', Church House Publishing (). The current bishop is David Walker w ...

. The church was badly damaged by arson on 21 December 2007.

Transport

Newhey is served by the

and

Newhey Metrolink station Newhey is a tram stop on the Oldham and Rochdale Line (ORL) of Greater Manchester's light-rail Metrolink system. It opened to passengers on 28 February 2013 and is located in Newhey, a suburban village the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, E ...

.
Bus Services 182 and R5 serve Oldham, Manchester, Milnrow and Rochdale, operated by First Greater Manchester and

Burnley Bus Company The Burnley Bus Company operates both local and regional bus services in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, England. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Blazefield, which operates bus services across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, North Yorkshire ...

References

Bibliography

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