Birtle is an affluent

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

within the

Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale The Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. Its largest town is Rochdale and the wider borough covers other outlying towns and villages, including Heywood, Greater Manchester, Heywood, Littleb ...

, in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. It lies in the

Cheesden Valley The Cheesden Valley is a valley on the border between the Borough of Rossendale in Lancashire and the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, England. It runs on a north–south alignment between Bury and Rochdale. Cheesden Brook runs through the valle ...

, set amongst the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...

Historically History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

a part of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, Birtle is archaically referred to as Bircle or Birkle, which means Birch Hill. Together with neighbouring

Bamford Bamford is a village in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England, close to the Derwent Reservoir (Derbyshire), River Derwent. To the north-east is Bamford Edge, and to the north-west the Ladybower Reservoir, Ladybower, Derwent Reservoir (Derbyshir ...

, it formed the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Birtle-with-Bamford (also known as Birtle-cum-Bamford). It was in Middleton ecclesiastical parish and in Bury poor law Union. In 1933, Birtle-with-Bamford was dissolved with Birtle being amalgamated into the Municipal Borough of Heywood. The local church is Bircle Church, St. John the Baptist, Castle Hill Road, Bircle, Bury. In addition to the graveyard and garden of remembrance, the Church land includes an area now known as 'Bircle Church Wood', which was gifted by the Reverend Trend Smith.

References

Villages in Greater Manchester Heywood, Greater Manchester {{GreaterManchester-geo-stub