In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Spotland like this:
SPOTLAND, a township and a chapelry in Rochdale parish, Lancashire. The township is partly within Rochdale borough; comprises parts of the valleys of the Roach, the Spodden, the Nadin, and the Irwell; is cut into three divisions,-S.-Nearer-Side, containing 2 hamlets,-S.-Further-Side, containing 6 hamlets,-and Whitworth, containing 4 hamlets; exhibits much picturesque scenery; carries on coal mining, slate and freestone quarrying, and extensive cotton, baize, and flannel manufacture; and has several post-offices under Rochdale, a literary institution, two churches, five dissenting chapels, the Rochdale workhouse, and some charities. ...
Acres, 4,518. Real property, £118,074; of which £18,099 are in mines, £2,501 in quarries, and £93 in gasworks. Pop. in 1851, 23,476; in 1861, 30,378. Houses, 5,994. The chief villages are Whitworth, Bridge-Mill, Shawforth, Facit, Bagslate, Blackpits, and Shawclough; and the old-seats are Oakenrod, Chadwick, Greave, and Wolstenholm,- the last now a farmhouse.—The chapelry comprises the tract around Spotland-Bridge; was constituted in 1844, and curtailed prior to 1868; and has a post-office, of the name of S.-Bridge, under Rochdale. Pop. in 1861, within the original limits, 11,016; within the curtailed limits, 8,354. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Manchester. Value, £500.* Patron, the Vicar of Rochdale. The church is ancient.
Spotland through time
Spotland is now part of Rochdale district. Click here for graphs and data of how Rochdale has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Spotland itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Spotland, in Rochdale and Lancashire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/21086
Date accessed: 05th November 2024
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