The village of Belmont is situated 5 miles north – north west of Bolton on the lower slopes of Anglezarke moor between 750 and 900 feet above sea level. Bordered on the south west side by Winter Hill, on the west by Anglezarke and the north by Longworth Moor.

Fossilized vegetation has been discovered at Belmont including Sagittaria – gigantic horse-tails (60 feet tall) and Lepidodendron (80 feet tall), all of which lived 200 million years ago.

In his “History of Lancashire” Edward Baines records that “when excavating for Belmont Reservoir through peat earth, fossil ferns were found and oak trees dug up at a depth of 15 feet, black as ebony and perfectly sound”.

Before 1800 Belmont was a tiny hamlet consisting of two ancient farms with half a dozen attending cottages scattered along and about the old Manchester – Preston turnpike.

The toll bar, where the charge for a horse and trap was 2d (two old pence), stood about a mile distant at the foot of Old Man’s Hill.

The population in 1845 was about 1000, with two to three families per house (one in the basement, one on the ground floor and one in the upper storey) and families were large.

Maria Square was the first row of houses, built around 1804. Then the top, middle and bottom rows were built. Of these three only the top row (South View) remains. Middle row was on the opposite side to Naylors Terrace and bottom row was on Ryecroft Lane were the school stands.

Streets changed names in the early 1900’s:

Goose Green became Lake View;

Cab Row became Deakin’s Terrace;

Club Row became Waterfall Terrace.

Privy middens were in use. One served two houses, but others had four to five houses sharing one privy closet. These middens were emptied when full, although sometimes it was piled up in a heap for five to six days before being carted away. 

For Hordern Cottage on Rivington Road the holding on the property was leasehold from 1864. For over 50 years it was the home of  Mr. George Almond, one time foreman of Belmont Works. Previous to this a Mr. Edgar Whitter had it altered from two cottages to the present one. The Castle (old washhouse) at the rear, with battlements of ornamental stone, was transported from Hollinshead Hall when it was demolished in 1895.

Bromley farm was originally built by two Huguenot refugee brothers in 1686.

The inscription:  J.B.  H.B. 1686 can still be seen on the porch of the farmhouse, although the present building by Laurence Wright only dates from 1776.

Higher and Lower Fold Farms date from 1706, and the oldest part of Higher Pasture House farm from 1669. Higher and Lower Whittaker farms, Wittons, Lees and Hempshaw were pre 1845.

St. Peter’s Vicarage was built in the early 1800’s. On a map of Lancashire surveyed in 1845 by Captain Tucker and Lieutenants Stanley and Bayle, published in 1849, it is marked as “Woodside or the Parsonage”. There was a study adjoining the south-west end and a coach-house and stables to the north east end. These were demolished circa 1903.

There was an annual fair with entertainment booths and a shooting gallery. Cattle and sheep were bought and sold from around 1825 to 1880 and it is recorded a circus came to Belmont. The big top was in a pasture behind St. Peter’s Church.

Early in the 19^th century a dame school was kept in Maria Square by a Mrs Hutchinson. Belmont County Junior and Infant School on Ryecroft Lane was built in 1897. It replaced the Independent Sabbath School as the village day school.

From the early 1800’s peat turf was collected by villagers from Hordern Stoops and the recreation ground (The Moss) as a source of fuel.

Some coal mining was done at the beginning of the 19^th century from pits on Winter Hill Flats and transported to Belmont and Horwich. These pits are marked on the 1845 map of Lancashire.

Quarrying during the last century was quite extensive in the area, many sandstone and gravel pits are marked on the 1845 map. Local gritstone was used in the construction of local roads and in buildings in Belmont.

Gas lamps arrived in 1885. Horden reservoir was built by Deakins about 1893 now known as the Blue Lagoon. Grange Cottage was built around 1860 by John Hick of Hick and Hargreaves, iron founder.

Ryecroft Mill was built by Mr Orrell of Darwen in about 1840. It burned down in 1868 and after that the population diminished from 1000 to 200, there being no other industry in the village.

E.C. Deakin took a lease on Belmont Bleach Works in 1871 and rebuilt Ryecroft Mill in 1881. He resided at Egremont House, built in 1840 and moved to Hill Top in 1884.

Hill Top was destroyed by fire in 1909. It had consisted of a quadrangular courtyard, its living rooms faced south-east, with its servants quarters on the east, stables and coaching house on the west and gun room and billiard room to the south-west. All sides except the front were sheltered by sycamore and beech trees.

The Wrights Arms (now San Marino) was built in the early 1800’s by Squire Wright and is recorded by Edward Baines as being the possession of James Longworth having a horse trough and bowling green. These along with the farm buildings were removed. Walker Cain Ltd (Liverpool) purchased the property from Bolton Corporation in 1951.

All Belmont’s public houses, except for the Factory Arms, were originally farms.

The Black Dog, built pre 1838, had much evidence that it was once a farm – stables, sties, hay lofts, cobble stone hovels, and until the end of Queen Victoria’s reign the inn brewed its own beer.

The Factory Arms stood on the west side of High Street, about two houses up from Ryecroft Lane. It reverted back to a cottage in the 19^th century because it was considered to be one too many and a public nuisance to the community.

Place Names

Belmont: “Fair or beautiful mountain”. Derived from Low Latin ‘bellus’ – fair, beautiful, and ‘montem’ – a mountain.

Hordern: (13^th century ‘handran’ and ‘haderan’). Possibly from the Anglo-Saxon ‘heorde’ meaning herd, and ‘hyrne’ meaning a nook or corner.

Hordern Stoops: This marks the parish boundary. Stoop is from the Icelandic ‘staup’ meaning a knobby lump, and has come to mean simply a post or stock.

Eagley (Brook): Probably “oak wood”, from the Old Norse ‘eik’ – oak, and the Old English ‘leah’ – forrest, wood, glade.

Helmshaws (1566: ‘Helmshawes’): Possibly from the Anglo-Saxon ‘helm’ – top or summit, and ‘shaw’ – thicket or copse. It has been suggested that it comes from Helm, a personal name.

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Last modified: January 21, 2007