Wholaw Farm, Habergham Eaves One-Place Study

In 1871 my great-grandfather George Hargreaves was a farm servant at Wholaw Farm. The farm was huge for its day- 700 acres, and owned by two older Hargreaves brothers, both unmarried- George and Henry. I had two questions- why could I not find the farm on a modern map? What was young George’s relationship to these two brothers? I did find and visit the farm, named on the 1895 OS map of Rossendale. It is just over the boundary in Burnley, down a moorland track a few hundred yards from the small car park on Crown Point Road. The buildings are now a desolate ruin, in contrast to the huge melodic metal sculpture of the Singing Ringing Tree on the other side of the road. The difference between the two structures is striking- the latter is a popular tourist spot whilst the ruins are not named and probably rarely visited. I wanted to know more. Wholaw may only be a single farm, but in trying to understand it’s history I am exploring interesting neighbours, including the hamlet of Gambleside, slowly depopulated after Clowbridge reservoir was built in 1866 and drowned the most fertile land, and Wholaw Nook pit, abandoned in 1887 after 20 years of mining a seam just 3ft thick. As with so many places in this area, the drift from the farms to the mills of Burnley and the Rossendale valley, and from hand weaving to mechanisation, are reflected in the farm’s history. Untangling the large extended Hargreaves family and their interactions with neighbours including the wealthier Townleys and Ormerods is an ongoing challenge, and another part of the story of the farm.

I then came across the concept of a one-place study. A village, a street, a house, a building- why not a ruin? I am still at the data-gathering stage, but plan to start a blog of my exploration, and publish a study once I have a story to tell.