By 1750 the process of industrialisation was commencing with the development of first woollen then cotton mills. Initially these mills were water driven, then the invention of the steam engine led to a demand for coal. This led to the expansion of the Rossendale coal industry which up to then was small scale drift mining.

Improvements in transport started with the development of the Haslingden - Todmorden turnpike road in the early 19th century (part of which is Newchurch Road in Higher Cloughfold, just south of Springhill). This was subsequently extended to Burnley and Rochdale. The coming of the railway from Rawtenstall through Cloughfold and Waterfoot to Bacup greatly eased the transport of stone and led to expansion of quarrying.

Industrialisation led to the decline of the domestic woollen industry and the continued emergence of entrepreneurs, who now became mill and colliery owners. These men built the large houses of which Springhill House is one example.

One such was John Ashworth, born c 1778. He is described on the 1841 census as 'coal merchant' and as 'woollen manufacturer and colliery proprietor' in the obituary of his son-in-law Charles Patrick. He also invested in the turnpike road and left his shares to his daughter Mary Ann. I have been unable to trace his involvement in the woollen industry further, and the obituary in question was written some 50 years after Ashworth's death.

In 1834 John Ashworth acquired the Springhill land from William Thursby, Eleanor Mary his wife and Charlotte Ann Hargreaves. Eleanor Mary and Charlotte Ann were descendants of the Ormerod family of Ormerod near Cliviger. John Ashworth is said to be related to the Ormerods in Whitewell Bottom, which may have been a branch of the same family. I have not yet verified this. Charlotte Ann Hargreaves later married James Yorke Scarlett, the hero of the battle of Balaclava.

Springhill House is present on the 1841 census when it is occupied by John Ashworth, his wife Betty, daughter Mary Ann and a second Mary Ashworth recorded as 'FS' - female servant? Springhill House was described in Charles Patrick's obituary as a 'handsome and commodious residence' and was apparently extended at the time of his marriage to Mary Ann Ashworth in 1855. This extension has probably since been converted into Sunset View and Lawn House.

By 1851 John Ashworth had died and Mary Ann Ashworth was living in Springhill with one servant, also Mary Ashworth.
By 1861 she had married Charles Patrick and the Patricks were living in Springhill with three house servants, a gardener and a groom…

Both John Ashworth and Charles Patrick have pages which consider their lives in more detail.
Stacks Image 17
Various deeds refer to 'messuages, dwellinghouses and cottages' together with 'barn, stable, shippon and other outbuildings'. At various stages several parcels of land were added. There are also references to 'gardens, Gate Lodge, greenhouses, billiard house and the kitchen garden'. The billiard hall is now occupied as 'the Bungalow', also known as 422 Newchurch Road. It is not known when these were built or added. Ashworth appears to have also acquired the houses which already stood on the Springhill land. At different times a number of parcels of land were added to the estate, largely by Patrick.


By 1899, shortly after the death of Charles Patrick, the estate was as shown on the map.
Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles, 1887, states:
Clough Fold, ry. sta. 5 1/2 miles S.W. of Bacup, SE Lancashire, PO., called Cloughfold.

With the exception of 1841 and 1911, the census data linked to this page are not full transcripts but summaries of householders and occupations extracted for another purpose some time ago. 1841 and 1911 are transcript sof the enumeration districts containing Cloughfold.

The 1801-1831 census recorded population data only. The returns for the 'Chapelry of New-church with Deadwen-Clough' are summarised in the link on the left, but included Waterfoot and most of Stacksteads. In 1847 there were 275 individuals eligible to and registered to vote in 'Newchurch with Deadwen Clough, Bacup and Wolfenden.'

The 1851 religious census is a snapshot of church attendance on a given date and does not record names, but does illustrate the strength of non-conformity in the area. 1851 also saw an education census the results of which are very general.

The selection of newspaper articles give a flavour of life in Cloughfold at the time.

Made in RapidWeaver