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Castleton, Greater Manchester
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Castleton is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England.
In the 1800s Castleton was almost the size of Rochdale, its borders went up to half a mile from the centre of Rochdale, taking in many areas such as Sudden, Marland and Brimrod. The only real sign of Castleton's shrinkings borders which is still visible today is the existence of Castleton Bowling Club, which is over a mile beyond what is now recognised as Castleton's borders.
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For a village, Castleton is quite big. Like many other areas of from the former boundaries of Lancashire its backbone was in the cotton industry, with the fall of 'king cotton' most of the mills have now been knocked down. There are still a handful of mills but most are used for other purposes. Castleton has a canal which runs straight through it. It links Manchester with Rochdale and recent work has meant that narrow boats can now travel from Yorkshire to Manchester, as before there were a number of roads blocking their way. Castleton's example of this, is the old Canal bridge, which back in the 1930s when the canal was left for deriliction was blocked up with merely a tiny arch to allow flowing of water. The whole bridge was rebuilt when the canal was refurbished and underneath is now an unusual water spout, on the opposite side to the towpath.
The village is separated in two halves by Manchester Road. On one side of the road is the general residential areas, along with St Edwards Primary School, on the other is Saint Martins Church of England, Castleton Primary School and St Gabriel's RC Primary School, along with some of the more Victorian residential areas. Manchester Road runs from Rochdale to Middleton.
Castleton was first mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086. As the name suggests, Castleton used to have a castle. Back in the 1200s, Castleton was known as Castletown, or Castle Town. This is referenced in the book 'Castleton - a History'. The Castle has two believed locations, one is very close to Rochdale Town Centre (now outside Castleton's boundaries) and the other is near the motorway bridge, almost on top of the OMC Ford car retailers.
Castleton is home to Saint Martin's Church of England. This example of religious Victorian architecture still stands tall to this very day. It was completed in 1863 and closed in 1991. It was refurbished in 2002/2003.
Castleton's main apparent architecture is that of the old Victorian style terraces, however there are some renovated areas.
The Rochdale canal was routed through Castleton around 1799/1802, and made Castleton one of the largest industrial areas outside of Rochdale. The canal brought jobs for hundreds, as the goods it provided needed mills, some of which still stand tall to this day.
The Manchester and Leeds Railway Company (later the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway) arrived in Castleton in 1839, and Castleton is the last small area before Rochdale, and it was here that the line formerly diverged to Bury, Ramsbottom, Rawtenstall, Bacup and finally rejoined the main line at Rochdale. Castleton's railway area was one of the last mainstays of steam, being a huge resource of freight.
Castleton is home to a large Woolworths warehouse and office block, based on Royle Barn Road. This mill is rather close to Arrow Mill, which is almost adjacent on Queensway. Royle Barn Road links Castleton with Sudden, emerging near the Tescos supermarket.
Castleton is without any banks as they were all closed in the late 80s/early 90s. Carcraft is based there, on the former site of Asda - which moved to Rochdale Town Centre - as it always struggled in the area and needed several relaunches before being rebadged to Asda Dales.
Castleton has a railway station on the Manchester - Leeds railway line, otherwise known as the Caldervale Line. It is home to the Corus Steel Works, which is based on what used to be Castleton's East Junction which lead up to Heywood - Rawtenstall and on to Bacup. The Heywood to Rawtenstall part of the railway line is open to the public as the East Lancashire Railway, a beautifuly preserved steam railway. The East Junction was also an enormous marshalling yard.
The Rochdale Canal runs through Castleton, adjacent to the railway on one side, and Queensway on the other. The Road passes over the canal via an old brick bridge, which was refurbished along with the canal. Castleton is also home to two of the canal's locks, as it goes on a down gradient through Slattocks and on its way into Manchester city centre.
The village has its own Rugby and Football clubs. Rochdale Mayfield (formally Mayfield) play Rugby League at their Mayfield ground, although as with so many green areas, this has just been sold off to housing developers. Castleton Gabriels play at nearby Butterworth Park (Named after their owner, Tom Butterworth). Castleton Gabriels play in the North West Counties league Div 2. They now share their ground with Rochdale Mayfield A.L.R.F.C. now that their ground sale is complete (Both grounds are visible from the other, and are about a 5 minute walk between the two).
Castleton has three primary (elementary) schools; Castleton County Primary School, St Edwards Primary School, and St Gabriel's RC Primary School. Castleton Primary School is by far the most memorable by Castleton's older residents, as it was built in 1902 and opened to the public as 'Castleton Board School' in 1903. The School's external secondary assembly hall/sporting equipment shed/annex was demolished in 2003 to make way for a better building.
Castleton is home to a beautiful Victorian church (previously mentioned in Castleton's architecture), which was renovated in 2002/2003. In its years of deprivation (1991-2002), the churchgoers used the church hall (now demolished) for all events and sermons.