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Glossop

Glossop stands at the foot of an exhilarating stretch of road with hairpin bends, known as the Snake Pass, and the town is an interesting mix of styles: the industrial town of the 19th century with its towering Victorian mills and the 17th century village with its charming old cottages and cobble streets. The name Glossop is thought to be of Saxon origin, derived from “Glott’s Hop” - where ‘hop’ is a small valley and ‘Glott’ was probably a chieftain’s name.

Further back in time, when the Romans arrived here the area was under the control of the Brigantes, who were in the midst of a civil war. This led to Roman intervention and the establishment of a fort, now known as Melandra Castle, though it is thought that the Roman name for the fort was ‘Ardotalia’. The early, wooden fort probably dates from the seventies of the first century AD in the course of the ‘pacification’ of Brigantia. The timber fort has disappeared completely under the present stone fort and very little survives today but the stone foundations. The settlement developed further as part of the monastic estates of Basingwerk Abbey in north Wales and the village received its market charter in 1290. Subsequently there was a decline in its importance, and little now remains of Old Glossop except the medieval parish Church of All Saints.

Planned as a new town in the 19th century by the Duke of Norfolk, the original village stood on the banks of the Glossop Brook at the crossing point of three turnpike roads. The brook had already been harnessed to provide power for the cotton mills, as this was one of the most easterly towns of the booming Lancashire cotton industry. Many still refer to the older Glossop as Old Glossop and the Victorian settlement as Howard Town, named after the Duke, Bernard Edward Howard.

Latest news suggests that Glossop is set to become one of the country’s most attractive areas for birdlife with the creation of a huge nature reserve bordering the National Park. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is believed to be in the final stages of negotiations and it hopes to turn a huge swathe of land into a conservation area where normal activities such as farming can continue but always with the birdlife in mind. The proposed site will stretch from Saddleworth in the north to Glossop in the south, taking in the Arnfield and Dovestones reservoirs and the Chew Valley. These areas are rich in wildlife, especially moorland birds such as the curlew, ring ouzel and the golden plover. There are also peregrine falcons, short-eared owls and many wetland birds. And in addition to the many species of birds there is also an abundance of roe deer, which were first spotted in the area by locals twenty years ago.

You can keep yourself up-to-date with daily newsworthy stories about what’s going in the area at www.glossopadvertiser.co.uk.