Wheelton - An Industrial History
Until the industrial revolution the Heapey and Wheelton area was mainly agricultural. With the advent of the cotton industry (initially hand-loom weaving), there began a shift of small groups to the valleys where natural springs gathered to form continuous water courses - an essential requirement for the manufacture of cotton fabrics - and indeed Wheelton Village is one such settlement. Handloom weaving was a thriving business in the village and many of the weaver's cottages can still be seen today.
However spinning became a factory process and the mill at Wheelton (or Lower Lane, Wheelton as it was known) was erected in 1859 by Peter Todd. Its subsequent expansion caused the demise of homeworking as by 1892 the mill contained not only 30,000 spindles but also 1,090 looms.
The expansion of the mill led to an expansion in population which rose from 1,041 in 1851 to 1,538 in 1891. Child labour was used extensively, with 107 children employed for a sixty hour week, six days per week starting at 6am. Wages at the lowest level were 5 shillings per week, with the most skilled adults earning 22 -28 shillings per week. The wages were fixed with no pay increases.
The mill was powered by steam, using water from 'top lodge' and 'bottom lodge' situated by Albert Street. Coal was brought from the Wigan coalfields by barge and unloaded by the Top Lock, then transported along Kenyon Lane .
The building of this large cotton mill firmly established the Heapey/Wheelton community. The majority of the brick-built houses in the village were built between 1856 and 1880 by the mill founder Peter Todd, and his successors. The homes of the mill operatives were mostly situated a few yards from the factory gates in Mill Street, Meadow Street and Victoria Street. The rents charged in the 1890's were from 2 shillings and 9 pence up to 3 shillings and 6 pence. Four larger houses in West View were occupied by senior staff such as cashiers and salesmen.
Peter Todd was also responsible for building the village reading rooms on Victoria Street (which were converted to homes in the 1980's), St Paul 's Church (now demolished and the site of three dwellings) and St Paul 's School (now the Village Hall). The church and school were built following a bitter row in 1868 between Peter Todd (at that time church warden of Heapey Church and the Vicar. Unable to resolve their differences Peter Todd and his followers (mainly his employee's!) broke away from the established church and set up their own 'Free Church of England' and school. For more details of these 'Troubled Times'.
The mill owner or 'master,' Peter Todd, lived in Prospect House, built in 1864 and situated at the top of Rye Bank, a dignified distance from the mill. Todd pursued a lavish lifestyle with hunting, banquets and balls famous throughout the country. An east wing was added to provide a ballroom 52 feet long by 27 feet wide with a billiards room above.
Victoria Mill (or Todd's Mill as it was known locally) dominated the skyline of the village however the Mill closed in the 1960's and was demolished in the early 1970's with the site now being occupied by Millbrook Close residential estate.