History of Deane

The Old Parish of Dean  

Deane Church

The name Deane has been spelt in several ways including Dean, Dene, Deene and Deen.  It has a Saxon origin and is derived from the word denu meaning valley.  Eventually Dean (as it was spelt) was created a Parish in its own right; it was extremely large and was subdivided into ten townships for ease of administration.  These townships were Farnworth, Little Hulton, Horwich, Kearsley, Westhoughton, Heaton, Middle Hulton, Over Hulton, Halliwell and Rumworth, 1 ¾ miles south west of Bolton.

The Croal, Bolton’s principal river, is in its higher reaches in Deane, where it is called Middlebrook-Croal-Irwell watercourse.  The name Middlebrook is thought to come from the Old English words mycel and broc meaning great brook which was written Mikelbrok in 1292.

There was a Chapel in Dean called St. Mariden, or the Chapel of St. Mary, Dean and the present Parish Church was built on the site of the original chapel in 1452.   The earliest record of a Chapel in Dean was in the year 1100 and this was most likely a Saxon building.  It is from this chapel that the small stream running west of the present church took its Saxon name Kirkebroke meaning Church Brook.

Sanitary Conditions and Death Rate

Below is an extract from a report by Dr. Ballard after he visited the area in October 1871.  This report, which covered all of Bolton and the surrounding districts, was made in order to investigate the reasons for the abnormally high death rate in the area.

“The village of Dean is  undrained with sewage running down the sides of the streets and roadways.  Some people live in unventilated cellar dwellings…. The privies and ashpits are loaded and some of the yards of houses are disgustingly filthy.  The water supply of the cottages consists of shallow spring wells by the roadside which are easily contaminated, and there are all kinds of rubbish in them.  In Green’s Fold, near the vicarage, there have been many cases of fever.”

The rate of infant mortality was much higher in Lancashire generally than in many other areas although, out of all the industrial towns in Lancashire Bolton was better than some, it still had an abnormally high death rate as shown by the figures below.

Deaths of Children Under 1 Year for Every 1000 Births Registered. C.1870

(Source:  Dr. Ballard’s Report on the sanitary Conditions of Bolton.)

These high death rates in babies were due to a combination of factors; general ignorance of diet and cleanliness, unsanitary conditions, poor diet and neglect due to the parents having to work long hours in the factories.  Not only did children die of the usual childhood diseases, but they died of wasting diseases associated with vitamin deficiencies, such as rickets which softens bones and is associated with vitamin D deficiency.

Gate Pike and Pikes Lane

During the 18^th and 19^th Centuries the area of Deane lying at the foot of the hill called Deane Brow was known as ‘Gate Pike’.  The name ‘Gate Pike’ may have derived from the turnpike road which was the old road which led up to Deane; the ‘Gate’ may come from the toll bar, which was literally a gate at which tolls were paid by those wishing to use the road.  This toll bar was situated near what is now Haslam Park.

From Britannia Hotel, at the bottom of Deane Road, as far as Cannon Street, the road used to be known as Blackburn Street, and from that point to the bottom of Deane Brow, just beyond where Saviour’s Church once stood, it was Pikes Lane, hence the name of the school.  Around 1892 Blackburn Street and Pikes Lane became Deane Road.

The principal means of subsistence in Gate Pike was hand loom weaving and few houses were without at least one loom.  The cotton trade was established in cottages using handlooms in the 1600’s and 1700’s.  Wool was the main textile at the time but traders called ‘chapmen’ began to buy cotton and distribute it to spinners and weavers by packhorse.  The cotton trade prospered and in 1839, Dean Parish, which covered a large area, had 16 cotton mills, which were mainly worked by steam engines.

The Gate Pike area had a terrible reputation for gambling and drinking and it came to be known as “Hell’s Mouth.”  Holidays were generally spent racing, pigeon flying, and poaching or at local boxing and wrestling matches.   The village, as it then was, nestled at the foot of the brow and a winding lane, hedged on either side with hawthorns, ran from the centre of Bolton to the ancient church of St. Mary’s, Deane.  On the left hand side of the road coming from town were pretty little white-washed cottages with thatched roofs and roses round the doors.

Gate Pike was once famous for its association with Pikes Lane football ground, the former ground of Bolton Wanderers, where the club grew until it moved to Burnden Park in 1895.  The name Gate Pike has fallen into disuse as the district is not separate as it use to be.  The country lanes have gone long ago and the area has been transformed from what it once was.

Deane Road and Wigan Road

Wigan Road is the continuation of Deane Road from the point marked by Blackshaw Lane which is a street off Deane Road.  Deane toll bar was erected in 1800 about 50 yards below the vicarage gates and the tolls collected there were to contribute to the upkeep of the road.  This toll was closed on 31^st October 1878.