Hoghton - Man's Hall

Name: Man's Hall

Address, Spring Gardens, Hoghton Bottoms

1845 Map

The "Man's Hall" was a beer house located at Spring Gardens at the end of Long Lane in Hoghton Bottoms. Spring Gardens was a row of residential properties built close to local industry including the two cotton factories and nearby railway line. The only landlord on record at the Man's Hall was James Halstead, a farmer's son from Hoghton who at the time of his marriage to Sarah Crossley at St Andrew's Church (Leyland) in 1841 described his occupation as "beer seller". The location can nowadays be accessed via Chapel Lane from the Boar's Head past Barracks to Hoghton Bottoms or from the Pleasington side along Long Lane past Higher Park Farm.

Row of Stone Cottages known as "Barracks" on Chapel Lane on 1800 censuses.

1794 Methodist Chapel on Chapel Lane

A revolution for pubs was brought about by the Beerhouse Act of 1830, which liberalised the regulations enabling anyone to brew and sell beer on payment of a licence costing two guineas. The intention was to increase competition between brewers, and it resulted in the opening of 56,000 beer houses across the country by 1836; the rapidly expanding industrial centres of the North of England saw their fair share and in Chorley 25 new Beerhouses had opened by 1834. James Halstead was original listed as a beer seller rather than a publican and for this reason I suspect he entered the trade in the 1830s taking advantage of the recent legislation.

1841 Marriage James Halstead

In 1841 James and Sarah Halstead were recorded as living in Hoghton Bottoms on the census, at the continuation of Chapel Lane onto Long Lane.

1841 Census James Halstead

A succession of baptismal records for their children confirm James continued to run the pub through the 1840s and 50s.

Baptism: 8 Nov 1846 Holy Trinity, Hoghton, Lancashire, England

Mary Ann Halstead - Daughter of James Halstead & Sarah

    Abode: Hoghton

    Occupation: Publican

    Baptised by: John Rigg Curate

Baptism: 13 Apr 1848 Holy Trinity, Hoghton, Lancashire, England

Peter Neville - Son of John Neville & Alice

    Abode: Hoghton

    Occupation: Publican

    Baptised by: T. Rigbye Baldwin Curate

Baptism: 7 Dec 1848 Holy Trinity, Hoghton, Lancashire, England

John Crook - Son of Thomas Crook & Margaret

    Abode: Hoghton

    Occupation: Publican

    Baptised by: T. Rigbye Baldwin Curate

     

1850 Baptism of James Halstead Jnr.

1851 Census James Halstead

Whilst James was still running the pub during this period the 1851 census record confirms he was also working as a labourer on the railway and probably did so to supplement his income, with a wife and four children to support.

Baptism: 16 Nov 1851 Holy Trinity, Hoghton, Lancashire, England

Alice Halstead - Child of James Halstead & Sarah

    Abode: Hoghton

    Occupation: Publican

    Baptised by: T. Rigbye Baldwin Incbt.

    

Baptism: 15 Apr 1855 Holy Trinity, Hoghton, Lancashire, England

Sarah Ellen Halstead - Daughter of James Halstead & Sarah

    Abode: Hoghton

    Occupation: Publican

    Baptised by: Jonn. Short Incbt.

  

1861 Census James Halstead

It is the below press release from 1869 that spelled the end of the Man's Hall, as the licence was revoked by local magistrates along with a number of others from the area. This comes as no real surprise as there were a number of other established public houses nearby including the Boar's Head, Railway Tavern and Royal Oak (Riley Green), all positioned on the main thoroughfares that would have attracted a greater share of the business.

THE WIGAN OBSERVER AND DISTRICT ADVERTISER.. FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 3. 1869

…Thos. Sumner, Bolton-street, Chorley; John Crook, Vine Tavern, Whittle-le-Woods; and James Halstead, Man’s Hall, Hoghton. About half-past seven o’clock the court rose, and the hearing a number of applications for renewals, several were refused...

03 September 1869 - Wigan Observer and District Advertiser - Wigan, Lancashire

Two years later James' occupation is recorded as a "Flagger & Slater" on the census record.

1871 Census James Halstead

Local death records confirm that James Halstead died in 1872 and his wife Sarah died four years later in 1876 but only after she had seen their youngest daughter Sarah Ellen marry.

 Marriage: 1 Aug 1874 Parish Church, Hoghton, Lancashire, England

George Furnell - 21, Labourer, Bachelor, Hoghton

Sarah Ellen Halstead - (X), 19, Power Loom Weaver, Spinster, Hoghton

    Groom's Father: Charles Furnell, Labourer

    Bride's Father: James Halstead, Deceased

    Witness: William Duckworth; Sarah Anne Ashworth, (X)

    Married by Banns by: John. Short Vicar

1881 Census Spring Gardens

George and Sarah continued to live at Spring Gardens for a decade or so before moving to nearby Withnell and census records show that families continued to occupy Spring Gardens well into the 1900s.

On several census records after 1871 a property called "Old Man's Hall" is clearly recorded adjacent to Spring Gardens on the enumerator's route and I believe this to be the old beer house, being one of the end-properties on Spring Gardens.

1891 Census Old Man's Hall

From the 1909 map below it's clear that the factories had fallen into disuse in the latter half of the 19th century, another sign that local business was no longer able to support another beer house. 

View looking north west down the River Darwen. Spring Gardens was in the copse on
the right of the path with Hoghton Hall seen in the distance.

Spring Gardens remained as a residential property until the latter half of the 1900s after which it disappeared, presumably becoming derelict and on today's satellite map it has been replaced by a copse of trees on the site.

1909 Map

Site of Spring Meadows on Long Lane 2020 (Google)

The image below helps to illustrate how the businesses and landscape have changed over the last 175 years.

1845 and 2020 Google Map Superimposed