Name: Denham Arms
Address: Lower Copthurst Lane @ Birchin Lane, Whittle-le-Woods
Denham Springs is a tiny hamlet on Lower Copthurst Lane on the border of the Whittle-le-Woods and Brindle parishes, through which the River Lostock flows and is just a hundred yards or so down the road from the Top Lock pub. Denham Springs Print Works was central to the community back in the early part of the 19th century, utilizing the water from the river for the printing of Calico Cotton, with its striking chimney rising from the hillside above the old works still standing to this day as a memorial to days gone by.
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1844 OS Map Denham Springs
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The following excerpt from Chorley and South Ribble history blog provides an insight into the business.
“Chemistry of Calico Printing 1790-1835 and History of Printworks in the Manchester District 1760-1846” written by John Graham in the 1840s.
Denham Springs Mill (actually in Brindle parish, off Copthurst Lane) opened in 1783. It had a succession of owners, all of whom ended up bankrupt.
“It seems strange that men could be induced to carry on in these old premises for 50 or 60 years, being a great way from market, not capable of expansion and never profitable, only a few small old buildings and very little water and altogether appears a very unlikely place for carrying on the printing business successfully”.
At the time of his writing, the mill had only one printing machine, 19 short tables for block printing and a 24 hp steam engine. A small community of cottages along Copthurst Lane provided accommodation for workers and there was also the inevitable beerhouse. Despite Graham’s gloomy assessment, the mill continued to attract hopefuls for another 20 years or so before its final closure in the 1860s.
Like any small community with its own works, back in those days, you expected to find a beerhouse to quench the thirst of the locals after a hard day's work, and Denham Springs was no different. The Denham Arms was a beerhouse rather than an Inn i.e. it only had a licence to sell beer, not wines and spirits and did not provide accommodation.
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| Map from a local walks book |
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| Annotated 1844 O/S Map |
The Denham Arms may have occupied the entire building rather than the semi-detached Riverside Cottages we see today, but was located next to the old stone road bridge that crosses the River Lostock and was pretty much central to the hamlet. These days it is call Brookside Cottage, and being set back from the road, it is easily missed when you drive through. The other cottage is also a private residence.
The first landlord I can find is a John Hargreaves, who grew up in Denham Springs, the son of a farmer, John Hargreaves. The family lived in the centre of Denham Springs and are likely to have lived at Lower Copthurst Farm, just yards up the road from the Inn or across the road at Denham Springs Farm.
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| Lower Copthurst Farm c.2025 |
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| 1851 Census - Hargreaves Family |
The directory below confirms John was a beer retailer in Whittle-le-Woods in 1854 at the age of 25 years.
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1854 Slaters Directory Beer Retailers - John Hargreaves
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By 1861 he had returned to live with his family working the farm, and the landlord at the Denham Arms had changed to an Oliver Knowles, originally from the Penwortham area, living at the beerhouse and assisted in the business by his sister, Alice who was born in Walton-le-Dale. Seven years before that, he had been living in Samlesbury and running the Nab's Head, his occupation being a 'victualler' (keeper of a tavern).
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1854 Samlesbury Township Directory - Oliver Knowles Nab's Head
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| 1861 Census Oliver Knowles Beer House Keeper 7 Denham Springs |
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