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Coordinates: 53°44'36?N 2°23'37?W? / ?53.7434, -2.3935
Oswaldtwistle (pronounced 'Oswald-twistle') is a town on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Lancashire, 3 miles east-south-east of Blackburn.
The name is derived from 'Oswald' and 'Twistle'. The word 'twistle' is an old English word meaning 'brooks meet'. Legend has it that St.Oswald, King of Northumbria passed through, giving the area its full title of Oswald's Twistle, which in time came to be Oswaldtwistle. However, it is more likely derived from the name of the Anglo-Saxon who farmed the land.
Sir Robert Peel, first baronet, who, as a factory-owner, effected wide developments in the cotton industry, was born at Peelfold, within the township, in 1750. Another historical figure associated with the textile industry was James Hargreaves, inventor of the Spinning Jenny. He resided in what is now the post office on Stanhill Lane.
The people of Oswaldtwistle were involved in the power loom riots of 1826. The mechanisation of the textile industry (Spinning Jenny and the power loom) resulted in redundancies, low wages and starvation. A large number of angry cotton workers attacked the White Ash factory in Oswaldtwistle, about a mile away from Hargreaves' workshop, on April 26th and destroyed looms and other equipment. The riots went on for four days, extending to all cotton towns in central Lancashire.
Oswaldtwistle is commonly referred to as "ossy" or "ozzy" by the residents.
[edit] Twinned Towns
[edit] Places of interest
Oswaldtwistle Mills, a textile mill converted into a craft fair and with an exhibition about life in the Mill a hundred years ago. It is also home of the world's largest pear drop.
[edit] External links
(Source: Wikipedia) |