Heritage

Burrs Country Park lies on the River Irwell one mile to the northwest of Bury town centre. The area now covered by the park has been a focus for human activity since pre Roman times when a settlement was established at Castlesteads.

In 1752 a farmhouse was built on the north side of the river. The original farmhouse is still in existence and is now the Brown Cow public house. With the coming of the industrial revolution the site started to change rapidly, Burrs Mill was built for Peel and Yates and Higher Woodhill Mill for Richard Calrow who were engaged in the processing of cotton. Initially the mills were powered by water from the river Irwell and a weir and goit were constructed to carry the water to the mills. Later the mills were adapted to steam power.

The construction of the Manchester, Bolton Bury Canal meant that a water supply was required to feed the header reservoir at Elton. To accommodate this the canal feeder was constructed around 1803 and connected into the existing goit. In 1808, Burrs mill was sold to Richard Calrow and in 1829 a major fire lead to the rebuilding of the mill with additional buildings including a manager’s house, an apprentice’s house and blacksmith’s shop.

The 1850’s boom in cotton manufacturing was a time of great prosperity and lasted until the cotton famine brought about by the American Civil war between 1861 to 1865. The shortages of raw cotton lead to the Calrow family business going into liquidation.

The mills were finally sold in 1870 and a new bridge built over the river to replace the ford and by 1880 the mills were manufacturing paper. Further building took place in 1893 and Burrs mill was converted in to a bleach works. 1920 saw the fields to the rear of the Brown Cow laid out as a cricket ground and bowling green constructed. By 1925 Woodhill Road had been constructed along the side of the canal feeder and a manager’s house built. The manager’s house is now the Garsdale public house.

In 1930 Higher Woodhill Mill was demolished and in 1933 the depression caused the remaining mills to close. During the Second World War Burrs Mill and the associated buildings were used as an army billet and then to house prisoners of war.

In 1952 the earliest part of Burrs Mill was demolished. The rest of the mill followed in 1982 leaving only the chimney and the workers cottages. The site was acquired by Bury Metro in 1986 and work started on redeveloping the site as a country park.