Block Lane
| Block Lane (Black Ridings) | |
|---|---|
 Block Lane (Black Ridings)
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| Block Lane (Black Ridings) shown within Greater Manchester | |
| OS grid reference | SD 90891 04195 |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | OLDHAM |
| Postcode district | OL9 |
| Dialling code | 0161 |
| Police | Greater Manchester |
| Fire | Greater Manchester |
| Ambulance | North West |
| EU Parliament | North West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Block Lane is a locality in the town of Chadderton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester. It is located on Chadderton's eastern border with Oldham, contiguous with the Freehold area of that town, and with Cowhill and Butler Green.
The hamlet of Block Lane, also known as Black Ridings, lay on the ancient road of Block Lane as it followed the Oldham boundary southwards towards Butler Green.
The hamlet was situated close to the present day Block Lane Surgery.
By the mid 19th century the area had become a centre of industrial activity with four coal pits and two sandstone quarries in close proximity.. The growth of the Freehold area of Werneth from the 1860s onwards saw housing development reach the Oldham town boundary at Block Lane, effectively absorbing the Black Ridings hamlet into that district. Suburban housing now covers the area occupied by the original cottages which had been demolished by the 1960's
The Hare And Hounds public house opened in 1855. The pub closed in late 2014.
Blackridings Mill was a cotton waste mill on Block Lane dating to 1861. It was demolished in 1975. It occupied the site of the former Blackridings Colliery. The site was redeveloped in 1982 for Freehold Community School.
The United Mill was a cotton mill on Block Lane. Built in 1874, it ceased production in 1959 and was partly demolished in 1962, the remaining building is now in use as a mosque.
1870 saw the opening of Christ Church, a grade II listed building.
By the 1890s Block Lane had a bowling green and a football ground at the back of the old Black Ridings hamlet. At one time this was known as 'the track', a venue for foot races and wrestling. The ground was used by Werneth Rugby Club, who in 1890 were suspended from league rugby for 'professionalism'. The club disbanded in 1905.
St John's Church, Werneth (closed in 1982) was the parish church for the Block Lane area from 1845 until 1870 when the new Christ Church was built by a group of lay people who were unhappy with the increasing ritualism at St John's. They appealed for funds in February 1870 to build a new church 'on the lower side of the Freehold adjoining Suffolk St at its junction with Oxford St and Block Lane' a church which they planned to 'secure a permanent Evangelical ministry, and to meet the spiritual needs of a rapidly-growing population.' The funds were so quickly forthcoming that the foundation stone was laid in May and the new church was completed and opened by December of that same year, and the first vicar the Rev'd Thomas Chapman took his inaugural service on Christmas Day 1870.
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Wikipedia