"Our event on Saturday 10th November 2018 was a great success with over 300 people attending the Horwich Heritage full day of commemorations marking the centenary of the end of WWI. The morning exhibition of WWI displays and memorabilia also included the launch of a new book Horwich on the Home Front (1914-18), a display by Horwich Art Society and the unveiling of a specially commissioned piece of WWI artwork by 14 year old Morrigan Atherton. The afternoon highlights included the play 'Flanders to Fish' by the On the Go Theatre Company and the singing of patriotic wartime songs by the Horwich Community Choir.' For those still wishing to visit the exhibition it runs until the New Year"

"I'm sure the people of Horwich would wish to thank everyone who helped to make the Remembrance weekend so memorable including those who organised and conducted the Parade and Remembrance Service, knitted the poppies, put up the poppies and silhouettes around the town, delivered the posters to the houses where the fallen soldiers lived and put up their own church and shop tributes." - Stuart Whittle, Horwich Heritage

Upcoming Events

'MURDER ON THE MOOR'

It is 180 years this year since the infamous 'Murder on the Moor' took place and Horwich Heritage are commemorating this event with a meal and re-enactment of the trial of the alleged perpetrator, James Whittle, at the Blundell Arms on Wednesday 28th November.

The circumstances surrounding this crime have always remained a mystery but the fact remains that a 20 year old packman, George Henderson, was murdered on his way across the moors above Horwich on 9th November 1838. He had been shot and was found dying in a ditch but he had not been robbed. James Whittle was the prime suspect, since he was spotted with a loaded gun in the vicinity and, following an Inquest at the Moorgate Inn (now the Blundell Arms) on 13th November, he was sent for trial in Liverpool.

At the end of the trial in April 1839, Whittle was acquitted due to the unreliability of the witnesses, who may well have been influenced by the £100 reward on offer (a substantial amount in those days). No one else was ever charged with the murder and the event was commemorated for posterity by the placing of a cast iron column at the site.

That column is still there today and is a well-known local landmark known as the Scotsman's Stump. To mark this year's anniversary, Horwich Heritage has carefully restored the stump so that it can remain as a lasting reminder of this tragic event for many years to come.