Beacon

The prominent summit of Rivington Pike was the site of one of a series of beacons spanning England as an early warning system. The beacon system was put in place by Ranulph de Blundeville, 4th Earl of Chester around 1139, following a Scottish raid in 1138, when a small Lancashire army was defeated near Clitheroe by a much larger Scottish force. The beacon here was one of the famous examples used in Elizabethan England to warn of the approaching Spanish Armada, lit on 19 July 1588. There are records of a petition for reimbursement of a watching beacon in 1640.^[8] The stones from the beacon firepit were used to create a base for the Pike Tower in 1733.

Tower

The Pike Tower is a Grade II* listed building near the summit. Built by John Andrews of Rivington Hall in 1733. The Pike hill was the site of an ancient beacon; the tower's foundation is made from stone found there and was built as a hunting lodge. Square in plan with sides 16 feet (4.9 m) in length and 20 feet (6.1 m) high, it was built with a wooden roof, three windows and a door all of which are now blocked up. The foundations have become exposed over centuries due to erosion.

The roof was slate and hidden by a parapet with pointed corners and intermediate steps, originally built with a small cellar measuring 5 by 3 by 5 feet (1.52 m × 0.91 m × 1.52 m), a corner stone fireplace and chimney and stone floor slabs. The materials were brought in by horse and cart from Warrington; windows and glass came from Chorley.^[11] The internal features and roof had gone before the rebuild.

Liverpool City Council, the former owner, neglected the tower and planned to demolish it in 1967, after a public outcry and legal action the land and building was transferred to Chorley Rural District Council in 1971 who rebuilt the main external stonework of building in 1974 and completed further work in the 1990s.^[12] The Pike Hill and tower are owned and managed by Chorley Council under title number LAN21334.^[13][14]

Events

Rivington Pike Easter Fair was held annually on Whit Saturday, until the arrival of the Manchester and Bolton Railway's extension to Preston and the opening of Blackrod railway station in 1841 which brought more visitors, after which the Fair was moved to Good Friday in 1900, by then a bank holiday weekend. It has remained popular, with large numbers attending.^[15] The fair was stopped during the Covid pandemic for the years 2020 and 2021.^[16][17]

The Rivington Pike Fell Race has been held on the Saturday before Easter Sunday since 1892. The course is 3¼ miles and has a 700-foot ascent.^[18][19] Many walkers continue the Good Friday tradition of walking to the pike summit.^[15]

In the years 1906 to 1912, a car and motorcycle race and hill climb was held by the North-East Lancs Automobile Club and the Lancashire Motor-Cycle Club.^[20]

Past campaigns

The Winter Hill mass trespass occurred in 1896, a march of 10,000 people descended on the moorland and up to the Pike from Bolton on two weekends to enforce their rights to roam.^[21]

Leverhulme also supported the rights of ordinary people to access the countryside, and used his own funds to secure the rights for the inhabitants. A water bill in 1989 threatened the rights to roam in Rivington, leading to a rally held here to protect rights of access, led by the Ramblers Association.^[22] A pledge was made by 3,000 to protect access to the hills.^[23] A further attempt by the water company to introduce a parliamentary act in 1997 was rejected after public opposition with the support of the local MP.^[24] The Pike and Japanese Gardens, part of the Terraced Gardens, along with the entire moorland are today part of an area of public access land with legally protected rights to roam.^[25][26]

Public access

Belmont Road (USRN 7400767) and Roynton Road (USRN: 7400820) are the two roads that provide access to the hillside, the Terraced Gardens, the Pike and Winter Hill from the direction of Chorley, Belmont and Horwich. Both are open public roads recorded on the National Street Gazetteer which are public and under the control of the Lancashire County Council with adopted status and statutory protection by way of the Highways Act 1980. Gates placed on these roads must not be locked shut.^[27][28][29] The speed advice is a maximum of 5 mph. Belmont Road forks at the Pigeon Tower. The descending road has washed away. The continuation of the road to the right heads to Rivington Road and is now a dirt track across Rivington Moor. Roynton Road provides access across the lower part of the hillside and connects Rivington Lane to Sheep House Lane, via seven arch bridge.^[30]

The area is popular with walkers and many other road users including horse riders, mountain bikes, and motorcycles, and may be accessed by suitable cars. Footpaths and bridleways provide access to the hillside and surrounding moorland, protected by CROW, the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.^[31]

Although land registry documents for the Pike hill do not record protection through the Liverpool Corporation Act 1902, it is an oversight, it was documented as part of the gift to the people of Bolton by Lord Leverhulme at the creation of Lever Park.^[13] The Pike, although a distance from the reservoirs and now owned by Chorley Council is part of Lever park and is mentioned as such in the Lever park Act 1969 and has legally protected rights to free and uninterrupted public enjoyment in the 1902 Liverpool Corporation Act.^[32][33] It is an area of open access land and has a right to roam.^[34] The Pike hill summit was included on the map presented by Lord Leverhulme to Bolton as part of the lands donated for the creation of Lever Park and as such there is a right to 'free and uninterrupted enjoyment'.^[35]

On the definitive map bridleway number 108 leads to the Pike Tower at the summit, passing Brown Hill accessible via bridleway 107 and 81 from Belmont Road. Bridleway 80 circles the base of the hill at the moorland side. There are other paths and bridleways in the area that are rights of way. The popular routes to the summit are via footpath 82, through the terraced gardens and via bridleway 98 past Higher Knoll farm.^[36] In the 1990s steps were built on the hillside to prevent deterioration.