“the number of police-stations in the district, exclusive of the one in the town, was four”

            As policing requirements in the Ashton-in-Makerfield Section increased and the inadequacies of the Warrington Road station became ever more apparent, the Constabulary was forced to revert to its pre-1850 practice of accommodating some of its officers elsewhere in the township.  These other locations are sometimes referred to in documents of the period as police “stations” but, so far as I can gather, they were merely residential properties owned or leased by the County for the purpose of accommodating officers -particularly married officers with children- for whom there was no room at Warrington Road.  On 28 June 1882 the Ashton Local Board's Gas & Water Committee was informed by the Board Surveyor that “the number of police-stations in the district, exclusive of the one in the town, was four, viz one at Park-lane, one at Rose-hill, one at Downall-green and one at Stubshaw-cross” (Wigan Archives ref. UD Ash/A/A1/82).  Identifying the exact locations is not straightforward, but some assistance is given by the census returns and local parish registers.   

PC Robert Jenkinson is described as resident at the “Police Station Park Lane” when his son James was baptised at Holy Trinity on 21 November 1894.  When sons William and Robert were baptised in 1895 and 1896 respectively, the family address was given as “138 Park Lane”.  Their placing on the census return for 1901 indicates that the location was somewhere between the former Golden Ball Public House and the offices of the Park Lane Colliery, now Landgate industrial estate.  Richard Hanlon is described as “Police Sergeant” of “Wigan Road” -possibly the same address- when his daughter Hilda was baptised at St Thomas' on 10 April 1895.

I have been unable to identify the exact site of the Rose-hill “police station”.

Charles Grantham was described as “police constable of Downall Green” when his daughter Esther was baptised at Holy Trinity in 1882.  The 1881 census return places him at “Spindle Hillock” and the 1891 return at the “Police Station” somewhere  between Low Bank Road and Beech House.  I think this must have been at or close to the former “White House” at Downall Green, where (notwithstanding it was also the residence of members of the lock- and hinge-making Crompton family at this period) PC Josiah Davies specifically occurs on the occasion of the baptism of his son John at Holy Trinity in 1918.  Charles Grantham is described as an “Ex-Policeman” when his daughter Priscilla married at St Thomas' in 1908, and as a “Police Pensioner & Lamp Lighter” of 80 Spindle Hillock on the 1911 census return.*

The “Stubshaw Cross police station” of the Ashton Local Board minute books may be identical with that referred to elsewhere as being at Town Green.  James Foxcroft was described as “Policeman” of “Town Green” when his daughter Daisy was baptised at St Thomas' on 4 February 1894.  Archibald Twaddle is similarly described on the occasion of the baptism of his son Ambrose at St Thomas' on 1 April 1896. On 30 May 1903 the Wigan Examiner reported that “Police-constable Ford, who has been stationed at Town Green Station for 3 and a half  years, has been removed to Bury. His successor is Police-constable Sharp, of Rossendale”.  PC Thomas Ford occurs at 102 Bolton Road on the 1901 census return, now the site of Town Green Gardens.

Although not identified as the site of a police station in the Ashton Local Board records or elsewhere, married officers were also living in Garswood at this period.  PC Walter Bent was described as a resident of Station Road when his son Henry was baptised at Holy Trinity on 30 October 1895, whilst PC James Smith was at School Lane, Garswood, when his daughter Elsie was baptised in the same church on 10 January 1900.  PC Smith and family were at 29 Station Road by the date of the 1901 census.    

Images:
Left, above: Census return of 1881 showing Charles Grantham and family at the “Police Station”, Downall Green; below: the “White House” at Downall Green.
Right, above: PC Thomas Ford (1868-1919), subsequently a Lance-Corporal in the Royal Fusiliers; below: 1901 census return showing Thomas, his wife and their infant daughter at 102 Bolton Rd.

*Among the Downall Green characters recalled by Ashton-born Sam Pierce, referring to the period just before Pierce left school in 1927, was “a stout, heavily built man, about 50 years old, with the most luxuriant curly auburn beard, it seemed to glisten in the sunlight....  He always seemed to be on his own, either walking or standing on the corner of Spindle Hillock, just opposite the village green.  I never heard him speak, or saw him being addressed by anyone – a real village loner if ever there was one.  His name was, I think, Charlie Grantham...” (from “A Working Class Autobiography”, typescript at Wigan Libraries ref. 305.560942776).
Taken on: November 24, 2022
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