Pub sign Photo Study The Rose Of Lancaster Chadderton Manchester

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Enterprisingly, this pub was built in 1800 in anticipation of trade from the Rochdale Canal, then still under construction until 1804. Originally called the Horton Arm (a name now used by another Chadderton pub) it became The Rose Of Lancaster in 1811. In 1817, Edward O’Connor, a landlord of the pub, and a radical reformer, was arrested on after a police raid on the pub failed to find him on the premises. He was facing charges of sedition and treason. Another Radical arrested at the same time (At the Assheton Arms in Middleton, Manchester) was dialect poet, Sam Bamford and he witnessed O’Connor’s distress. O’Connor was eventually released on compassionate grounds after coming close to losing a leg due to the tightness of his shackles. An inquest in 1822 was held in the pub looking into a canal drowning of a man who had last been seen drinking in the bar, though his body had not been discovered for four days. As the canal trade dried up with the introduction of improved rail and road services, the pub benefited from the Manchester Turnpike Road running right outside. The publican in charge at the time started operating a stagecoach service between the pub and Oldham’s Buck And Union inn (which is also still open). The stagecoach was called The Whirligig. For much of its history, the pub was part of a working farm, initially of 28 acres, but reduced to just three acres by 1851. A pig sty and a chicken coop backed right onto the pub, which could obviously offer fresh eggs and other farm products for its customers, but the smell must have been dreadful. By the 20th century the farm was no more and in 1993 the pub was demolished and replaced by the current highly regarded bistro-pub on the same location. The sign depicts a rather square artificial looking red rose, associated with the house of Lancaster, Lancashire, in the Wars Of The Roses. The pub is in effect showing its loyalty to the county. Arthur Chappell