Holme Manor | Residential Care Home located in Rawtenstall

History of the Holme

Historical images and information from Holme Manor.

Holme Manor Care Home History

The Townsend family lived in Townsend Fold from the 1600’s onwards and they owned property and cotton mills, land in Waterfoot (Townsend ST) is named after them. Their main residence was The Holme, which was a mansion demolished in the early 1960’s but up to the 1950’s the Townsend family still lived there.

There are photos (see images below) of The Holme, which had a beautiful fountain outside, there are photos of Townsend Fold all taken around a hundred years ago, possibly 120 years ago. There are photos looking toward the Manor and you can see the remains of a huge gate which was a toll gate across Holme Lane, the Townsends collected a toll, there is a photo of a Townsend family wedding, a carriage outside The Holme and bride gong in, maybe from wedding of Edith Mary Townsend to George Turner Hardman (grandson of William Turner , Helmshore). There are old photographs on display at Holme Manor which are very interesting for anyone caring to look.

The two Townsend brothers who built the newer part of Holme Manor, which was Holme Farm, were Jonathan and Richard Townsend, There are two date stones at the Manor which bear their initials and the date of 1828. Jonathan was born in 1781 and died in 1856, he is described as a landowning gentleman of The Holme. Richard was born in 1796 and died in 1860, he was described as a farmer.One of the datestones is a keystone in teh arch of what must have been the barn door opening of the building which now faces the conservatory.

Both brothers are buried together at St James in Haslingden, their tombstone is belived to be the single largest gravestone in England measuring 14 feet by 5 feet, this massive stone is supported by stone columns upon two of which are carved the Townsend family coat of arms which is reproduced elsewhere on this site. The family tree shows that many of the Townsends joined forces with other mill owning families and they were evidently following the tradition common at the time. Our Richard’s son, also Richard managed Higher Mill at Helmshore from 1855 to 1876, his brother John was a colliery proprietor (Townsend, Barlow and Hargreaves of Bacup).