Saddleworth Moor

Saddleworth Moor
Saddleworth Moor towards Dovestones Reservoir
Highest point
Coordinates
Geography
Saddleworth Moor Location of Saddleworth Moor in Greater Manchester
Location	Northern England
Parent range	South Pennines
Geology
Mountain type	Moorland
Climbing
Easiest route	Pennine Way

Saddleworth Moor is an area of the South Pennines in Northern England. It is within the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park. The land reaches over 1,312 feet (400 m) above sea level. It is crossed by the A635 road and the Pennine Way passes to its eastern side.

History

The moor takes its name from the parish of Saddleworth to the west, historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire although on the western side of the Pennines, but a part of Greater Manchester since 1974. The parts of the moor east of the present county boundary with West Yorkshire are known as Wessenden Moor and Wessenden Head Moor.

The moor became infamous in the 1960s as the burial site of four victims of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, the Moors murderers. In October 1965 the bodies of Lesley Ann Downey and John Kilbride were discovered, having been buried there during the previous two years. John Kilbride was murdered on the moors by Ian Brady in the absence of Myra Hindley, while Lesley Ann Downey was murdered at the couple's house in nearby Hattersley before being buried on the moors.

The body of Pauline Reade, who was the couple's first victim in July 1963, was recovered on 1 July 1987, almost a year after Brady and Hindley admitted murdering her. They had also admitted to murdering Keith Bennett in June 1964, but his body has never been found.

Geography

Saddleworth Moor straddles the metropolitan boroughs of Oldham in Greater Manchester and Kirklees in West Yorkshire. The moorland is an elevated plateau with gritstone escarpments or edges and, around its margins, deeply incised v-shaped valleys or cloughs with fast-flowing streams. (Clough is derived from the Old English cloh which means a deep valley or ravine.) The overlying peat is cut by drainage channels or groughs. The high moorland is sparsely inhabited. Scattered farmsteads, built of local gritstone, and fields demarcated by dry-stone walls are on the lower land and in the valleys where there is some coniferous woodland. Much of the area is open access land.

The landscape is traversed by an A road between the Greater Manchester Urban Area and the West Yorkshire Urban Area. The A635 road, known locally as the Isle of Skye road, passes across the moor taking its name from a former public house at Wessenden Head which was demolished after a fire. The Pennine Way arrives from the Wessenden valley to the north and crosses the moor on its ascent to Black Hill on Holme Moss to the south.

Vegetation

Blanket bog in the area is the most south-easterly occurrence in Europe. Cottongrass is the most dominant feature and sphagnum mosses scarce. Heather, crowberry, bilberry and the rare cloudberry are also found. There are extensive areas of bare peat from which the surface has eroded. The peat formation is 9,000 years old.

Reservoirs

Dovestone, Yeoman Hey, Greenfield and Chew Reservoirs east of Oldham, are accessed from the A635 road. The reservoirs supply water to the surrounding area. The valley is surrounded by rocky outcrops and moorland. Spruce and pine plantations are found in the valley and broad-leaved trees have been introduced to provide a more diverse habitat.

Yeoman Hey was built in 1880 and Chew Reservoir was built in 1914, and when built, was the highest reservoir in the British Isles at 1,601 feet (488 m) above sea level. The bed of the tramway, built to aid its construction remains visible. The area around the reservoir is used for recreation.

See also

• Moors murders
• South Pennines
• Saddleworth

References

Notes

Bibliography