Sholver - Revision history

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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country = England
| official_name = Sholver
| coordinates = {{coord|53.566097|-2.074748|display=inline,title}}
| population =
| metropolitan_borough = [[Metropolitan Borough of Oldham|Oldham]]
| metropolitan_county = [[Greater Manchester]]
| region = North West England
| constituency_westminster = [[Oldham East and Saddleworth (UK Parliament constituency)|Oldham East and Saddleworth]]
| post_town = OLDHAM
| postcode_district = OL1
| postcode_area = OL
| dial_code = 0161
| os_grid_reference = SD950077
| static_image = Shovler and Moorside.png
| static_image_width = 240px
| static_image_caption = Sholver and [[Moorside, Oldham|Moorside]] above the [[River Beal|Beal Valley]]
}}

'''Sholver''' is an area of [[Oldham]], in [[Greater Manchester]], England. An elevated, residential area, it lies near the middle of the Oldham part of the valley of the [[River Beal]], {{convert|2.1|mi|km|1}} northeast of Oldham's commercial centre, nearly at the northeasternmost extremity of the town, by open countryside close to the source of the [[River Medlock]] and by the border with [[Saddleworth]].<ref name="A&S">{{cite web|url=http://www.oldham.gov.uk/alt-sholverpartnership.htm|publisher=oldham.gov.uk|author=Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council|access-date=24 June 2008|title=Alt and Sholver Partnership|author-link=Metropolitan Borough of Oldham|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209214146/http://www.oldham.gov.uk/alt-sholverpartnership.htm|archive-date=9 December 2007}}</ref>

[[Historic counties of England|Historically]] a part of [[Lancashire]], Sholver and its surroundings have provided archaeological evidence of [[Neolithic]] activity in the area. The name Sholver is of [[Old Norse]] derivation, and the locality, anciently, was a [[hamlet (place)|hamlet]], independent of Oldham. '''Top Sholver''' is the site of a large [[council estate]] built in the 1960s.<ref name="A&S"/> '''Bottom Sholver''' consists of higher-value suburban semi-detached housing, built in the 1990s, although it still contains a very small number of [[council houses]].

Locations within the area like Sholver Millennium Green<ref>{{Cite web | title=Friends Of Sholver Millennium Green {{!}} Oldham | url=https://www.facebook.com/Dr3amBig | access-date=2025-01-01 | website=www.facebook.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title=Fout | url=https://m.facebook.com/groups/3219918198280408/?ref=share | access-date=2025-01-01 | website=m.facebook.com}}</ref> Beasom Hill Country Park<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ukfossils.co.uk/2013/03/17/besom-hill/amp/ | title=Besom Hill | date=17 March 2013 }}</ref> Strinesdale, Fullwood Nature Reserve and Community Garden are all particularly nice areas to visit.

==History==
{{see also|History of Oldham}}
The earliest known evidence of a human presence in what is now Sholver and adjacent [[Moorside, Oldham|Moorside]] is attested by the discovery of [[Neolithic]] flint arrow-heads and workings found at Besom Hill, implying habitation 7–10,000 years ago.<ref name="Oldham 100">{{cite book|title=A Centenary History of Oldham|year=1949|publisher=[[County Borough of Oldham|Oldham County Borough Council]]|first=Hartley|last=Bateson|isbn=5-00-095162-X}}</ref>

Like [[Oldham]], the name Sholver is thought to be of [[Old Norse]] origin; a derivative of "erg (a Norse word for hill-pasture) of a farmer called Skjolgr (a Norse forename)".<ref name="Oldham 100"/><ref name="St Thom"/> Indeed, [[Norsemen]] occupied Sholver in the 10th century,<ref name="Oldham Legion">{{cite book|title=Oldham From the XX Legion to the 20th Century|first=J.D|last=Daly|isbn=5-00-091284-5}}</ref> where they erected shielings - temporary huts in a remote pasture akin to the style of living done in their native [[Scandinavia]].<ref name="Oldham 100"/> It is recorded as Sholgher in 1291, Choller in 1311.

For centuries, in keeping with the known [[history of Oldham]], Sholver was a remote and obscure [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] set amongst the [[Pennines]].<ref name="Oldham 100"/> The plan of the hamlet of Sholver changed little since the [[Early Middle Ages]]. At the end of the 17th century the [[medieval]] timber and plaster dwellings were replaced by solid farms in the local grey sandstone, without substantial changes in the sites of the buildings.<ref name="St Thom"/> The cottages and farms were still grouped around a wide central oval green. The [[Fee simple|freehold]] of Sholver's farms had been bought from the Prestwich family in the 17th century at the time when the residencies were largely rebuilt in stone.<ref name="St Thom">{{cite web|url=http://www.stthomasmoorside.org.uk/History/Local_History.htm|publisher=stthomasmoorside.org.uk|title=Local History|author=St. Thomas' Church Moorside|access-date=14 November 2007}}</ref>

[[James Butterworth]], a poet and local historian, described Sholver as "a small village of great antiquity where the houses are chiefly built of stone, and have a rustic appearance," and describes a very pleasant retreat "in the neighbourhood of the cottages called the Dingle".<ref name="St Thom"/> Among early historical references to this area we find, in 1212, Ralph Tagun held Sholver as 4 [[oxgang]]s of land; it was part of the Nevill estate then in hand of [[John of England|King John]].<ref name="County of Lanc"/> In 1346 it was held in moieties by Richard de Pilkington and Cecily de Hulme. From the Hulmes it descended to the Prestwich family, who held it till the middle of the 17th century. It was sold to various persons about 1657. In April 1540, during the reign of [[Charles I of England]], Robert Lytham carried out some measuring of Sholver moor.<ref name="County of Lanc">{{cite book |last=Brownbill|first=J|author2=William Farrer |title=A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5|publisher=Victoria County History|year=1911|pages=92–108|isbn=978-0-7129-1055-2}}</ref>

As [[cotton mill]]ing was introduced in the 18th century, the [[cottage industry]] of Sholver declined, and instead became an important source of [[coal]] which was growing in demand.<ref name="St Thom"/> James Butterworth claimed that "the [[Economy of Manchester|Manchester market]] seems to prefer the coal dug in this parish before that of any other." As early as 1791 Edmund Kershaw of Sholver was a known collier, though some of the early [[coal mine]]s in the area-bell or beehive pits-date back as early as 1542.<ref name="St Thom"/>

The most profound development of modern Sholver began in May 1966.<ref name="St Thom"/> The [[County Borough of Oldham|Oldham County Borough Council]] began construction on its huge Sholver housing estates on what had been farm pastureland.<ref name="St Thom"/> On elevated land, some {{convert|1000|ft|m|0}} above sea level, the council aimed to provide nearly 1,700 dwellings.<ref name="St Thom"/> This increase in population has changed Sholver in its character from a cluster of houses sheltering under the brow of a hill to a large [[council estate]].<ref name="St Thom"/> Sholver continues to have high numbers of [[public housing|social rented properties]].<ref name="A&S"/>

In 1998 plans to create, [[Sholver Millennium Green]] started to take place. Designation was driven by community projects which had to satisfy
a number of objectives, one of which was the inclusion of significant ‘natural’ areas
where people can enjoy nature and wildlife at first hand.
Like all past national commemorative programmes (e.g. the Waterloo Churches, and
the planting of trees to celebrate the Jubilees of Queen Victoria), the [[Millennium Greens]]
are about defining the present in order to create the heritage of the future. [[Sholver Millennium Green]] was created as part of a national programme of celebrations at
the turn of the Millennium.

==Governance==
Lying within the [[Historic counties of England|historic county boundaries]] of [[Lancashire]] [[History of Lancashire|since the early 12th century]], Sholver was recorded in 1212 as being one of five parts of the [[thegn]]age estate of Kaskenmoor, which was held on behalf of [[John of England|King John]] by [[Roger de Montbegon]] and William de Nevill.<ref name="Oldham 100"/><ref name="County of Lanc"/> The other parts of this estate were [[Shaw and Crompton|Crompton]], [[Glodwick]], [[Oldham]], and [[Werneth, Greater Manchester|Werneth]].<ref name="Ballard">{{cite book | last=Ballard |first=Elsie |title=A Chronicle of Crompton |publisher=Burnage Press Limited| location= [[Royton]] |year= 1986 |orig-year=1967 |isbn= 5-00-096678-3 |edition= 2nd }}</ref> Sholver would later form part of the [[township (England)|township]] of Oldham within the ancient ecclesiastical parish of [[Prestwich-cum-Oldham]], in the [[Salford (hundred)|hundred of Salford]].<ref name= "County of Lanc"/><ref name="GM Gazetteer">{{cite web |url=http://www.gmcro.co.uk/Guides/Gazeteer/gazzs.htm |title=Greater Manchester Gazetteer|publisher=Greater Manchester County Record Office|access-date=23 June 2008|at=Places names - S|archive-date=18 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718144349/http://www.gmcro.co.uk/Guides/Gazeteer/gazzs.htm}}</ref>

The Sholver estate archaically covered a wide area and included areas such as [[Watersheddings]], Barrowshaw and Counthill lying south of the modern Sholver housing development.<ref>http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lancs/vol5/pp92-108 |The Parish of Prestwich with Oldham |Retrieved 7 December 2016</ref>

==Sholver Millennium Green==
Sholver Millennium Green<ref>''https://www.oldham.gov.uk/downloads/file/1149/oldham_rochdale_hmr_pathfinder_heritage_assessment_-_alt''SholverFinalReport,March2008,P45</ref> is one of 245 Millennium Greens, around England created at the Turn of the Millennium- is owned and run by a local charity as a public greenspace. This is one of the largest [[Millennium Greens]], at 25 acres and is an attractive countryside escape for the people of the nearby council estates etc.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZvKnjZnGjk | title=Oldham Energy Stories | Episode 3: Destination Sholver | website=[[YouTube]] | date=25 August 2022 }}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO6r8wLuiPg | title=Oldham Energy Stories | Episode 2: The Millennium Green | website=[[YouTube]] | date=16 June 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title=Sholver Travel Futures {{!}} Oldham | url=https://www.facebook.com/SholverTravelFutures | access-date=2025-01-01 | website=www.facebook.com}}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:From Sholver Towards Buckstones Shaw Oldham.JPG|thumb|right|A view from Sholver down the [[River Beal|Beal Valley]], towards [[Shaw and Crompton]].]]
At {{coord|53|33|57.9|N|2|4|29.1|W|type:city}} (53.566097, -2.074748), Sholver stands on a steep hillside, about {{convert|1000|ft|m|1}} above [[sea level]], {{convert|2.1|mi|km|1}} northeast of Oldham's commercial centre, nearly at the northeasternmost extremity of the town. [[Saddleworth]] and the [[South Pennines]] are close to the east. The [[River Beal]] lies in the valley below to the west, and beyond this, [[Royton]] and [[Shaw and Crompton]]. [[Moorside, Oldham|Moorside]] is a [[suburb]]an area contiguous with Sholver's east. Sholver lies on the eastern edge of the [[Greater Manchester Urban Area]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/census2001/ks_urban_north_part_5.pdf|title=Census 2001:Key Statistics for urban areas in the North; Map 3|author=Office for National Statistics|author-link=Office for National Statistics|publisher=statistics.gov.uk|access-date=13 September 2007|year=2001|archive-date=9 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070109141715/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/census2001/ks_urban_north_part_5.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Archaism|Archaic]] localities in and around Sholver include Sholvermoor and Sholver Slack.

==References==
{{Reflist|1}}

{{Areas of Oldham}}

{{Geographic Location
|title = '''Neighbouring localities.'''
|Northwest = [[Shaw and Crompton]]
|North = [[Shaw and Crompton]]
|Northeast = Grains Bar
|West =Beal Valley
|Centre =Sholver
|East = [[Moorside, Greater Manchester|Moorside]]
|Southwest =[[Derker]]
|South = [[Watersheddings]]
|Southeast = Strinesdale
}}

[[Category:Areas of Oldham]]