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What Lies Beneath
Part3... Mixing Sand with Water
Read part 1... info on the superficial geology of Prestwich
Surface pits have been used for centuries to gather naturally occurring minerals. A mix of limestone and clay called marl was a locally occurring and dug up to be spread on the fields to improve the fertility of the land.
These superficial deposits mask the underlying bed rock geology (mentioned in part 2). The youngest bedrocks date from the Triassic Period 252-201mya, the oldest of the bedrocks date from the Carboniferous period (359 to 299 mya).
Locally, if your tried to sink a well into the sandstones beneath Prestwich, first you would have to dig through the 10-200m of glacial deposited sand/gravel/clay/boulders and shore it all up so it doesn't fall in the well. So pick a place where the deposits are shallow !
During construction of the original OLOG church on Fairfax Rd in 1890-91, a layer of quick-sand was encountered and foundations had to be pulled down and rebuilt on solid ground once the sand had been removed. A man was also employed 24/7 to pump water off the site causing the northern foundations to take 10 weeks to construct. Read more about OLOG
As described above, more easily than tapping in to the sandstone aquifer, you could sink a shallower well into a clay deposit that is trapping water a lot closer to the surface. The below map shows the locations of recorded wells from the 19th century.
The Heaton Park Reservoir was also affected by the last Ice Age and has a "dint" on its Northern side, constructed to avoid the underlying glacial deposits.
In some cases you can just sit back and the water will come to you. Sometimes an underlying layer of clay can catch rain water and artificially raise the water level, which is normally below the ground, so that the water appears at ground level as a spring. This could happen on a slope (like we see in Barnfield Park) or in a dip (like we see in St Mary's flower park). Long standing springs become watercourses and join up with others to become streams, and cause erosion of the glacial deposits giving us the Cloughs that we know in Prestwich today. Many springs, streams and ponds/lodges have since been culverted or drained for housing etc. Some of the ponds were natural, some had been constructed or dammed and our ongoing demands and urbanisation also have had an impact on the water around Prestwich.
After the last Ice Age, and more recently with the impact of humanity, everything is really still moving about. For example the stream that gave us Carr Clough is now just a trickle. The previous course of the river Irwell is indicated by the slopes and ponds in Drinkwater Park. The ponds are now fed by the diverted streams from Prestwich Clough and Spring Vale. A weir had been constructed on the Irwell (after the purchase of land on the Salford side of the river - which then became part of Prestwich), in order to raise the level of the river and supply a Corn Mill on the Prestwich side in Drinkwater Park. Additionally damming of the streams in Drinkwater in Tudor times was performed to create the ponds and provide a reliable supply of water to the mill that has long since gone.
In 1896, a storm in Prestwich caused the pond at the Rectory<>/a> in what is now St Mary's Park to burst it's dam and flooded Prestwich Clough.The remaining "Dingle" was later used as a rifle range, before being filled in to construct the playing field we know today.
A Summer thunderstorm in 1872 caused flooding of the fields damaging crops and haystacks at Simister and a torrent washed away 70 yards of Heaton Park Wall as it headed down Bridle Lane down towards the Three Arrows Inn. Fifty yards (45m) of the Park wall lower down was also washed away, the Inn was flooded and a 12foot deep hole was eroded away threatening the stability of Middleton Road. Two reservoirs in the park breached and washed away sheep, walls and hedges, the lower section of the park and Middleton Rd were washed away or left submerged.
Two major features of Prestwich for decades have been the reservoirs of Butterstile and Heaton park. In 1862, to help meet the demands of the Industrial Revolution, permission was granted for the building of a reservoir at Butterstile to be fed from the reservoir at Godley, Near Hyde, East of Manchester.
Then in 1884 plans were drawn up to expand Butterstile with a second reservoir and connect it to the Thirlmere Aqueduct. The Thirlmere Aqueduct (constructed between 1890 and 1925) crosses the Irwell at Agecroft bridge and ran up Rainsough Brow and along Butterstile Lane. This reservoir has since been removed and replaced with housing.
The pump station itself is made from Yorkshire sandstone, with Westmorland greenstone. The relief mural was designed by Mitzi Cunliffe, who is best known for her design of the BAFTA gold mask statue, and is designed to be viewed from the pavement below and beneath the carving are five plaques that tell the history of the Haweswater supply. Hidden from public view, the interior is fully lined in beige marble, with contrasting green marble skirting continued as door surround. Behind the Cunliffe mural is a wood relief section in sycamore depicting the 82 mile route of the pipe with other joinery made from teak.
Repair and improvement works to the Aqueduct are due to start in 2025, 70 years after the original aqueduct was completed. With no work planned in Prestwich, the reservoir itself having been drained and re-lined in 2022 to address concerns about erosion of the underlying soil affecting the clay lining, it now has a 3.5m lower water level when full. You can see the Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme (H.A.R.P.) plans here
Heaton Park reservoir no longer provides drinking water to Manchester, but it is used to handle water used in the routine maintenance of the aqueducts around Greater Manchester. It is known for its wintering wildfowl such as tufted duck, goldeneye, goosander and common teal, and also gulls.
Please note: all diagrams are approximate, do not sell, purchase or worry about what is under your house based on this info !
Read part 2... info on the bedrock geology of Prestwich
The drift deposits (mentioned in part 1), glacial and fluvial deposits of clay, sand and gravel, have been used by locals for centuries. The map below shows the 18-19th century surface pits used to gather sand, clay and gravel. The clay would have supplied the local brick works (also shown).
Local Historian Peter Corbally traces such activity back to the 15th century:
the marriage agreement of Thomas Langley and Margaret Assheton in 1412 included a field called le Marleherth ( Agecroft Deed No.60 ) [Old English "herth" means "earth"]. In 1520 Robert Langley, Lord of Prestwich and Alkrington, only agreed to the enclosure of Tonge Moor ( Middleton ) provided he was guaranteed access to the marl pits on the moor ( Agecroft Deed No. 102 ).
A lot of these pits will have filled with water, especially if they were clay pits, and now appear as ponds.
The most recent surface pit was at Rainsough where the hill top was removed for the construction of the M62 and housing has now been constructed.
The Permian-Triassic sandstones underneath the region form the second most important aquifer (underground water store) in the UK, supplying approximately 25% of licensed groundwater abstractions in England and Wales. This aquifer provides groundwater sources for a large number of industrial users, agriculture and leisure activity e.g. golf courses as well as public water supply. Total licensed abstractions from the Permo-Triassic Sandstone are of the order of 26 000 Ml per year. The aquifer also provides an essential source of base flow to maintain river flow, and supplies the Manchester Ship Canal.
Map showing thickness of superficial geology (deposits) Red upto 240m thick, Green less than 10m.
The old and new OLOG Chapels
Read more about the site of the Tudor Water Mill
Both Prestwich Cloughs have been channelled around the turn of the 19-20th century, but over a hundred years later the streams have since broken out to find their own ways again.
With demands still increasing, the Haweswater Aqueduct was constructed between 1935 and 1955 and comes in to Prestwich from the direction of Unsworth. This feeds the 31.4 hectare Heaton Park Reservoir. The Heaton Park reservoir had been constructed in 1928 and was originally connected to the Thirlmere Aqueduct. The floor of the reservoir is sealed by a clay blanket which is protected by granite stone revetment. There is an extensive drainage system under the clay blanket to prevent the groundwater within the underlying deposits from causing damage.
The Heaton Park Reservoir's pump station along Heywood Road is Grade II Listed and home to a piece of modern art that pays tribute to the construction of the 72 mile long aqueduct that has supplied Cumbria, Lancashire and Greater Manchester with water for 70 years. The aqueduct cost £14,000,000 and was constructed between 1933 and 1955.
UU Video of original workings and the required maintenance work
