Saturday 25th October, 2008
The History of Elnup Wood
Elnup Wood fringes a modern housing estate to the north and east of Shevington. A stream, Millbrook, which marks the boundary between the ancient townships of Shevington and Standish, flows through the centre of the wood.
Elnup has been designated an "Ancient Woodland" by English Nature. This means that the land "has had continuous woodland cover since at least 1600 AD..."
This, however, is not true of all of the woodland.
In 1507 "Elnop" was the name, not of a woodland, but of a field. Also a document, from the early 18th century (see illustration) mentions a field of 4 acres called "Ellnop". (It must be pointed out that the "acre" used in the measurement of the area of the field was the local "Lord's measure" of 10,240 square yards – much larger than the "standard" acre of 4,840 square yards.)
The earlier spellings, "Elnop" and "Ellnop" suggest that the name was originally "Elrenhope", derived from two Old English words, "Elren" meaning "alders" and "hop" (pronounced "hope") meaning an enclosed valley.
By 1838 the field had been abandoned and a woodland had grown. This was named "the new Elnup Wood". The former field can still be distinguished from the original woodland by an abundance of silver birches - the first trees to colonise abandoned land.
The name is now applied to a larger area than just the original field. What the woodland was called in the 18th century is unclear. The document pictured opposite refers to it merely as “The Woods”. The area is given as "15 acres" ( about 33 acres in standard measure). The 19th century Ordnance Survey maps, however, mark "Mill Wood" to the north of Elnup.
It must be said here that local people know the area much better as "Mill-dam Wood", because a large mill-dam still stands there. It once stopped the flow of Mill Brook and generated a reservoir of water to power "Standish Hall Water Corn-mill". This manorial mill is first mentioned in the 14th century, although it probably dates back much further – water corn-mill technology originated at the beginning of the Christian era.
In the 1990s, Wigan Archaeological Society did a dig on the site and uncovered the kiln which was attached to the mill and used to dry the grain. They also found many kiln tiles, one of which dated back to the 16th century.
The mill closed in the late 1870s, and was later demolished, except for an attached cottage, which was still in existence in the 1950s.
From medieval times onwards, Elnup was in the hands of the Standish family. In 1921 the family estate was sold and the woodland fell into the hands of Harry Cook, a local landowner. In the 1950s the National Coal Board acquired it to use as a buffer zone between open cast mining operations to the east and Shevington village to the west.
On April 2nd, 1990, the wood was handed over to an environmental charity named "Groundwork", and it became a community woodland, looked after by "Groundwork" and a team of local people who function under the name of "The Friends of Elnup Wood".
Elnup or Mill-dam Wood is a great place to visit at any time of year, but it is especially beautiful in late April when the bluebells are out.
picutures of Mill-dam's bluebells
what Wikipedia says about Ancient Woodlands
An account of Wigan Archaeological Society's dig on Standish Hall Corn Mill