15 replies to this topic

[HORT]

Has anyone been to Hangman’s Wood? It is not far from King’s Moss about half a mile in some fields heading roughly north. I am not sure where the boundary actually is, but I think it is within St Helens Borough.
What I am curious about, is how it got its name and what is it like inside the wood. Has Archie been there on his travels and taken photos?
Any information would be welcome

[Alan]

It can't be of any great antiquity as it's not named on a 1910 Ordnance Survey map I have

[Le200]

It's marked on the 1853ish map.

[HORT]

Alan, if you go to http://www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html
it is marked on the maps for 1849,1892,1894,1908,1909,1928,1938,1955,1960, 1967 and 1982. So it has been there for quite some time.

[Alan]

Is that the one by Fir Tree Farm?

I'm awaiting an eye operation later this month and am struggling a little with small print until then

[HORT]

No Alan, its right at the top of the map above, at the right hand side.
If you go to view, then zoom, you can increase the size of everything on the screen.

[Le200]

Alan, left click the map above and then right click it and 'Save As'
Save it to your PC and then double click it to open the file.
You can then use the CTRL key and either your mouse wheel or the + - keys to zoom in and out.

[Alan]

Found it without needing to zoom. I was looking much closer to Kings Moss. The wood isn't named at all on my old hard-copy OS map

[Olliebeak]

It can be seen very clearly on Google Earth - the shape is identical, so it's still there.

Maybe somebody with contacts in Billinge Local History Group can find out the what/who/why of it?

[Clancy]

As far as I can remember I think the rumour was that the woods were the hiding place of a Highwayman

[SWIMMER]

wow very historic and cool think I played in them when I was a kid when I visited by Aunt at Crannk.

[billlingecelt]

Ive been pondering 'Hangmans wood'meself and think it might be quite old , quite old in that it is older than the pheasant plantations dotted round our town.Its very close to 'Robin Lane'(now a footpath in parts a quagmire,from what ive seen on the O.S. map the road seems to go around the boundary of land surrounding the delapidated 15th century building.Whether the name itself bares any credence to any actual hangings i doubt,but that area in particular is one of the oldest parts of BIllinge (Billinge hall close by) and somebody got hung somewhere on the Lords land so who knows???

[Phyll]

Billingecelt, to Connect. Thanks for the interesting posts. I hope you enjoy Connect, lots of stuff on here.

[billlingecelt]

Thanks Phyll ive actually been a member for 4years its just i forgot my piggin username and to add insult to injury my email so ere i am and old newbie lol.Its great to see so many topics and enthusiasm since i was last on,ive got some good n's' up me sleeve lookin forward to sharing and learning .Its funny how the Roman buffs in the town keep a clandestine lid on the few(and there are a few)bits of roman evidence ;)Anyway nice to be back on board

[HORT]

Hi there Billingecelt, your posts are really welcome and interesting.

Your last post is one such.

What do you mean by "Roman buffs" and "Roman evidence"?