Residents to commemorate 1826 Weavers uprising this month

On Sunday, April 28, a crowd will gather at Chatterton Peace Park to remember the 1826 Chatterton Massacre and the Weavers Uprising, which saw textile workers travel across the West Pennines and Rossendale in protest of extreme poverty and starvation.

The weavers, who worked for low wages and lived in poverty, rebelled against the mill owners and Conservative government across four days in 1826 in an effort to improve living and working conditions.

Workers from across East Lancashire joined the uprising, and the resulting massacre saw at least six people shot dead and many more injured by soldiers supressing the rebellion.

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Thousands protested in Oswaldtwistle, Blackburn, Helmshore, Edenfield, Bury and the outskirts of Chorley and nearly 1,100 mechanised power looms were destroyed.

Following the uprising, 69 protesters were prosecuted and 41 were given the death penalty. Some later had their sentence commuted to imprisonment and 10 were sent to Australia.

Last year's commemoration at Chatterton Peace Park (Image: Weavers Uprising Bicentennial Committee)

Ahead of the 198th anniversary of the uprising, Dr David Scott, chair of the Weavers Uprising Bicentennial Committee, said the uprising had been "lost to history" but it was one of the decade's most significant events.

He said: “The weavers uprising is a very important event in the history of Lancashire.

"It deserves to be remembered, both for the courage of the protestors to make a stand, but also to acknowledge the woefully inadequate response of the government to their plight.

"They were met with steel and bullets rather than bread and opportunities to live a dignified life.

"What happened across the four days of the uprising was a tragedy, only equalled by the tragic avoidable and premature deaths of thousands of people in its aftermath because the people were left without work, food, or the basic means to survive.

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"The uprising leaves a scar upon the beautiful landscape of Pennine Lancashire and the descendants of those killed or sacrificed in the interests of laissez-faire capitalism should have the opportunity to pay their respects to their ancestors.

"We hope that the commemorations this year, which aim to shine a spotlight on the events and correct popular misinterpretations about the motives of the protestors, will be an important steppingstone as we collectively work with heritage sites and other key partners across Pennine Lancashire for the 200th Anniversary networked events in two years’ time.”

At 10am on Sunday commemorations will take place at Chatterton Peace Park starting with a performance by The True Levellers Samba band marching down Chatterton Old Lane.

It will be followed by more music, historical readings as well as the naming of those who died and a wreath-laying ceremony.