Waddow Weir
Waddow Weir is a historic structure on the River Ribble, located near Waddow Hall in Waddington, Clitheroe. It was originally built to divert water to a mill race that powered a cotton mill in Low Moor, Clitheroe. The mill, once a major employer, relied on this water source until its closure around 1930.
Low Moor cotton mill, which was owned by the Garnett family, who were also the owners of Waddow Hall. The mill was a significant part of the local industry in Clitheroe.
Today, Waddow Hall is a training and activity center, and the weir is a popular visitor attraction with footpaths nearby. An existing salmon ladder is installed, but there are plans to potentially add a fish pass to improve fish migration in the River Ribble.
The weir is located on the River Ribble, between Edisford Bridge and Brungerley Bridge, near Waddow Hall. The surrounding area is described as Undulating Lowland Farmland with Wooded Brooks and Valley Floodplain, according to the Forest of Bowland Landscape Character assessment.
View: https://youtu.be/ayAdBhJJI-k
Some additional history:
In 1777, local girl, Jane Briggs of Pendleton, married Thomas Weddell of Waddow Hall. Thomas was many years her senior and disliked the solitude of life alone. Thomas had previously written to his cousin at Newby Hall, Ripon, in North Yorkshire,to ask if he could purchase Waddow from him, due to his impending marriage. After the purchase he more than doubled the size of Waddow by adding the Georgian frontage we see today.
Just after completion in 1785, Thomas unfortunately died, leaving the whole estate to Jane, for her lifetime. Unfortunately too, for Jane, she also inherited a large debt. Unperturbed, she set about running the estate which she managed to do for her whole life. She remarried in 1793 and became Jane Clarke.
By 1812, she was again a widow, but this time she moved out of Waddow into nearby Brungerley cottages, so that she could lease the Hall.
During this time the Garnett family, mill owners at Low Moor, were renting the rights to the weir on the Ribble, to protect their cotton manufacturing business. In 1831 Jeremiah Garnett also leased the Hall, where his son resided for a short time. The indenture for this transaction hangs in the Hall. It Is signed by both Jane Clarke and Jeremiah Garnett, thus proving this remarkable woman was still managing the estate almost 50 years after the death of her first husband, Thomas.
Not long after her death the newly married James Garnett, moved into Waddow Hall where he raised his 10 children and lived there very happily until his death, in 1912.
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