Tintwistle Memorial Stone

I have just returned from a couple of weeks camping near Cambridge. Nothing of great importance to note. Upon my return I was pleased to track down and see for myself the marker stone (shown above) which is set in the wall next to the busy A628 just outside Tintwistle. The text of the stone reads "BURNED DOWN. TWO CHILDREN BURNT TO DEATH AGED 3 AND 5 YEARS. AUGUST 17, 1853." The tragic incident was reported in the Manchester Guardian on the 26th August of that year. Apparently the two children were alone in the thatched hut where the family lived, their father had gone out to work, their mother was weeding a patch of potatoes close by. When she saw the hut enveloped in smoke, she tried to go in for the children but was unable to save them and the roof fell in. The two children were buried in one coffin. At the inquest which took place at the Black Bull Tintwistle, the jury returned a verdict of accidental death but stating that there had been gross neglect. The marker stone is well known to Tintwistle residents particularly the older ones but the background story was brought to my attention in the book "Reservoirs in the Hills" by Tom Quayle. The book tells the fascinating story of the construction of the reservoirs in the Longdendale Valley but is now out of print.