Clue 5

Clue 5 – QR Code info – Bun Bun Barry

This little bunny was named after Barry, the church warden. Barry kindly gave his time to give us a very insightful tour of the church  - and also of this bridewell you are stood in front of!

A bridewell is a small prison - and there was a time when this one was the only one around for miles in this area. Can you imagine the stories this building could tell?! A bridewell has been right here for almost 1000 years and this one still has three prison cells inside! Two of them are used as a kitchen and a bathroom now though – and you’ll notice it is still used by the police as a community base.

Also, did you know that three-day-long celebrations would come to Farnworth each October from around 1714, 300 years ago? The whole of Farnworth Street (which used to be called Church Street) would have been packed with stalls and people. Some old practices that would not seem at all appropriate to us today, would have happened too. These were bear-baiting and bull-baiting. A man would have stood in the church tower and rang the church bells as they seen the bear arriving in the distance, brought by its owner, to make the crowds of fair-goers cheer. The bear would have been kept in a small cottage called Bear Hall near this side of the church before the bear-baiting took place.