Winter Hill

Winter Hill stands at the meeting point of Chorley, Blackburn with Darwen and Bolton in North West England. It rises on Rivington Moor, part of the West Pennine Moors, and reaches 456 metres above sea level. The hill is known for its wide views across Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester. A TV mast and several communication towers crown the summit, sending signals across the region. The summit also holds a trig point marking the highest point in Blackburn with Darwen. Two Bronze Age burial mounds lie near the peak, one excavated in 1958 by the University of Manchester. The hill’s history includes mining, air disasters and a 19th-century murder. In 1838 a Scottish merchant named George Henderson was shot and killed while walking from Horwich to Blackburn. A monument called Scotsman’s Stump was raised in 1912 to mark the spot. Over two dozen aircraft have crashed on or near Winter Hill, including a 1942 American Fairchild UC-61 and a 1958 Silver City Freighter that killed 35 people. A memorial plaque honours the 1943 Wellington bomber crew who died nearby. Visitors reach the summit along paths from Belmont, Rivington, Horwich or Blackrod. The top offers views of Manchester city centre, the Pennines and even Blackpool Tower on clear days. Two large cairns stand on the south-west ridge, linked to local legends of two lost boys and a Saxon king named Edgar. The moorland also bears traces of a 2018 wildfire that burned 18 square kilometres and took 41 days to control. Footpaths and bridleways cross the hillside, part of a landscape shaped by rights of way won after a 1896 mass trespass led by 10,000 walkers.