Moses Gate Country Park takes it's name from a nearby
junction on what was originally the main road from Salford to Bolton.
The Country Park itself was created in the 1980's around what were known as the Crompton
Lodges.These were essentially Mill Lodges serving primarily the Farnworth Paper Mill which dated back to 1674.
This was owned and run by various members of the
Crompton Family (hence the name). The Crompton Family built Rock Hall which is now the Visitor Centre for the Park.
At the end of the 19th Century the Paper Mill became the Farnworth Bleachery.
Other enterprises which existed within this area of the Park were
the Great Lever Chemical Works owned by John Smith Jnr which made sulphuric acid and soda, (closed 1935),
and the Hall Works of E.P.Potter. Opened in 1870 this works
made dichromates which were used in tanning, dyes and chromium plating.
It was demolished in 1969 leaving a heavily polluted site which has since been cleaned up and landscaped.
Also within the site were assorted sewage works which have been removed.
Below is an extract from a 1927 map of the area showing some of the features just mentioned.
These are a collection of photographs of how the area now looks.
This road was turnpiked in the the middle of the 18th Century and there was a Toll Bar at Moses Gate
and one can imagine that the man who collected the tolls was called Moses.





