Stoodley Pike neat Todmorden (Watts and Walker)

Almost universally, the design of the second Stoodley Pike is attributed to James Green (qv), said to have been won in an architectural competition determined on 1 June 1854. However, contemporary reports of this meeting published in the Manchester Guardian and Halifax Courier on 3 June 1854 give Watts and Walker (qv) of Manchester as the winning architects. FurtherThe Halifax Courier of 14 August 1854 reported a visit to the site by the re-building committee together with the “architect from Manchester.” More research is required to determine the veracity of the competing claims.

Situated near Lumbutts, above Todmorden on the route of the Pennine Way. Standing 1,300 feet (396.2 m) above sea level, and at a physical height of 120 feet (36.57 m), the first monument was 113 feet (34.44 m) high. Stoodley Pike was built in 1814 to commemorate the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Samuel Greenwood, Thomas Sutcliffe and Richard Ingham were granted permission to erect a monument to celebrate peace in Great Britain on 22nd September 1814 at the Golden Lion Inn, Stones. On the afternoon of 8 February 1854 this first monument collapsed. Coincidentally, that same afternoon the Russia Ambassador left London before the declaration of war with Russia.

FALL OF A "PEACE" PILLAR - AN OMEN OF WAR - On Wednesday week, between five and six o'clock p.m. the inhabitants of Langfield, Lancashire, were startled by a loud rumbling noise resembling the falling of rocks or a large pile of buildings. It was found that the pillar, or monument, erected on the height of Stoodley Pike, about forty years since, in commemoration of peace, had fallen nearly to the bottom! This monument, which was about 40 yards high, had steps winding round it from bottom to top, Thence might be seen the country round far forty or fifty miles. It was commenced in 1814, and finished next year. A few years since it was struck by lightning, which cracked the walls in several places. [Builder 25 February 1854 page 104]

RE-ERECTION OF STOODLEY PIKE NEAR TODMORDEN - The public will remember that Stoodley Pike, sometimes called the Pillar of Peace, which was built to commemorate the short peace of 1814, being in fact, completed after the peace in 1815, was blown down during a violent storm on 8th February last. Much public interest existing on the point, a subscription list was opened to effect a restoration of the column. A public meeting was held at the Golden Lion, Todmorden, on Thursday last to decide, amongst other things, which of the designs submitted to them should be adopted. The chair was taken by John Fielden Esq. The choice fell upon the design of Messrs Watt and Walker, architects, Manchester. It was desirable to obtain a design which was suitable in itself to commemorate an event of great national importance, and which should suit the peculiar situation of the Pike. The site is on a barren moor, close to the edge of the declivity sloping down into the picturesque vale of Todmorden, remote from houses, and affording to the edifice built thereon an excellent view, both from the valley beneath and from many points beyond the sweeping moorland. The requirements of this peculiar situation are considered to have been very successfully met by the accepted design, of which the following is a description. The design for the new erection consists of a rusticated basement, flanked by buttresses, above which rises a balustrade and gallery, 40 feet above the level of the ground. This gallery is approached by a circular staircase, in the interior of the structure, and the whole surmounted by a square shaft, diminishing upwards in the obelisk form. The entire height will be 120 feet or 40 yards, exceeding that of the old Pike by three yards. The characteristics of the design are solidity and simplicity. [Manchester Guardian 3 June 1854 page 7]

Reference    Manchester Guardian 15 February 1854 page 5 - Collapse of Stoodley Pike Todmorden
Reference    Builder 25 February 1854 page 104
Reference    Manchester Guardian 3 June 1854 page 7
Reference    Halifax Courier 3 June 1854 page 5
Reference    Halifax Courier 14 August 1854 page 5