This was the address given for James Ball, Hannah Maria Fogg, and their children Lucy and Henry at the time of the 1851 census. The location on Red Rock Lane is not identified in the census records. The property may have been a farmhouse as James gave his occupation as “Farmer of 3 acres.” It is likely that Hannah Maria Fogg died at this residence two years later in May 1853, however her place of death was registered only as Haigh. By the time of the 1861 census James and his son, Henry, had moved just up the road to Blundle’s Fold in Blackrod.
Circa 1851 Red Rock Row ran east from Chorley Road to a bridge over the Leeds & Liverpool Canal where the name changed to Red Rock Lane. The road continued east for about ½ mile until it divided at a fork into School Lane and (what is now) Meadow Pit Lane. Based on the census taker’s route the home of James and his family was likely either at Glassbrooke or Ainsworths, two farms shown on the 1850 ordinance survey map. At either location this residence was only a few hundred metres from Heywood’s and Arrowsmith where James resided in 1841 and where his parents and other family members were residing in 1851.
Red Rock Lane has largely survived in name and location for the past 160 years. The short stretch that was formerly called Red Rock Row is now also known as Red Rock Lane.