Wigan Album

A New Springs lad told me that it was built has a bull pen and used to calm bulls down.
He said he used to sneak in at night with his girl friend, but he said it never calmed him down.

It looks to be octagonal.

Rev David, I remember this building being erected sometime in the early 60s. As I remember Bob Marsden, the then owner, used it to keep young calf's in, away from the risk of injury by older cattle. It was never anything to do with a mill. Mick saying someone sneaked in at night ! hmmmm, not unless you were prepared to put up with the awful smell that was always present. It is sad though to see it as it is, the Marsden's always had a thriving farming business going and as a lad I often helped out on one or other of their farms.

Thanks for solving the mystery, wigginlad. Perhaps it was built with old bricks - they look more than 60 years old (funny, typing that - I was a teenager in the 60s... I suddenly felt my age!). Farmer Marsden obviously had a bit of taste - to build such an elaborate building for a mundane purpose such as a calf-pen.
As I said, the place doesn't look anything like this now - look it up on Google Earth - but I don't think it's been restored very sympathetically.

I lived on Ivy Brow from 1963 to 1981 and remember seeing the young calves in there. Bob Marsden delivered our milk and sometimes when I was about 8 or 10 years old I was sent to the farm to get more, I remember Mrs Marsden coming taking an age to come to the door and when she opened it, it was like opening a freezer it was sold cold in there. Happy days though.