THIS fascinating home was not actually a castle but so named because its owner, Richard Brownlow, built turrets on it.

The house stood proudly on the moors above Horwich for many years before being demolished.

Although there has been much debate about its demise, local history buff and former Bolton Evening News reporter Brian Smith says the notion it was demolished as it was a target for German bombers during World War Two is not correct.

A Bolton Evening News, or Bolton Journal, cutting Brian has explains what happened.

“Rockhaven Castle was built in 1840 and enlarged by the addition of towers in 1881.

“Its best known tenant was Richard Brownlow who died in 1899 aged 87.

“In later years the castle lay empty because it was expensive to maintain due to its exposed position and because its position, on a watershed, prevented the land being farmed.

“Blackrod Council negotiated in 1940 for its use as a youth hostel but the building was bought by a quarry company who demolished it in May 1942.”

We know that Rockhaven Castle was once used as a farm house and the land around it farmed as reader Peter Fox recalled in a recent edition of Looking Back how his mother and her family had lived there and her father had been a farmer.

Perhaps the land eventually became impossible to farm and could that be why Peter’s family moved? That is a mystery Peter has never managed to solve.