THE complex has a fascinating history dating back to 1872 when the Revd Thomas Bowman Stephenson a Methodist minister in London was contacted by a wealthy Bolton mill owner James Barlow in reply to an advert placed in the Methodist Recorder.

James a staunch Methodist and temperance advocate, had purchased a run-down inn on the moorland above the village of Edgworth. He donated it, with 80 acres of surrounding land plus £5,000, so that Stephenson could open the first NCH children's home outside London.

Barlow saw his gift as two fold; in buying the Wheatsheaf Inn, not only would he be helping the abandoned children who had been living on the streets of London, but he would be ridding Edgworth village of a den of iniquity. The inn had a reputation for Sunday drinking, dog fighting, cock fighting and rat baiting.

Revd Stephenson had made it his mission to rescue these forgotten children and his dream was to provide a home for them, away from the negative influences to be found on the streets of London at that time He wanted a place where the children could breathe “God’s fresh air” and be taught new skills to equip them for a better future.

The first party of 24 children arrived with Alfred Mager, the first governor of Edgworth Home on April 17, 1872.

That was the beginning of a children’s home that later became Crowthorn Special Needs Residential School in the 1940s.

Later at Crowthorn School the house staff would be social care workers providing a caring environment for each child as an individual within a family unit.

It closed in 2002.

Shirley Anne Field made an emotional return to Bolton in 2009 to share her experiences growing up in there and was the guest of honour at an event to celebrate the 140th anniversary of the National Children’s Home charity.

Shirley Anne lived at the home with her brother after being evacuated from London during the Second World War.