The Tootill Bridge Murder (1848)

When 49 year old, Joseph Schofield bid his farewells and left the Hare and Hounds public house just before midnight on Saturday, 30th September 1848, his walk back to his home at nearby Under th’ Shore would normally only take him around ten minutes, but on this particular evening perhaps a little longer as he was slightly intoxicated.

Making his way along Bury Road, Joseph headed towards Tootill Bridge which was only around two hundred yards from the public house. His house was a further sixty or eighty yards there-on from the bridge itself.

The bridge itself passed over a footpath that over the years the people of Breightmet had inadvertently made when making their way to and from their homes at Under th’ Shore, and it stands at around 39 feet high from the base of the footpath to the road at the top of the bridge.

Apart from the odd person lingering outside and close to the Hare and Hounds public house, the walk home was a quiet one for Joseph but one he had done so many occasions before.

But something transpired during the early hours of Sunday, 1st October that would ultimately end in tragedy for poor Joseph.