Spitlers Edge

Spitlers Edge is a hill above Anglezarke on one side and Belmont on the other.

A nice walk with recently renewed footpaths and sections paved with old flagstones from the regions former cotton mills. The real point-of-interest is in the name which is said to relate to the Knights Hospitaller who are known to have owned much land in the area, including nearby Smithills Hall.

The Knights Hospitallers, also known as the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, who were a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. They were headquartered in the Kingdom of Jerusalem until 1291, on the island of Rhodes from 1310 until 1522, in Malta from 1530 until 1798, and at Saint Petersburg from 1799 until 1801.

The Knights Hospitallers owned and administered extensive tracts of land throughout Europe, the Middle East, and later in the Americas, for centuries. It is conceivable that they might have owned land in or around Chorley, England, and this could potentially have influenced local place names.

Today Spitlers Edge is on a popular, moorland walking route following the old boundary over Winter Hill, Will Narr, Spitlers Edge, Redmonds Edge and on to Great Hill.