The name Moses Gate comes from the joining of two words, one a corruption of the word mosses meaning peaty or marshy lands,
and gate is from the Old English gata meaning a way across, so we have the way though the mosses
The alternate name of Crompton Lodges comes from the lakes which were mill ponds or lodges supplying water to Cromptons Paper Mills.
There are three lodges, one is reserved for fishing, one for water sports such as canoeing and the third is a nature reserve for migratory birds and other wildlife.
To the east of the lodges is one of the few sections of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal that is still in water.
The land between is reclaimed from old mine workings, one of which was Farnworth Bridge Collieries.
The weir was constructed in the River Croal to provide a water supply for Crompton's Paper Mill.
Rock Hall is the visitor centre and the headquarters of the park's rangers.
The area has seen several uses as an industrial site, at Moses Gate, one of the earliest paper mills in Lancashire was built by the Crompton family in Farnworth.
The site at Farnworth was influential in the manufacture and the development of papermaking, the first work being started by Robert Crompton (1667–1737).
Crompton was the first in a line of men of paper.
Thomas Bonsor could well be called the first papermaking tycoon and his mill at Farnworth became a showpiece for the craft,
he died on 5 September 1858 and was buried in St. John's Churchyard, Farnworth.
The first steam weaving mill was opened in 1828 by James Rothwell Barnes, later becoming a spinning mill.
The mill at Farnworth passed to William James Rideout who continued the tradition of making paper until the great depression of 1883 when the mill closed.
In 1894, the mill was reopened as a bleach works by J.B. Champion but a few years later the mill once again stood empty.
The area fell into ruin and it was not until the mill was finally demolished in 1972, that there was interest in the area as a place of recreation.
Over the next decade the site was cleared and Rock Hall was transformed from a derelict building into the current visitor centre.
All these caches are placed with children in mind, and may need some help but most will be easy and fun.
This cache is just past the meeting point where the frogs do their shopping and the cache box itself is their store room.
Due to lots of muggles destroying puzzle boxes, I have relocated this and it's now just a box