Evidence is present of a working floor from shelters in the Mesolithic period and flint implements found, dated to 8th millennium BC.

[6][7] Pikestones, a Neolithic chambered cairn, the only one in Lancashire, has an internal burial chamber with evidence of the original entrance and Round Loaf, a Neolithic to late-Bronze Age tumulus which can be seen from the route across Great Hill from White Coppice are scheduled monuments on Anglezarke Moor.

Albert Grelley gave two oxgangs of land to Robert de Lathom for an annual rent of 3 shillings.

[5] In 1298 Sir Robert Fitzhenry, Lord of Lathom gifted land as perpetual alms to Burscough Priory who earned income from rents, a confirmation charter was granted by Henry V in 1422.

Richard Rainshaw Rothwell owned freehold on meadow at tithe 12, occupied by Mary Pilkington of Stones House.

Percival Sumner Mayhew bought the Standish share in 1898 and held rights to shoot game at the common near White and Black Coppice during his lifetime.

[22] At the turn of the 20th century Liverpool Corporation acquired a large part of the land to protect the Rivington water supply and many properties were demolished, leaving only one or two working farms.

The remains of Lower and Higher Hempshaw's, farms inhabited by the Kershaws in the 19th century, are located by a tributary of the River Yarrow which is 300 metres to the southwest.

The property got its water from Green Withins Brook, a tributary of the River Yarrow and after being taken over by Liverpool Corporation was occupied by the Chairman of Horwich Urban District Council in 1928–29.

Shorrocks was occupied by Abel Pilkington until his death in 1888; its ruins are by the bridge at White Coppice ponds at the north end of the reservoir.

There is considerable archaeological evidence of Roman presence in the neighbouring areas, it is believed lead was first mined during that time.

[28] After his death, his widow claimed the profits but lost the resultant court case and flooded the mines by diverting a stream.

Production ended in 1837[29] when a lease, granted by Frank Hall Standish in 1824 to John Thompson of Wigan, Ironmaster[30] was relinquished and the unsuccessful enterprise was abandoned.

[31][32] Lead Mines Clough had numerous shafts up to 240 feet deep and on the site was a smelting mill, a smithy and a waterwheel provided power.

[33] There are remains of bell pits at Dean Brook and spoil heaps containing traces of barites, calcite and galena.

[32] Josiah Wedgwood used it to manufacture Jasper ware[26] and tried to keep the source secret, but after a visit in 1782 by two Frenchmen, a local farmer, James Smithells, exported the mineral to Germany, charging five guineas per ton.

[34][36] Leicester Mill Quarry, a major contributor to the economy in the 19th century[31] producing gritstone flags, stone setts and kerbs for paving the streets of the industrialised towns.

[39] Another small mill was built on the bank of the River Yarrow at the end of Bradley Wood of which no trace remains.

Construction of the Yarrow Reservoir designed by Liverpool's Borough Engineer, Thomas Duncan, began in 1867.

[41] The plane was piloted by Flight Sergeant Joseph B Timperon of the RAAF, with the other fatalities being the RAF Sergeants Eric R Barnes (airbomber), Joseph B Hayston (airgunner), Robert S Jackson (navigator), George E Murray (navigator) and Matthew Mouncey (airgunner).

Each year on Remembrance Sunday, a service is held at the Wellington Bomber Memorial at Lead Mines Clough, next to Limestone Brook.

[44] Until the early 19th century, Anglezarke was a township in the ancient parish of Bolton le Moors, itself part of the hundred of Salford in Lancashire.

[47] Anglezarke covers 2,793 acres of high moorland on the western slopes of the West Pennine Moors reaching about 1,000 feet above sea level.

The hamlet of White Coppice, where there was a cotton mill, is in the north-west corner, and Hempshaws, now in ruins, in the south-east.

Anglezarke Quarry is a destination for rock climbing[51] and has been used for training by serious climbers such as Sir Chris Bonington.