Waterfoot is a historic mill town and civil parish in the Borough of Rossendale between Rawtenstall and Bacup in Lancashire, England.
The township of Newchurch stretched from Bacup to Rawtenstall, and in 1511 it was recorded as having a population of 1,000 people, served by the monks of Whalley Abbey.
Charles Parsons set up a bicycle shop in Waterfoot, Lancashire, in 1931 but eight years later he had an accident that eventually led to his blindness.
The centre of Waterfoot has a distinctive canopied walkway in decorative iron and glass that is in need of restoration, forming the frontage of Victoria or Trickett's Arcade, started in 1897 and completed in March, 1899.
[4] Hidden inside are eight other shop spaces and a decorative central iron and glass feature that have been closed to the public for 50 years.
Since 1993 fell runners from the surrounding communities have gathered annually to run a four-mile circuit of the hills above the village, passing the well.
For horseriders, The Pennine Bridleway passes through Waterfoot on the Mary Towneley Loop giving access to the unspoilt hill scenery overlooking the village, and it is also on the Irwell Sculpture Trail.
To the west, towards Rawtenstall, the Kunstlerhaus was the base for Liverpool artist, Don McKinlay, who was also a member of Manchester Academy of Fine Arts.