Peel Monument, Holcombe Hill, Holcombe, Greater Manchester
This monument was built in 1851-2. It is in tribute to Sir Robert Peel for effecting the repeal of the Corn Laws. The first Corn Law had been introduced the 1804. It meant that duty (tax) had to be paid on all imported corn. It was to protect landowners profits. It also kept the price of corn, and therefore bread, high. This was not popular with the increasing number of workers living in large industrial towns. Many workers banded together to try and get the law stopped. It was only after the Irish Potato famine of 1845, where many people died of starvation, that the government was forced to reconsider because they needed cheap imported grain to feed them. In January 1846 the Corn Laws were repealed. A new law was passed that greatly reduced the tax on oats, wheat and barley. The law was not popular with the rest of Peel's colleagues in the Conservative Party and he was forced to resign.
