DOMESTIC violence campaigners held a memorial service on Sunday in memory of a woman murdered in Ramsbottom in 1761.

A group of around 40 people walked from the Emmanuel Church, in Holcombe Village, on Sunday to a spot on the nearby moors, where Ellen Strange was killed by her husband, John Broadley.

For more than 250 years, locals have placed stones in her memory at the site, which is known as the oldest domestic violence commemoration site in the world.

There were several speakers at the ceremony, including local chaplain Jane Fletcher, which remembered Ellen and reaffirmed the need to continue combating domestic violence.

Organiser Mark Metcalf hailed the event as a success, despite the challenging weather conditions over the weekend.

He said: "We were very fortunate as the bad weather managed to stay away while we had the speeches going on, but we got absolutely soaked coming back.

"About 40 people were there with us at the pile of stones, which was fantastic given how many people couldn't come due to the bad weather.

"I think people were really elated that we were able to put on an event like this and it was a suitable commemoration, I would say."

More than £2,000 has been raised this year by trade unionists to reprint a book by author John Simpson, who published his exhaustive research into the events in 1989.

The group are now planning to use their remaining funds to set up a website dedicated to sharing Ellen Strange's story and raising awareness of domestic violence.

Mr Metcalf added: "The plan now is to hold another event in Bolton in January, and we are going to use the remainder of the money we collected to set up a website and employ someone to run it for one day a week.

"We can use the site to highlight the issue of domestic violence and give a bit of history about Ellen Strange too."