Tandle Hill was originally part of the township of Thornham - part of the extensive parish of Middleton. It was used as a meeting place for radicals in the 19th century. In the period leading up to the Peterloo massacre it was said that it had been used by radicals for practising marching and drilling. The beech woodland was planted to prevent this happening again and the hill became a hunting park and private game reserve as part of the Thornham Estate. It was sold in 1861 and came into the ownership of Joseph Milne, whose wife later sold the park to Norris Bradbury, a Royton councillor. Bradbury gifted the park to the people of Royton in 1919 as a peace offering at the end of the First World War. A granite marker stands near the Oozewood entrance to the park, and its inscription reads: