Place:Atherton, Lancashire, England

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NameAtherton
Alt namesChowbentsource: old name for the parish
Bentsource: nickname for parish
Hag Foldsource: settlement in parish
Howe Bridgesource: settlement in parish
Hindsfordsource: settlement in parish
TypeUrban district
Coordinates53.517°N 2.517°W
Located inLancashire, England     ( - 1974)
See alsoWest Derby Hundred, Lancashire, Englandhundred in which it was located
Leigh, Lancashire, Englandancient parish until 1866 and municipal borough to which part of Atherton was joined 1894-1974
Wigan (metropolitan borough), Greater Manchester, Englandmetropolitan borough of which it has been part since 1974


the text in this article is based one in Wikipedia

Atherton (pop. 22,000) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. Until 1974 it was an urban district in Lancashire. The town, including Hindsford, Howe Bridge and Hag Fold, is 5 miles (8.0 km) east of the town of Wigan, 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Leigh, and 10.7 miles (17.2 km) northwest of central Manchester.

Atherton was associated with coal mining and nail manufacture from the 14th century, encouraged by outcropping coal seams. At the beginning of the 20th century the town was described as "the centre of a district of collieries, cotton mills and iron-works, which cover the surface of the country with their inartistic buildings and surroundings, and are linked together by the equally unlovely dwellings of the people". Atherton's last deep coal mine closed in 1966, and the last working cotton mills closed in 1999. Today the town is the third largest retail centre in the Borough of Wigan; almost 20% of those employed in the area work in the wholesale and retail trades, although there is still some significant manufacturing industry in the town.

Following the Anglo-Saxon invasion of England, Atherton, which is built on and around seven brooks, became part of the manor of Warrington until the Norman conquest, when it became a township or vill in the ancient parish of Leigh.

Image:Wigan.png

History

Atherton is bounded by brooks to the west and south, and crossed by several others. The western boundary is Hindsford Brook, originally named Goderic Brook after a Saxon saint.

The Chow (recorded as Chew, Cholle and Chowl) family were tenants of the Athertons living at the valley by Chanters Brook. This part of the township became known as Chow's Bent but the meaning of Bent has been lost, perhaps a bend or slope. It was referred to in the 14th century as Chollebynt or Shollebent. Chowbent, or Bent, was the name given to the built-up part of Atherton from the mid-17th century for at least 300 years. As the population grew, the town was called Atherton, although the names Chowbent or Bent are used by locals.

Manor

The manor was held by the Atherton family from the de Botelers, whose chief manor was at Warrington. William and Nicholas Atherton fought at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The manor house was situated towards the south of the ancient township. Christopher Saxton's map shows a medieval deer park in the time of Elizabeth I. "Mad" Richard Atherton, the last direct male descendant of the Athertons is remembered for two events; his expulsion of the congregation from the first Atherton Chapel in 1721, and building Atherton Hall on a grand scale, to designs by architect William Wakefield. Work on the hall started in 1723 and was not finished until 1743. The carriage drive from the hall led over Lion's Bridge down an avenue to gates which faced the parish church in Leigh where the Athertons had a chapel. Richard Vernon Atherton married Elizabeth Farington and had a daughter named Elizabeth, but no male offspring. He died in 1726.

Elizabeth Atherton married Robert Gwillym and their son, Robert Vernon Atherton, married Henrietta Maria Legh. They had five children; the sons all died young, and their eldest daughter Henrietta Maria Atherton married Thomas Powys, 2nd Baron Lilford, whose father was ennobled by Pitt the Younger in 1797, taking the title of Baron Lilford. Thomas Powys left his estates to his son, Thomas Atherton Powys. The Atherton estate was inherited by the third Lord Lilford, who preferred to live at his family seat, Lilford Hall in Northamptonshire. Lord Lilford could not afford the upkeep of another house and Atherton Hall was put up for sale but, after failing to sell, it was demolished in 1824. Some outbuildings were left standing and are private property still known as Atherton Hall. This portion of Atherton was incorporated into Leigh in 1894 and the area became a public park.

Two battles

The area was divided in its allegiance during the Civil War. In 1642, men of Chowbent were on their way to Leigh Church when word came that James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby's Royalist troops were marching through Leigh, probably en route for Manchester. The men of Chowbent armed themselves and drove the Earl's men back to Lowton Common, killing some, wounding others and taking prisoner about 200 men: "...and we are all upon our guard, and the Naylors of Chowbent, instead of making Nayles, have busied themselves making Bills and Battle Axes." (Civil War tracts of Lancashire, Chetham Society Series, vol II).

In 1715, during the Jacobite rising the supporters of the James Stuart, the Old Pretender were marching on Preston. General Charles Wills wrote to the incumbent of Atherton Chapel, James Wood, asking him to raise a force to be at Cuerden Green the following day, 12 November. Minister Wood led a force of Chowbent men who were given the job of guarding the bridge over the River Ribble at Walton le Dale and a ford at Penwortham, which they defended successfully. The Highlanders were routed, and for his efforts Parson James Wood was given a £100 annuity (equivalent to £15,800 in 2019) by Parliament and the title "The General" by his congregation.

Industrial history

Atherton, along with neighbouring Shakerley, was associated with coal mining and nail manufacture. Alexander Naylor was taxed on his goods in 1332, showing the industry has been in existence for at least 600 years. Encouraged by the proximity of outcrops of coal, iron was brought from Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Spain. Several types of nails were made, including lath nails, slate nails, thatching nails and sparrowbills. The nail smithies manufactured ploughs and scythes; these tools were taken by pack horse to be sold in Manchester, Denbigh, Clitheroe and Kendal. Later the nail industry developed into the manufacture of nuts and bolts. Thomas Blakemore was the first in 1843 and by 1853 there were eight manufacturers of nuts and bolts including James Prestwich and Robert Parker. Some nut and bolt manufacturers also made spindles and flyers for spinning machinery. Collier Brook Bolt Works on Bag Lane dating from 1856 survives and is a Grade II listed building.

Coal had been mined for several hundred years in numerous shallow shafts and adits, but took on greater importance when in 1776 Robert Vernon Atherton leased the coal rights to Thomas Guest from Leigh and John Fletcher from Bolton. In 1845 the era of deep mining commenced with the sinking of Fletcher's Lover's Lane pit at Howe Bridge. By the early 1870s Fletcher, Burrows and Company's Howe Bridge Colliery, the biggest of the three Howe Bridge pits, was sunk to the Black & White, or Seven Foot mine. The pit closed in 1959. These pits had the advantage of being situated alongside the Bolton and Leigh Railway. Chanters Pit closed in 1966 bringing the era of deep coal mining in the town to an end.

The cotton mills grew out of a cottage spinning and weaving industry that was widespread across the district. As industrialisation gathered pace, local hand weavers felt threatened by the advent of powered looms, and in April 1812 a mob smashed the machines and burnt down a new factory in neighbouring Westhoughton. For this, the Luddites (three men and a boy of 14), were tried at Lancaster Assizes and hanged. Fustian was woven and after 1827 raw silk was brought from Manchester for weaving at Atherton. In 1938 James Burton had built cotton mills on both sides of the Hindsford Brook. The Dan Lane Spinning and Doubling Mills were built in the 1840s and lasted until the 1950s. Howe Bridge Spinning Mills, the largest complex in Atherton, was started in 1868 and the last mill built in 1919. It closed as a textile factory in early 1999. Mills built in the 20th century were Laburnum Mills in 1905 (closed 1980), and Ena Mill in 1908 which closed in 1999. The Ena Mill, now converted for other uses, is a Grade II listed building.

Research Tips

  • See the Wikipedia articles on parishes and civil parishes for descriptions of this lowest rung of local administration. The original parishes were ecclesiastical (described as ancient parishes), under the jurisdiction of the local priest. A parish covered a specific geographical area and was sometimes equivalent to that of a manor. Sometimes, in the case of very large rural parishes, there were chapelries where a "chapel of ease" allowed parishioners to worship closer to their homes. In the 19th century the term civil parish was adopted to define parishes with a secular form of local government. In WeRelate both civil and ecclesiastical parishes are included in the type of place called a "parish". Smaller places within parishes, such as chapelries and hamlets, have been redirected into the parish in which they are located. The names of these smaller places are italicized within the text.
  • An urban district was a type of municipality in existence between 1894 and 1974. They were formed as a middle layer of administration between the county and the civil parish and were used for urban areas usually with populations of under 30,000. Inspecting the archives of a urban district will not be of much help to the genealogist or family historian, unless there is need to study land records in depth.
  • Civil registration or vital statistics and census records will be found within registration districts. To ascertain the registration district to which a parish belongs, see Registration Districts in Lancashire, part of the UK_BMD website.
  • The terms municipal borough and county borough were adopted in 1835 replacing the historic "boroughs". Municipal boroughs generally had populations between 30,000 and 50,000; while county boroughs usually had populations of over 50,000. County boroughs had local governments independent of the county in which they were located, but municipal boroughs worked in tandem with the county administration. Wikipedia explains these terms in much greater detail.
  • Lancashire Online Parish Clerks provide free online information from the various parishes, along with other data of value to family and local historians conducting research in the County of Lancashire.
  • FamilySearch Lancashire Research Wiki provides a good overview of the county and also articles on most of the individual parishes (very small or short-lived ones may have been missed).
  • Ancestry (international subscription necessary) has a number of county-wide collections of Church of England baptisms, marriages and burials, some from the 1500s, and some providing microfilm copies of the manuscript entries. There are specific collections for Liverpool (including Catholic baptisms and marriages) and for Manchester. Their databases now include electoral registers 1832-1935. Another pay site is FindMyPast.
  • A map of Lancashire circa 1888 supplied by A Vision of Britain through Time includes the boundaries between the parishes and shows the hamlets within them.
  • A map of Lancashire circa 1954 supplied by A Vision of Britain through Time is a similar map for a later timeframe.
  • GENUKI provides a website covering many sources of genealogical information for Lancashire. The organization is gradually updating the website and the volunteer organizers may not have yet picked up all the changes that have come with improving technology.
  • The Victoria County History for Lancashire, provided by British History Online, covers the whole of the county in six volumes (the seventh available volume [numbered Vol 2] covers religious institutions). The county is separated into its original hundreds and the volumes were first published between 1907 and 1914. Most parishes within each hundred are covered in detail. Maps within the text can contain historical information not available elsewhere.
  • A description of the township of Atherton from British History Online (Victoria County Histories), published 1907
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Atherton, Greater Manchester. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.