Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
in England. In the foothills of the
West Pennine Moors
The West Pennine Moors is an area of the Pennines covering approximately of moorland and Reservoir (water), reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The West Pennine Moors are separat ...
, Bolton is between
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
( south-east),
Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...
,
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
,
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
and
Salford
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
. It is surrounded by several towns and villages that form the wider
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
, of which Bolton is the
administrative centre
An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located.
In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
. The town is also within the
historic county boundaries of
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
.
A former
mill town
A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories, usually cotton mills or factories producing textiles. Europe
Italy
* ''Crespi d'Adda'', UNESCO World Her ...
, Bolton has been a centre for textile production since the 14th century when
Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...
weavers settled in the area, introducing a wool and cotton-weaving tradition. It was a 19th-century
boomtown
A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...
, development largely coincided with the introduction of
textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution
Textile manufacture during the British Industrial Revolution was centred in south Lancashire and the towns on both sides of the Pennines in the United Kingdom. The main drivers of the Industrial Revolution were textile manufacturing, iron foundi ...
. At its peak in 1929, its 216
cotton mill
A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system.
Althou ...
s and 26 bleaching and dyeing works made it one of the largest and most productive centres of
cotton spinning in the world. The British cotton industry declined sharply after the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and, by the 1980s, cotton manufacture had virtually ceased in the town.
The town has a population of 139,403, whilst the wider metropolitan borough has a population of 262,400. Bolton originated as a small settlement in the moorland known as
Bolton le Moors
Bolton le Moors (also known as Bolton le Moors St Peter) was a large civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in Salford (hundred), hundred of Salford in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire, England. It was administered f ...
. In the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, the town was a
Parliamentarian outpost in a staunchly
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...
region and, as a result, was stormed by 3,000 Royalist troops led by
Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cavalr ...
in 1644. In what became known as the
Bolton Massacre
The Storming of Bolton, sometimes referred to as the "Bolton massacre", was an event in the First English Civil War which happened on 28 May 1644. The strongly Parliamentarian town was stormed and captured by Royalist forces under Prince R ...
, 1,600 residents were killed and 700 were taken prisoner.
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
football club now play home games at the
University of Bolton Stadium
The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England.
Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming righ ...
in
Horwich
Horwich ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Prior to 1974 in the historic county of Lancashire. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester. It l ...
and the
WBA World light-welterweight champion Amir Khan was born in the town. Cultural interests include the
Octagon Theatre
The Octagon Theatre is a producing theatre located in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.
Programme
The Octagon produces eight or nine professional theatre productions each year in its Main Auditorium. Productions come from a wide range of ty ...
and the
Bolton Museum
Bolton Museum is a public museum and art gallery in the town of Bolton, England, owned by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council. The museum is housed within the grade II listed Le Mans Crescent near Bolton Town Hall and shares its main entrance ...
and Art Gallery, as well as one of the earliest public libraries established after the
Public Libraries Act 1850
The Public Libraries Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict c.65) was an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which first gave local boroughs the power to establish free public libraries. The Act was the first legislative step in the creation of an enduring natio ...
.
History
Toponymy
Bolton is a common Northern English name derived from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
-, meaning a settlement with a dwelling. The first recorded use of the name, in the form ''Boelton'', dates from 1185 to describe Bolton le Moors, though this may not be in relation to a dwelling. It was recorded as Bothelton in 1212, Botelton in 1257, Boulton in 1288, and Bolton after 1307.
[
]
Later forms of Botheltun were Bodeltown, Botheltun-le-Moors, Bowelton, Boltune, Bolton-super-Moras, Bolton-in-ye-Moors, Bolton-le-Moors.
[
]
The town's motto of means "overcome difficulties" (or "delays"), and is a pun on the Bolton-super-Moras version of the name meaning literally, "Bolton on the moors".
The name itself is referred to in the
badge
A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and fi ...
of the Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council using a form of visual pun, a
rebus
A rebus () is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases. For example: the word "been" might be depicted by a rebus showing an illustrated bumblebee next to a plus sign (+) ...
, in combining motifs of arrow for 'bolt' and heraldic crown for 'tun', the term for the central high point of a defensive position that is the etymon of the suffix of Bolton.
[
]
Early history to the Civil War
There is evidence of human existence on the moors around Bolton since the early part of the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, including a
stone circle
A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The be ...
on
Cheetham Close
Cheetham Close is a megalithic site and scheduled ancient monument located in Lancashire, very close to the boundary with Greater Manchester, England. The megalith was in good condition until a farmer from Turton sledgehammered the circle in the ...
above
Egerton
Egerton may refer to:
People
* Egerton (name), a list of people with either the surname or the given name
* Egerton family, a British aristocratic family
* George Egerton, pen name of Mary Dunne Bright (1859–1945), Australian-born writer
Place ...
,
[
] and Bronze Age burial mounds on
Winter Hill.
[
] A Bronze Age mound was excavated in Victorian times outside Haulgh Hall. The Romans built roads from Manchester to
Ribchester
Ribchester is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Ribble, northwest of Blackburn and east of Preston.
The village has a long history with evidence of Bronze ...
to the east and a road along what is now the A6 to the west. It is claimed that
Agricola
Agricola, the Latin word for farmer, may also refer to:
People Cognomen or given name
:''In chronological order''
* Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40–93), Roman governor of Britannia (AD 77–85)
* Sextus Calpurnius Agricola, Roman governor of the mid ...
built a fort at
Blackrod
Blackrod is a List of towns in England, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, northeast of Wigan and west of Bolton. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, it had a po ...
by clearing land above the forest. Evidence of a
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
settlement exists in the form of religious objects found when the Victorian parish church was built.
[
]
In 1067
Great Bolton
Great Bolton was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England. Despite its name, Great Bolton had a smaller acreage than its northern neighbour Little Bolton from which it was ...
was the property of
Roger de Poitou
Roger the Poitevin (Roger de Poitou) was born in Normandy in the mid-1060s and died before 1140. He was an Anglo-Norman aristocrat, possessing large holdings in both England and through his marriage in France.
He was the third son of Roger of Mon ...
and after 1100, of Roger de Meresheys. Bolton became the property of the
Pilkington
Pilkington is a Japanese-owned glass-manufacturing company which is based in Lathom, Lancashire, United Kingdom. In the UK it includes several legal entities and is a subsidiary of Japanese company NSG Group.
Prior to its acquisition by NSG i ...
family until they forfeited the land in the
War of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...
. The land was given to the
Stanley family
The Stanley family (or Audley-Stanley family) is an English family with many notable members, including the Earls of Derby and the Barons Audley who descended from the early holders of Audley and Stanley, Staffordshire. The two branches of the Au ...
and thus the
Earls of Derby
Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the end ...
who became royalists in the
English civil war
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
. The area surrounding Bolton was subsequently divided into four parts including the Stanley family, the
Earl of Bradford
Earl of Bradford is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was first created in 1694 for Francis Newport, 2nd Baron Newport. However, all the Newport titles became ex ...
, a Freeman and various other parties.
Great Bolton and
Little Bolton
Little Bolton was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England. Besides the main part of Little Bolton, it had three detached parts which were separated by areas of Lower Sharp ...
were part of the Marsey fee, in 1212 Little Bolton was held by Roger de Bolton as plough-land, by the service of the twelfth part of a knight's fee to Randle de Marsey.
[ The parish church in Bolton has an early foundation although the exact date is unknown; it was given by the lord of the manor to the ]Gilbertine
The Gilbertine Order of Canons Regular was founded around 1130 by Saint Gilbert in Sempringham, Lincolnshire, where Gilbert was the parish priest. It was the only completely English religious order and came to an end in the 16th century at the ...
canons of Mattersey Priory
Mattersey Priory is a former monastery of the Gilbertine order, located near the village of Mattersey, Nottinghamshire, England. It is currently managed by English Heritage.
History
The priory was founded by Roger FitzRalph (son of Ranulph de Ma ...
in Nottinghamshire, founded by Roger de Marsey.[
]
A charter to hold a market in Churchgate was granted on 14 December 1251 by King Henry III of England
Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry a ...
. Bolton became a market town and borough by a charter from the Earl of Derby, William de Ferrers, on 14 January 1253, and a market was held until the 18th century. Burgage
Burgage is a medieval land term used in Great Britain and Ireland, well established by the 13th century.
A burgage was a town ("borough" or "burgh") rental property (to use modern terms), owned by a king or lord. The property ("burgage tenement ...
plots were laid out on Churchgate and Deansgate in the centre of the medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
town close to where Ye Olde Man & Scythe public house, dating from 1251, is situated today.
In 1337 Flemish weavers settled and introduced the manufacture of woollen cloth. More Flemish weavers, fleeing the Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
persecutions, settled here in the 17th century. The second wave of settlers wove fustian
Fustian is a variety of heavy cloth woven from cotton, chiefly prepared for menswear. It is also used figuratively to refer to pompous, inflated or pretentious writing or speech, from at least the time of Shakespeare. This literary use is beca ...
, a rough cloth made of linen and cotton.[Lewis (1835)] Digging sea coal was recorded in 1374.[ There was an outbreak of the plague in the town in 1623.][
During the ]English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, the people of Bolton were Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
s and supported the Parliamentarian cause. A parliamentary garrison in the town was attacked twice without success but on 28 May 1644 Prince Rupert's Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...
army with troops under the command of the Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the end ...
attacked again. The attack became known as the Bolton Massacre
The Storming of Bolton, sometimes referred to as the "Bolton massacre", was an event in the First English Civil War which happened on 28 May 1644. The strongly Parliamentarian town was stormed and captured by Royalist forces under Prince R ...
in which 1,500 died, 700 were taken prisoner and the town plundered.[ The attackers took to referring to the town as the "Geneva of the North", referencing ]Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
's dominant Calvinism
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...
, although historian Malcolm Hardman says this was a description borne "more of irritation than accuracy". At the end of the Civil War, Lord Derby was tried as a traitor at Chester and condemned to death. When his appeal for pardon to parliament was rejected he attempted to escape but was recaptured and executed for his part in the massacre outside Ye Olde Man & Scythe Inn on 15 October 1651.[
]
Industrial revolution onward
Bolton was a 19th-century boomtown
A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although ...
and, at its zenith in 1929, its 216 cotton mill
A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system.
Althou ...
s and 26 bleaching and dyeing works made it one of the largest and most productive centres of cotton spinning in the world. The British cotton industry declined sharply after the First World War and, by the 1980s, cotton manufacture had virtually ceased in Bolton.
A tradition of cottage spinning and weaving and improvements to spinning technology by local inventors, Richard Arkwright
Sir Richard Arkwright (23 December 1732 – 3 August 1792) was an English inventor and a leading entrepreneur during the early Industrial Revolution. He is credited as the driving force behind the development of the spinning frame, known as t ...
and Samuel Crompton
Samuel Crompton (3 December 1753 – 26 June 1827) was an English inventor and pioneer of the spinning industry. Building on the work of James Hargreaves and Richard Arkwright he invented the spinning mule, a machine that revolutionised the ...
, led to rapid growth of the textile industry in the 19th century. Crompton, whilst living at Hall i' th' Wood
Hall i' th' Wood is an early 16th-century manor house in Bolton in the historic county of Lancashire and the ceremonial county of Greater Manchester, England. It is a Grade I listed building and is currently used as a museum by Bolton Metropo ...
, invented the spinning mule
The spinning mule is a machine used to spin cotton and other fibres. They were used extensively from the late 18th to the early 20th century in the mills of Lancashire and elsewhere. Mules were worked in pairs by a minder, with the help of two ...
in 1779. Streams draining the surrounding moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...
into the River Croal provided the water necessary for the bleach
Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...
works that were a feature of this area. Bleaching using chlorine
Chlorine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate betwee ...
was introduced in the 1790s by the Ainsworths at Halliwell Bleachworks. Bolton and the surrounding villages had more than thirty bleachworks including the Lever Bank Bleach Works
Lever Bank Bleach Works was a Bleach Works at Ladyshore, near Little Lever, Bolton. The works was owned by Thomas Ridgway & Sons. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would appear to be a direct descendant of this family.
Location
The wor ...
in the Irwell Valley. The mule revolutionised cotton spinning by combining the roller drafting of Arkwright's water frame with the carriage drafting and spindle tip twisting of James Hargreaves
James Hargreaves ( 1720 – 22 April 1778) was an English weaver, carpenter and inventor who lived and worked in Lancashire, England. He was one of three men responsible for the mechanisation of spinning: Hargreaves is credited with inventing ...
's spinning jenny
The spinning jenny is a multi-spindle spinning frame, and was one of the key developments in the industrialization of textile manufacturing during the early Industrial Revolution. It was invented in 1764 or 1765 by James Hargreaves in Stanhill ...
, producing a high quality yarn. Self-acting mules were used in Bolton mills until the 1960s producing fine yarn. The earliest mills were situated by the streams and river as at Barrow Bridge
Barrow rail bridge, (or the Barrow viaduct), is a pratt truss type of railway bridge that spans the river Barrow between County Kilkenny and County Wexford in the south east of Ireland. This rural landmark with a length of is the longest ...
, but steam power led to the construction of the large multi-storey mills and their chimneys that dominated Bolton's skyline, some of which survive today.[
Growth of the textile industry was assisted by the availability of coal in the area. By 1896 John Fletcher had coal mines at Ladyshore in ]Little Lever
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
* ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
*The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
; The Earl of Bradford had a coal mine at Great Lever
Great Lever is a suburb of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is south of Bolton town centre and the same distance north of Farnworth. The district is served by frequent buses running to Bolton town centre, Farnwo ...
; the Darcy Lever Coal Company had mines at Darcy Lever
Darcy Lever is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, the area lies on the B6209 (Radcliffe Road), between Bolton and Little Lever. Its history dates to the time of William ...
and there were coal mines at Tonge, Breightmet
Breightmet is a neighbourhood of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of the ward taken at the 2011 census was 13,584. Historically a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of ...
, Deane and Doffcocker
Doffcocker is a mostly residential district of Bolton, Greater Manchester, lying about 3½ miles from the town centre on the northwest edge of the suburbs on the lower south facing slopes of the West Pennine Moors. Historically within Lancashire, i ...
. Some of these pits were close to the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal
The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal is a disused canal in Greater Manchester, England, built to link Bolton and Bury with Manchester. The canal, when fully opened, was long. It was accessed via a junction with the River Irwell in Salford. S ...
providing the owners with markets in Bolton and Manchester. Coal mining declined in the 20th century.
Important transport links contributed to the growth of the town and the textile industry; the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal[ constructed in 1791, connected the town to ]Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
and Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
providing transport for coal and other basic materials. The Bolton and Leigh Railway
The Bolton and Leigh Railway (B&LR) was the first public railway in Lancashire, it opened for goods on 1 August 1828 preceding the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) by two years. Passengers were carried from 1831. The railway operated inde ...
, the oldest in Lancashire, opened to goods traffic in 1828 and Great Moor Street station opened to passengers in 1831. The railway initially connected Bolton to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool.
Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...
in Leigh
Leigh may refer to:
Places In England
Pronounced :
* Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan
** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency)
* Leigh-on-Sea, Essex
Pronounced :
* Leigh, Dorset
* Leigh, Gloucestershire
* Leigh, Kent
* Leigh, Staf ...
, an important link with the port of Liverpool
The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed Dock (maritime), dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, Merseyside, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Great Float, Birkenhead Docks between ...
for the import of raw cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
from America, but was extended in 1829 to link up with the Manchester to Liverpool Line
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
.[ Local firms built locomotives for the railway, in 1830 "Union" was built by Rothwell, Hick and Company and two locomotives, "Salamander" and "Veteran" were built by Crook and Dean.
Bolton's first Mayor, Charles James Darbishire was sympathetic to ]Chartism
Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, w ...
and a supporter of the Anti-Corn Law League
The Anti-Corn Law League was a successful political movement in Great Britain aimed at the abolition of the unpopular Corn Laws, which protected landowners’ interests by levying taxes on imported wheat, thus raising the price of bread at a time ...
. In August 1839 Bolton was besieged by Chartist rioters and the Riot Act
The Riot Act (1 Geo.1 St.2 c.5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714 or the Riot Act 1715, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled and o ...
was read and special constables sworn in. The mayor accompanied soldiers called to rescue special constables at Little Bolton Town Hall
Little Bolton Town Hall is a municipal building in All Saints Street, Little Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The structure, which was the meeting place of the trustees of Little Bolton, is a Grade II listed building.
History
The town hall ...
, which was besieged by a mob, and the incident ended without bloodshed. Derby Barracks was established in Fletcher Street in the early 1860s.
One of two statues prominent on Victoria Square near Bolton Town Hall
Bolton Town Hall in Victoria Square, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, was built between 1866 and 1873 for the County Borough of Bolton to designs by William Hill of Leeds and George Woodhouse of Bolton. The town hall was extended in the 19 ...
is that of Samuel Taylor Chadwick
Samuel Taylor Chadwick (1809 – 3 May 1876) was an English doctor and philanthropist.
Life
Chadwick was born in Newcroft House in Urmston, Lancashire, and educated at Stretford School before moving to Bolton at the age of 14 to live with a do ...
(1809 – 3 May 1876) a philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
who donated funds to Bolton Hospital to create an ear, nose and throat ward. Built houses for people living in cellars, through Bolton Council fought for better public health including cleaner water, established the Chadwick Orphanage, improved the Bolton Workhouse
In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...
and funded the towns natural history museum that was the basis of the present Bolton Museum
Bolton Museum is a public museum and art gallery in the town of Bolton, England, owned by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council. The museum is housed within the grade II listed Le Mans Crescent near Bolton Town Hall and shares its main entrance ...
at Le Mans Crescent, the original museum was in a building at Queens Park. The second statue at Victoria Square is in memory of a former Bolton Mayor Sir Benjamin Alfred Dobson (1847–1898) who died in office in 1898, he was a textile machinery manufacturer and chairman of Dobson & Barlow
Dobson and Barlow were manufacturers of textile machinery with works in Bolton, Greater Manchester. Isaac Dobson (1767-1833) founded the company in 1790 and by 1850 Dobson in partnership with Peter Rothwell had premises in Blackhorse Street which ...
, a significant employer in the town. By 1900 Bolton was Lancashire's third largest engineering centre after Manchester and Oldham. About 9,000 men were employed in the industry, half of them working for Dobson and Barlow in Kay Street.
Another engineering company Hick, Hargreaves & Co
B. Hick and Sons, subsequently Hick, Hargreaves & Co, was a British engineering company based at the Soho Ironworks in Bolton, England. Benjamin Hick, a partner in Rothwell, Hick and Rothwell, later Rothwell, Hick & Co., set up the company in par ...
based at the Soho Foundry made Lancashire boilers and heavy machinery. Thomas Ryder and Son
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the Ap ...
of Turner Bridge manufactured machine tools for the international motor industry. Wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
was produced for more than 100 years at Thomas Walmsley and Sons
Thomas Walmsley and Sons was a company that manufactured wrought iron. It was founded in 1866 or 1869 by Thomas Walmsley at the Atlas Forge on a site bounded by Bridgeman Street and Fletcher Street in Bolton, then in Lancashire, England. The forge ...
' Atlas Forge.
By 1911 the textile industry in Bolton employed about 36,000 people. As of 1920, the Bolton Cardroom Union
The Bolton and District Card, Blowing and Ring Room Operatives' Provincial Association was a trade union representing cotton industry workers in the Bolton area of Lancashire in England. The longest-established union of cardroom workers, it was ...
had more than 15,000 members, while the Bolton Weavers' Association
The Bolton and District Weavers', Winders' and Warpers' Association was a trade union representing cotton mill workers in the Bolton area of Lancashire in England. The union was the first in the Lancashire cotton industry to appoint a woman as i ...
represented 13,500 workers. The last mill to be constructed was Sir John Holden's Mill in 1927. The cotton industry declined from the 1920s. A brief upturn after the Second World War was not sustained, and the industry had virtually vanished by the end of the 20th century.
During the night of 26 September 1916, Bolton was the target for an aerial offensive. L21, a Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
commanded by Oberleutnant
() is the highest lieutenant officer rank in the German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces.
Austria
Germany
In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Trans ...
Kurt Frankenburg of the Imperial German Navy
The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...
, dropped twenty-one bombs on the town, five of them on the working class area of Kirk Street, killing thirteen residents and destroying six houses. Further attacks followed on other parts of the town, including three incendiaries dropped close to the Town Hall.
Lord Leverhulme
In 1899 William Lever, Lord Leverhulme
William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme , (, ; 19 September 1851 – 7 May 1925) was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician. Having been educated at a small private school until the age of nine, then at church school ...
, bought Hall i'th' Wood as a memorial to Samuel Crompton inventor of the spinning mule. Lever restored the dilapidated building and presented it to the town in 1902, having turned it into a museum furnished with household goods typical of domestic family life in the 16th and 17th centuries. Lever re-endowed Bolton School
Bolton School is an independent day school in Bolton, Greater Manchester. It comprises a co-educational nursery, co-educational infant school (ages 3–7), single sex junior schools (ages 7–11) and single sex senior schools including sixth fo ...
s, giving land and his house on Chorley New Road. He presented the town with of land for a public park which the corporation named Leverhulme Park
Leverhulme Park is the largest park in the town of Bolton, Greater Manchester. It was donated to the people of Bolton by, and named after, the late Lord Leverhulme. The park is bounded by the Breightmet, Darcy Lever, the Haulgh, and Tonge Fol ...
in 1914. In 1902 he gave the people of Bolton Lever Park at Rivington
Rivington is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, occupying . It is about southeast of Chorley and about northwest of Bolton. Rivington is a rural area consisting primarily of agricultural grazing land, ...
. In 1911, Lever consulted Thomas Mawson
Thomas Hayton Mawson (5 May 1861 – 14 November 1933), known as T. H. Mawson, was a British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner.
Personal life
Mawson was born in Nether Wyresdale, Lancashire, and left school at age 12. H ...
, landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...
and lecturer in Landscape Design at the University of Liverpool, regarding town planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
in Bolton. Mawson published "Bolton – a Study in Town Planning and Civic Art" and gave lectures entitled "Bolton Housing and Town Planning Society" which formed the basis of an illustrated book "Bolton – as it is and as it might be". In 1924, Leverhulme presented Bolton Council with an ambitious plan to rebuild the town centre based on Mawson's designs funded partly by himself. The council declined in favour of extending the town hall and building the civic centre.
Governance
Lying within the county boundaries of Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, until the early 19th century, Great Bolton
Great Bolton was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England. Despite its name, Great Bolton had a smaller acreage than its northern neighbour Little Bolton from which it was ...
and Little Bolton
Little Bolton was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England. Besides the main part of Little Bolton, it had three detached parts which were separated by areas of Lower Sharp ...
were two of the eighteen township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
s of the ecclesiastical parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish priest ...
of Bolton le Moors
Bolton le Moors (also known as Bolton le Moors St Peter) was a large civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in Salford (hundred), hundred of Salford in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire, England. It was administered f ...
. These townships were separated by the River Croal
The River Croal is a river located in Greater Manchester, England. It is a tributary of the River Irwell.
Rising at the confluence of Middle Brook and Deane Church Brook, it flows eastwards through Bolton, collecting ''Gilnow Brook'' and t ...
, Little Bolton on the north bank and Great Bolton on the south.[ Bolton Poor Law Union was formed on 1 February 1837. It continued using existing poorhouses at Fletcher Street and Turton but in 1856 started to build a new ]workhouse
In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...
at Fishpool Farm in Farnworth. Townleys Hospital was built on the site which is now Royal Bolton Hospital
The Royal Bolton Hospital is an acute general hospital in Farnworth, Greater Manchester. It is managed by the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The hospital was established as a fever hospital and built adjacent to the 'Fishpool Workhouse' in ...
.
In 1838 Great Bolton, most of Little Bolton and the Haulgh area of Tonge with Haulgh
Tonge with Haulgh was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England.
History
Toponymy
The first part of the township, Tonge, as its name implies, is located on the tongue o ...
were incorporated under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835
The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will 4 c 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The legisl ...
as a municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...
, the second to be created in England. Further additions were made adding part of Rumworth
Rumworth is an electoral ward of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 16,250. Historically it was part of the hundred of Salford in Lancashire and centre of the Parish of Deane which once cov ...
in 1872 and part of Halliwell
Halliwell is a surname. It may refer to:
People
* Bryn Halliwell (born 1980), English football goalkeeper
* Danny Halliwell (born 1981), rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s
* David Halliwell (1936–2006), British dramatis ...
in 1877. In 1889 Bolton was granted County Borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ter ...
status and became self-governing and independent from Lancashire County Council
Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It consists of 84 councillors. Since the 2017 election, the council has been under Conservative control.
Prior to the 2009 La ...
jurisdiction. In 1898, the borough was extended further by adding the civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
es of Breightmet, Darcy Lever, Great Lever, the rest of Halliwell, Heaton, Lostock, Middle Hulton
Middle Hulton was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Deane in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England. It was located south-west of Bolton.
History
The ancient district of Hulton contained three townships, Over Hulton, Midd ...
, the rest of Rumworth which had been renamed Deane in 1894, Smithills, and Tonge plus Astley Bridge Urban District, and part of Over Hulton
Over Hulton is a suburb of Westhoughton within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester,
England.
Historically part of Lancashire, it lies south west of Bolton.
History
The ancient district of Hulton, contained three townshi ...
civil parish. The County Borough of Bolton
Bolton was, from 1838 to 1974, a local government district in the northwest of England conterminate with the town of Bolton.
History
Bolton was created a free Borough in 1253 when William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby, granted a charter. However, ...
was abolished in 1974 and became a constituent part of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester. Bolton unsuccessfully applied for city status in 2011.
Bolton Council
Bolton Council, also called Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is a Metropolitan Borough Council, one of ten in Greater Manchester and one of 36 in t ...
is divided into twenty wards, each of which elects three councillors for a term of up to four years.
Under the Reform Act of 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...
, a Parliamentary Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
was established.[ The Bolton constituency was represented by two ]Members of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MPs). The Parliamentary Borough continued until 1950 when it was abolished and replaced with two parliamentary constituencies, Bolton East and Bolton West
Bolton West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Chris Green, a Conservative.
Constituency profile
The seat is on the outskirts of Greater Manchester with fields making for separate villages ...
, each with one Member of Parliament.[ In 1983 Bolton East was abolished and two new constituencies were created, Bolton North East, and Bolton South East covering most of the former Farnworth constituency. At the same time major boundary changes also took place to Bolton West, which took over most of the former Westhoughton constituency.] Under the town twinning
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
scheme the local council have twinned Bolton with Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
in France, since 1967, and Paderborn
Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...
in Germany, since 1975.
It is surrounded by several neighbouring towns and villages that together form the Borough of Bolton
'')''
, image_skyline =Bolton Town Hall.jpg
, imagesize = 250px
, image_caption = Bolton Town Hall, the seat of Bolton Council
, image_blank_emblem = Coat of arms of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council.png
, blank_emblem_type = Coat of Arms of ...
, of which Bolton is the administrative centre
An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located.
In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
. The town of Bolton has a population of 139,403, whilst the wider metropolitan borough has a population of 262,400.
Geography
Close to the West Pennine Moors
The West Pennine Moors is an area of the Pennines covering approximately of moorland and Reservoir (water), reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The West Pennine Moors are separat ...
, Bolton is north-west of Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
.
The early name, Bolton le Moors, described the position of the town amid the low hills on the edge of the West Pennine Moors
The West Pennine Moors is an area of the Pennines covering approximately of moorland and Reservoir (water), reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The West Pennine Moors are separat ...
southeast of Rivington Pike
Rivington Pike is a hill on Winter Hill, part of the West Pennine Moors at Rivington, Chorley in Lancashire, England. The nearest towns are Adlington and Horwich. The land and building are owned and managed by Chorley Council. The Pike Tower ...
(456 m). Bolton lies on relatively flat land on both sides of the clough or steep-banked valley through which the River Croal
The River Croal is a river located in Greater Manchester, England. It is a tributary of the River Irwell.
Rising at the confluence of Middle Brook and Deane Church Brook, it flows eastwards through Bolton, collecting ''Gilnow Brook'' and t ...
flows in a southeasterly direction towards the River Irwell
The River Irwell ( ) is a tributary of the River Mersey in north west England. It rises at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup and flows southwards for to meet the Mersey near Irlam. The Irwell marks the boundary be ...
.[ The geological formation around Bolton consists of ]sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
s of the Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
series and Coal Measures
In lithostratigraphy, the coal measures are the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. In the United Kingdom, the Coal Measures Group consists of the Upper Coal Measures Formation, the Middle Coal Measures Formation and the Lower Coal ...
; in the northern part of Bolton the lower Coal Measures are mixed with underlying Millstone Grit.[
Climate in the Greater Manchester area is generally similar to the ]climate of England
The United Kingdom straddles the higher mid-latitudes between 49° and 61°N on the western seaboard of Europe. Since the UK is always in or close to the path of the polar front jet stream, frequent changes in pressure and unsettled weather are ...
, although owing to protection from the mountains in North Wales it experiences slightly lower than average rainfall except during the summer months, when rainfall is higher than average. Bolton has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
subtype for this climate is " Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
).
Demography
At the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.
The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...
, according to the Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for th ...
, the Urban Subdivision of Bolton was part of the Greater Manchester Urban Area
The Greater Manchester Built-up Area is an area of land defined by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), consisting of the large conurbation that encompasses the urban element of the city of Manchester and the metropolitan area that forms ...
and had a total resident population of 139,403, of which 67,823 (48.7%) were male and 71,580 (51.3%) were female,[ living in 57,827 households.] The settlement occupied , compared with in the 1991 census, though the 2001 Urban census area contains a large rural area to the south of the town. Its population density was 31.35 people per hectare compared with an average of 40.20 across the Greater Manchester Urban Area.[ The median age of the population was 35, compared with 36 within the Greater Manchester Urban Area and 37 across England and Wales.
The majority of the population of Bolton were born in England (87.10%); 2.05% were born elsewhere within the United Kingdom, 1.45% within the rest of the European Union, and 9.38% elsewhere in the world.]
Data on religious beliefs across the town in the 2001 census show that 67.9% declared themselves to be Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, 12.5% stated that they were Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, 8.6% said they held no religion, and 3.4% reported themselves as Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
.
Population change
Economy
At the time of the 2001 Census, 56,390 people resident in Bolton were in employment. Of these, 21.13% worked in the wholesale and retail trade, including repair of motor vehicles; 18.71% worked within manufacturing industry; 11.00% worked within the health and social work sector and 6.81% were employed in the transport, storage and communication industries.
In the last quarter of the 20th century heavy industry was replaced by service-based activities including data processing, call centres, hi-tech electronics and IT companies. The town retains some traditional industries employing people in paper-manufacturing, packaging, textiles, transportation, steel foundries and building materials. Missiles were produced at the British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...
(BAe) factory in Lostock, now closed. The Reebok
Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...
brand's European headquarters are located at the Reebok Stadium
The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England.
Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming righ ...
. Bolton is also the home of the family bakery, Warburtons
Warburtons is a British baking firm founded by Thomas Warburton in 1876 and based in Bolton, a town formerly in Lancashire, England, and now in Greater Manchester. For much of its history Warburtons only had bakeries in Lancashire and it remai ...
, established in 1876 on Blackburn Road. On 13 February 2003, Bolton was granted Fairtrade Town
The Fair Trade Towns campaign is the result of a grass-roots citizens movement that started in the UK in 2001 (see below). It allows citizens to get together in order to self-proclaim their town (or other local geographical area) as a region that ...
status.
Bolton attracts visitors to its shopping centres, markets, public houses, restaurants and cafes in the town centre
as well retail parks and leisure facilities close to the town centre and in the surrounding towns and suburbs. Tourism plays a part in the economy, visitor attractions include Hall i' th' Wood
Hall i' th' Wood is an early 16th-century manor house in Bolton in the historic county of Lancashire and the ceremonial county of Greater Manchester, England. It is a Grade I listed building and is currently used as a museum by Bolton Metropo ...
, Smithills Hall
Smithills Hall is a Grade I listed manor house, and a scheduled monument in Smithills, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the slopes of the West Pennine Moors above Bolton at a height of 500 feet, three miles north west of the ...
and Country Park, Last Drop Village, Barrow Bridge
Barrow rail bridge, (or the Barrow viaduct), is a pratt truss type of railway bridge that spans the river Barrow between County Kilkenny and County Wexford in the south east of Ireland. This rural landmark with a length of is the longest ...
and the Bolton Steam Museum
Bolton Steam Museum is a museum in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which houses a variety of preserved steam engines. Based in the cotton store of the former Atlas Mill in Mornington Road, it is owned and run by the Northern Mill Engi ...
.
There are several regeneration projects planned for Bolton over the next ten years, including Church Wharf by Ask Developments and Bluemantle and Merchant's Quarter by local developer Charles Topham group, which together will contribute of business space. The Bolton Innovation Zone is a large £300 million development with the University of Bolton at its core.
Landmarks
Situated in the town centre on the site of a former market is the Grade II*
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
listed town hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
, an imposing neoclassical building designed by William Hill and opened in June 1873 by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...
. In the 1930s the building was extended by Bradshaw Gass & Hope
Bradshaw Gass & Hope is an English architectural practice founded in 1862 by Jonas James Bradshaw (–1912). The style "Bradshaw Gass & Hope" was adopted after his death referring to the remaining partners John Bradshaw Gass and Arthur John Hope ...
.[ Within the Town Hall are the 'Albert Halls and several function rooms. The original, single Albert Hall was destroyed by fire on 14 November 1981. After rebuilding work, it was replaced by the present Albert Halls, which were opened in 1985.] The halls underwent a major restoration project, reopening in 2017.
The Great Hall of Smithills Hall
Smithills Hall is a Grade I listed manor house, and a scheduled monument in Smithills, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the slopes of the West Pennine Moors above Bolton at a height of 500 feet, three miles north west of the ...
was built in the 14th century when William de Radcliffe received the Manor of Smithills from the Hultons, the chapel dates from the 16th century and was extended during the 19th. Smithills Hall was where, in 1555, George Marsh was tried for heresy during the Marian Persecutions
Protestants were executed in England under heresy laws during the reigns of Henry VIII (1509–1547) and Mary I (1553–1558). Radical Christians also were executed, though in much smaller numbers, during the reigns of Edward VI (1547–1553) ...
. After being "examined" at Smithills, according to local tradition, George Marsh stamped his foot so hard to re-affirm his faith, that a footprint was left in the stone floor. It is a Grade I listed building and is now a museum.
Hall i' th' Wood
Hall i' th' Wood is an early 16th-century manor house in Bolton in the historic county of Lancashire and the ceremonial county of Greater Manchester, England. It is a Grade I listed building and is currently used as a museum by Bolton Metropo ...
, now a museum, is a late mediaeval yeoman farmer's house built by Laurence Brownlow. Around 1637 it was owned by the Norris family, who added the stone west wing. In the 18th century it was divided up into tenements. Samuel Crompton
Samuel Crompton (3 December 1753 – 26 June 1827) was an English inventor and pioneer of the spinning industry. Building on the work of James Hargreaves and Richard Arkwright he invented the spinning mule, a machine that revolutionised the ...
lived and worked there. In the 19th century it deteriorated further until in 1895 it was bought by industrialist William Hesketh Lever
William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme , (, ; 19 September 1851 – 7 May 1925) was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician. Having been educated at a small private school until the age of nine, then at church schools ...
, who restored it and presented it to Bolton Council
Bolton Council, also called Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is a Metropolitan Borough Council, one of ten in Greater Manchester and one of 36 in t ...
in 1900.
Bolton's 26 conservation areas contain 700 listed buildings, many of which are in the town centre, and there is parkland including the Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
Queen's Park, Leverhulme Park
Leverhulme Park is the largest park in the town of Bolton, Greater Manchester. It was donated to the people of Bolton by, and named after, the late Lord Leverhulme. The park is bounded by the Breightmet, Darcy Lever, the Haulgh, and Tonge Fol ...
and other open spaces in the surrounding area. These include Le Mans Crescent, Ye Olde Man & Scythe, Little Bolton Town Hall, the Market Place, Wood Street and Holy Trinity Church. The Market Hall of 1854 is a Grade II listed building. Outside the town centre can be found Mere Hall, Firwood Fold, Haulgh Hall, Park Cottage, St Mary's Church, Deane, Lostock Hall Gatehouse and All Souls Church All Souls Church, All Soul's Chapel, and variations, may refer to:
United Kingdom
*Church of All Souls, Bolton
*All Souls' Church, Halifax
*All Souls Church, Hastings
*All Souls' Church, Blackman Lane
*All Souls Church, Langham Place
* All Souls C ...
. Notable mills still overlooking parts of the town are Sir John Holden's Mill and Swan Lane Mills
Swan Lane Mills is a former cotton mill complex in Bolton, Greater Manchester. All three mills are Grade II* listed buildings.
The mills were designed by Stott and Sons of Oldham. When completed, the double mill (Nos. 1 and 2) was the largest spin ...
.
Most views northwards are dominated by Rivington Pike and the Winter Hill TV Mast
The Winter Hill transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications site on Winter Hill, at the southern boundary of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire and above Bolton. It is owned and operated by Arqiva.
Height
The original mast at ...
on the West Pennine Moors above the town.
Transport
Bolton is well served by the local road network and national routes. The A6, a major north–south trunk road, passes to the west through Hunger Hill and Westhoughton.
The A666
The A666 is a major road in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, England.
Route
The road runs from its junction with the A6, and A580 at the Irlams o' th' Height boundary with Pendlebury near Manchester, through Pendlebury, Clifton, Kearsley, ...
dual carriageway
A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
, is a spur to and from the M61 motorway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
through the town centre to Astley Bridge, Egerton, Darwen and Blackburn. The M61 has three dedicated junctions serving the borough.
A network of local buses coordinated by Transport for Greater Manchester
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services throughout Greater Manchester in North West England. TfGM is responsible for investments in improving transport services and facilities. ...
serves the Bolton district and beyond; bus operators include and Diamond North West
Diamond Bus (North West) Ltd., trading as Diamond North West, is a bus operator providing services in the districts of Bolton and Wigan in Greater Manchester operating an extensive commercial network along with tendered services on behalf of Tra ...
. Bolton is also served by the National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
coach network. The bus station on Moor Lane
Moor Lane, known as the Peninsula Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football ground in the Kersal area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which has a capacity of 5,108 and is the home of Salford City FC, Salford City Football Club.
H ...
was scheduled to be replaced by a new interchange in the town centre next to the railway station by the end of 2014, at a cost of £48 million.
Bolton Interchange
Bolton Interchange is a transport interchange combining Bolton railway station and Bolton Bus Station
in the town of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. The station is located on the Manchester to Preston line and the Ribble Valley line, an ...
is managed by Northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ra ...
; the railway station is part of a town centre transport interchange
A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between mode of transport, transport modes. Public transport hubs include train station, railway stations, metro station, rapid transit stations, bu ...
with services to Manchester, Wigan, Southport, Kirkby, Blackburn, Preston, Blackpool, Barrow in Furness, Windermere, Glasgow, Edinburgh and intermediate stations operated by Northern and TransPennine Express
TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major c ...
.
Education
Bolton School
Bolton School is an independent day school in Bolton, Greater Manchester. It comprises a co-educational nursery, co-educational infant school (ages 3–7), single sex junior schools (ages 7–11) and single sex senior schools including sixth fo ...
, a private day school
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* Private (Ryōko Hirosue song), "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private ...
, was founded on a site next to the parish church in 1524 as a grammar school for boys; it merged around 1656 with a free grammar school (Lever's grammar) that had been founded shortly after 1641. In 1898, it moved to its present site in Chorley New Road, and in 1913 merged with Bolton Girls' Day School. In 1855 the Bolton Church Institute was founded by Canon James Slade
James Slade, (1783–1860), generally remembered as Canon Slade, was the Vicar of St Peter's Church, Bolton le Moors, Lancashire, England from 1817 to 1856.
Life
James Slade was born in Daventry, Northamptonshire on 2 May 1783 to the Reverend ...
near to the parish church. The school became Canon Slade School
)
, established = ''ante'' 1855
, closed =
, type = Academy
, trust = The Bishop Fraser Trust
, religious_affiliation = Church of England
, president =
, head_label = Headteacher
, head = Mrs K ...
, which has since relocated to Bradshaw. The town's other secondary schools include Bolton St Catherine's Academy
Bolton St Catherine's Academy is a mixed Church of England all-through school. The school is located in the Breightmet area of Bolton in the English county of Greater Manchester.
The school was formed in September 2009 from the merger of Wi ...
, Ladybridge High School
Ladybridge High School is a mixed secondary school located in the Deane area of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.
History
The Deane School was built in 1969 as a grammar school and a secondary modern school on the same site, a fact refl ...
, Sharples School
Sharples School is a co-educational secondary school located in the Sharples area of Bolton in the English county of Greater Manchester.
Established in 1974, the School celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2014.
Previously a community school a ...
, Smithills School
Smithills School is a mixed secondary school located in Smithills, Bolton, Greater Manchester.
Previously a community school administered by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, Smithills School converted to academy status on 1 January 2014. ...
, Thornleigh Salesian College
Thornleigh Salesian College is a Roman Catholic secondary school in the Astley Bridge area of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England.
History
Thornleigh College was originally a boys school founded in 1925 by the Salesians of Don Bosco at the r ...
and University Collegiate School
University Collegiate School is a mixed secondary school in central Bolton, England, now classed as a free school. It opened in 2015 on a new site on the University of Bolton campus as Bolton UTC, a university technical college for students ag ...
. Bolton College
Bolton College (previously known as Bolton Community College) is a further education college located in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.
The college is primarily based in Bolton, but operates a number of Community Learning Centres in the su ...
provides further education from sites throughout the borough. Bolton Sixth Form College
The Sixth Form Bolton is a further education college for students aged 16-19 and is located in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.
Overview
Bolton Sixth Form College is the largest further education college in the Metropolitan Borough of Bol ...
comprises the Town Centre Campus and Farnworth Campus. The Bolton TIC
Bolton Technical Innovation Centre (TIC) is a training centre in Minerva Road, Farnworth, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Its purpose is to provide facilities for technical training beyond the capabilities of local schools.
Aims
The Bolton ...
(Technical Innovation Centre), opened in 2006, supports local schools by providing additional technical training. The University of Bolton
, established = 2004 – gained University Status 1982 – Bolton Institute of Higher Education
, type = Public
, endowment = £160,000 (2009)
, administrative_staff = 700+
, chancellor ...
, formerly the Bolton Institute of Higher Education, gained university status in 2005.
Religion
There is evidence from Saxon times of Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
churches and at the time of the Civil War a Puritan and nonconformist
Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to:
Culture and society
* Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior
*Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity
** ...
presence in the town. The Unitarians were among the early dissenting congregations which eventually included Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
s, Baptists, Seventh Day Adventist and other denominations. More than forty churches were built during the Victorian era, but some have now been closed, demolished or converted to other uses.
Today, the parish of Bolton-le-Moors
Bolton le Moors (also known as Bolton le Moors St Peter) was a large civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in hundred of Salford in the historic county of Lancashire, England. It was administered from St Peter's Church, Bolton in the township of ...
covers a small area in the town centre, but until the 19th century it covered a much larger area, divided into eighteen chapelries and townships. The neighbouring ancient parish of Deane centred around St Mary's Church once covered a large area to the west and south of Bolton, and the township of Great Lever
Great Lever is a suburb of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is south of Bolton town centre and the same distance north of Farnworth. The district is served by frequent buses running to Bolton town centre, Farnwo ...
was part of the ancient parish of Middleton.[
The Church of St Peter, commonly known as Bolton Parish Church, is an example of the ]gothic revival style
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
. Built between 1866 and 1871 of Longridge
Longridge is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is situated north-east of the city of Preston, at the western end of Longridge Fell, a long ridge above the River Ribble. Its nearest neigh ...
stone to designs by Paley, the church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
is in width, in length, and in height. The tower
A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...
is high with 13 bells.[ The first church on the same site was built in ]Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
times. It was rebuilt in Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
times and again in the early 15th century. Little is known of the first two earlier churches, but the third building was a solid, squat building with a sturdy square tower at the west end. It was modified over the years until it fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1866.[ Fragments of stone and other artefacts from these first three buildings are displayed in the museum corner of the present church.][
St Mary's Deane, once the only church in a parish of ten townships in the hundred of Salford, is a church established in Saxon times. The current building dates from 1250 with extensions and restoration in the 19th century and is a ]Grade II*
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
St George's Church was built between 1794 and 1796 when Little Bolton was a separate township. Built by Peter Rothwell and paid for by the Ainsworth family. in 1975 it was leased to Bolton Council, and became a craft centre in 1994. St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church on Great Moor Street, was built in 1861.[Bolton – St Patrick]
from English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
, retrieved 13 February 2016
The New Zakaria Mosque, the first mosque in Bolton, served the Muslim community from Pakistan and India from the 1960s. The first place of worship for Hindus was in the former St Barnabas Church, converted into a Hindu temple.
Sport
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
is an English Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...
club which was formed in 1874 and for 102 years played at Burnden Park
Burnden Park was the home of English football club Bolton Wanderers who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup Final replay, it was the scene in 1946 of one of the greatest disasters in English footba ...
. The club moved to the University of Bolton Stadium
The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England.
Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming righ ...
in Horwich
Horwich ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Prior to 1974 in the historic county of Lancashire. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester. It l ...
in 1997. The club has won four FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
s, the most recent in 1958, and spent 73 seasons in the top division of the English league – more than any club never to have been league champions.
Bolton Hockey Club
Bolton Hockey Club is a Men’s, Ladies and Juniors Field Hockey Club Based in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ...
fields women's men's and junior teams and has more than 120 playing members. The town has a local cricket leagues, the Bolton Cricket League
The Bolton Cricket League is a cricket league comprising fifteen teams in and around Bolton, Greater Manchester in North West England. The league runs competitions at First Team, Second Team, Under 18, Under 15, Under 13 and Under 11 levels. It exp ...
, Bolton also has a rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
club, Bolton RUFC formed in 1872 situated on Avenue Street. The club operates four senior teams, as well as women's and junior sections. Bolton Robots of Doom
Bolton Robots of Doom (formerly Bolton Blaze) is an English baseball team from Bolton situated in the North West region of England, playing in the Northern AA Division under the British Baseball Federation.
History
Information on the beginnings o ...
is a baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
club started in 2003, playing home games at Stapleton Avenue. In addition to the adult team there is a junior team, Bolton Bears. Baseball in Bolton dates back to 1938 with a team called Bolton Scarlets. An American football team, the Bolton Bulldogs, plays home games at Smithills School operating varsity and junior varsity teams.
Speedway racing, known as Dirt Track Racing, was staged at Raikes Park in the pioneering days of 1928, but the speedway was short-lived.
Greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...
took place at the Raikes Park Greyhound Stadium
Raikes Park Greyhound Stadium, also known as Bolton Greyhound Stadium, was a greyhound racing track in Bolton, Greater Manchester in north-west England. It is not to be confused with the Westhoughton Greyhound Track, which was another track in ne ...
from 1927 until 1996.
Culture and society
According to a survey of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
, Boltonians are the friendliest people in Britain. Humphrey Spender
Humphrey Spender (19 April 1910 – 11 March 2005) was a British photographer, painter, and designer.
Family and education
Humphrey Spender was the third son of Harold Spender, a journalist and writer. Humphrey's mother, Violet Schuster, came ...
photographed Bolton calling it ''Worktown'' for the Mass-Observation
Mass-Observation is a United Kingdom social research project; originally the name of an organisation which ran from 1937 to the mid-1960s, and was revived in 1981 at the University of Sussex.
Mass-Observation originally aimed to record everyday ...
Project, a social research organisation which aimed to record everyday life in Britain. His photographs provide a record of ordinary people living and working in a British pre-War industrial town.
Bolton has several theatres including the Octagon
In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon.
A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...
and independent groups such as Bolton Little Theatre
Bolton Little Theatre is a registered charity located at Hanover Street, Bolton BL1 4TG and has a small car park available. It was established in 1931. The theatre is a member of the Bolton Amateur Theatre Societies, The Little Theatre Guild of ...
and the Phoenix Theatre Company. Inside the Town Hall there is a theatre and conference complex, the Albert Halls. Le Mans Crescent, home to the central library, museum, art gallery, aquarium, magistrates' court and town hall, is to be the centre of a new Cultural Quarter. The library and museum are to be extended into the area now occupied by the Magistrates Court. Bolton Museum
Bolton Museum is a public museum and art gallery in the town of Bolton, England, owned by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council. The museum is housed within the grade II listed Le Mans Crescent near Bolton Town Hall and shares its main entrance ...
and Art Gallery houses a collection of local and international art. Bolton Steam Museum
Bolton Steam Museum is a museum in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which houses a variety of preserved steam engines. Based in the cotton store of the former Atlas Mill in Mornington Road, it is owned and run by the Northern Mill Engi ...
houses a variety of preserved steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
s in part of the old Atlas Mill.
Bolton Central Library was one of the earliest public libraries established after the Public Libraries Act 1850
The Public Libraries Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict c.65) was an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which first gave local boroughs the power to establish free public libraries. The Act was the first legislative step in the creation of an enduring natio ...
, opening in October 1853 in the Exchange Building on the old market square (Victoria Square) before moving to Le Mans Crescent in July 1938. The Bolton Symphony Orchestra performs regular concerts at the Albert Halls and Victoria Hall in the town centre.
The 2008 BBC Radio 3 Adult Choir of the Year and five times gold-medal winning barbershop chorus The Cottontown Chorus is based in Bolton.
The town's daily newspaper is ''The Bolton News
''The Bolton News'' – formerly the ''Bolton Evening News'' – is a daily newspaper and news website covering the towns of Bolton and Bury in north-western England. Published each morning from Monday to Saturday and online every day, it is par ...
'', formerly the ''Bolton Evening News
''The Bolton News'' – formerly the ''Bolton Evening News'' – is a daily newspaper and news website covering the towns of Bolton and Bury in north-western England. Published each morning from Monday to Saturday and online every day, it is par ...
''. There is a weekly free paper, the ''Bolton Journal'' and Bolton Council's monthly newspaper, ''Bolton Scene''. The town is part of the BBC North West
BBC North West is the BBC English Region serving Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, North Yorkshire (western Craven), West Yorkshire (western Calderdale), Derbyshire (western High Peak), Cumbria (Barrow-in-Furness and So ...
and ITV Granada
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
television regions, served by the Winter Hill transmitter
The Winter Hill transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications site on Winter Hill, at the southern boundary of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire and above Bolton. It is owned and operated by Arqiva.
Height
The original mast at ...
near Belmont
Belmont may refer to:
People
* Belmont (surname)
Places
* Belmont Abbey (disambiguation)
* Belmont Historic District (disambiguation)
* Belmont Hotel (disambiguation)
* Belmont Park (disambiguation)
* Belmont Plantation (disambiguation)
* Belmon ...
. Local radio is provided by Greatest Hits Radio Greater Manchester
Greatest Hits Radio Manchester & The North West is an Independent Local Radio station based in Manchester, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts to Greater Manchester and North West Eng ...
(formerly Tower FM
Greatest Hits Radio Bolton & Bury (formerly Tower FM) is an Independent Local Radio station serving the Bolton and Bury areas of Greater Manchester.
Following its sale to Bauer Radio, the station was closed and merged with the Greatest Hits Rad ...
), which broadcasts across Bolton and Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
; Bolton FM
96.5 Bolton FM is a community radio station based in Bolton, United Kingdom. Their studios are located above Bolton's Ashburner Street Market. The station launched at 11am on 20 June 2009 at the One Bolton Festival event.
They were awarded th ...
began broadcasting in 2009.
The fictional village of Newbank in Benjamin Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...
's novel ''Coningsby
Coningsby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district in Lincolnshire, England, it is situated on the A153 road, adjoining Tattershall on its western side, 13 miles (22 km) north west of Boston and 8 miles (13 km) so ...
'' was based in part on the industrial village of Barrow Bridge
Barrow rail bridge, (or the Barrow viaduct), is a pratt truss type of railway bridge that spans the river Barrow between County Kilkenny and County Wexford in the south east of Ireland. This rural landmark with a length of is the longest ...
. ''Spring and Port Wine
''Spring and Port Wine'' is a stage play by Bill Naughton and a 1970 British kitchen sink drama film based on it. The drama is set in Bolton and concerns the Crompton family, especially Rafe, the father, and his attempts to assert his authority ...
'' by playwright, Bill Naughton
William John Francis Naughton (12 June 1910 – 9 January 1992) was an Irish-born British playwright and author, best known for his play ''Alfie''.
Early life
Born into relative poverty in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland, he moved to B ...
was filmed and set in Bolton and ''The Family Way
''The Family Way'' is a 1966 British comedy-drama film about the marital difficulties of a young newlywed couple living in a crowded house with the husband's family. Based on Bill Naughton's play '' All in Good Time'' (1963), the film began life ...
'' based on Naughton's play ''All in Good Time'' was also filmed and set in the town. Peter Kay
Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books.
Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...
filmed comedy TV series ''That Peter Kay Thing
''That Peter Kay Thing'' is a series of six spoof documentaries shown on Channel 4 in 2000. It was written by Peter Kay, Dave Spikey, Neil Fitzmaurice and Gareth Hughes, and was directed by Andrew Gillman. The series was narrated by Andrew Sachs ...
'' in the town.
Bolton has been used as a setting for film and television drama. Le Mans Crescent has featured as a London street in the Jeremy Brett
Peter Jeremy William Huggins (3 November 1933 – 12 September 1995), known professionally as Jeremy Brett, was an English actor. He played fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in four Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV series), Granada TV series from 1984 ...
version of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
, a Russian secret service building in the 1990s comedy series ''Sleepers'' and in ''Peaky Blinders'' in 2014. The 1990s BBC drama ''Between the Lines'' filmed an episode in Victoria Square.
Bolton Community and Voluntary Services supports voluntary and community activities. A network of volunteer groups look after the environment in Bolton supported by Bolton Green Umbrella.
The first Bolton LGBT+ Pride was held in 2015 and has been an ongoing annual event which since its second year has included a parade and live music.
Public services
Bolton is policed by the Bolton Division of Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England.
, Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...
. The statutory emergency fire and rescue service is provided by the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) is the statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. It is part of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
GMFRS covers an area of ...
, from Bolton Central, Bolton North, Horwich and Farnworth Fire Stations. Hospital services are provided by the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust
The Bolton NHS Foundation Trust is based at the Royal Bolton Hospital in Farnworth, Greater Manchester, England (Previously based just outside of Bolton town centre opposite Queen's Park). It provides NHS health care services for the people i ...
, which provides Accident and Emergency
An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the Acute (medicine), ...
and other services at Royal Bolton Hospital in Farnworth. Community health services, including GPs, district and community nurses, dentists and pharmacists, are co-ordinated by
the Bolton Primary Care Trust. Waste management is co-ordinated by the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority. Bolton's Distribution Network Operator for electricity is Electricity North West Ltd. United Utilities manage Bolton's drinking and waste water.
Notable people
Among the notable people born in Bolton are the Protestant martyr George Marsh, 1515–55, the inventor of the spinning mule that revolutionised the textile industry, Samuel Crompton
Samuel Crompton (3 December 1753 – 26 June 1827) was an English inventor and pioneer of the spinning industry. Building on the work of James Hargreaves and Richard Arkwright he invented the spinning mule, a machine that revolutionised the ...
, 1753–1827, and industrialist Lord Leverhulme
William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme , (, ; 19 September 1851 – 7 May 1925) was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician. Having been educated at a small private school until the age of nine, then at church school ...
of Bolton-le-Moors, 1851–1925.
More recently, people born and raised in Bolton include Fred Dibnah
Frederick Travis Dibnah, (29 April 1938 – 6 November 2004) was an English steeplejack and television personality, with a keen interest in mechanical engineering, who described himself as a "backstreet mechanic".
When Dibnah w ...
, a steeplejack who became a popular television historian of Britain's industrial past; world champion boxer Amir Khan, who became the WBA World light-welterweight champion on 18 July 2009 at the age of 22, making him Britain's third-youngest world champion boxer; comedian Peter Kay
Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books.
Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...
; and president of the International Paralympic Committee
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...
Philip Craven
Sir Philip Lee Craven (born 4 July 1950) is an English sports administrator, former Paralympic wheelchair basketball player, swimmer and track and field athlete. Between 2001 and 2017 he was the second president of the International Paralymp ...
. Playwright and author Bill Naughton
William John Francis Naughton (12 June 1910 – 9 January 1992) was an Irish-born British playwright and author, best known for his play ''Alfie''.
Early life
Born into relative poverty in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland, he moved to B ...
was born in Ireland but brought up in Bolton from an early age.
See also
* List of mills in Bolton
This list of mills in Bolton lists textile factories which existed at one time or another in the Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.
From the Industrial Revolution until the 20th century, Bolton was a major centre of textile manu ...
* Listed buildings in Bolton
Bolton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, and its central area is unparished. The central area of the town contains over 230 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
Bolton Council
{{Authority control
Towns in Greater Manchester
Market towns in Greater Manchester
Unparished areas in Greater Manchester
West Pennine Moors
Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton