Horwich ( ) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and

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 ...

in the

Metropolitan 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 ...

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 ...

, England. Prior to 1974 in the historic county of Lancashire. It is southeast of

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

, northwest of

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

and northwest 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 ...

. It lies at the southern 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 ...

with the

M61 motorway The M61 is a motorway in North West England between Manchester and Preston, linking the M60 Manchester Orbital Motorway with the M6 Midlands-to-Scotland motorway. It runs from the A580 near Wardley and heads northwest past Bolton, Horwich ...

passing close to the south and west. At the 2011 Census, Horwich had a population of 20,067. Horwich emerged in the

Middle Ages 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 period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

as a hunting chase. Streams flowing from the moors were harnessed to provide power for bleachworks and other industry at the start of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. The textile industry became a major employer and after 1884 the construction of the railway works caused the population of the town to increase dramatically. The old industries have closed and

urban regeneration Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

has been led by out of town developments, particularly at Middlebrook, which, since 1997 has been the base of

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, who play 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 rig ...

, having moved from

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 ...

near

town centre.

History

The name Horwich derives 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 ...

''har'' and ''wice'', meaning the place at the grey

wych-elm ''Ulmus glabra'' Hudson, the wych elm or Scots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to the Urals, and from the Arctic Circle south to the mountains of the Peloponnese and Sicily, where the species reaches ...

and in 1221 was recorded as ''Horewic''. The name was recorded as ''Harewych'' in 1277 and ''Horewyche'' in 1327.

Horwich Forest

Horwich grew from its original 'bridge point settlement' on the River Douglas at what is now Scholes Bank. By the

Horwich was a hunting chase, after the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

held by

Albert de Gresle Albert de Gresle () was a non-resident lord of the manor of Manchester. Origins Various antiquarians believed that the Gresle family originated from Malahulc, purported uncle of Rollo, of whom descended Roger I of Tosny, ancestor of the future G ...

between 1086 and 1100. In 1277 Robert Gresle, Baron of

prosecuted Martin de

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 ...

for carrying off deer in Horwich Chase which was described in 1322 as being within "a circuit of sixteen leagues with a yearly value in

pannage Pannage (also referred to as ''Eichelmast'' or ''Eckerich'' in Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia) is the practice of releasing livestock-domestic pig, pigs in a forest, so that they can feed on falle ...

, aeries of eagles, herons and goshawks, in honey, millstones, and iron mines, in charcoal-burning, and the like issues, 60 shillings; of which the vesture in oaks, elms and wholly covered with such, 160

marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks, trademarks owned by an organisation for the benefit of its members * Marks & Co, the inspiration for the novel ...

." In 1294 Thomas Gresle, sixth Baron of Manchester obtained

free warren A free warren—often simply warren—is a type of franchise or privilege conveyed by a sovereign in medieval England to an English subject, promising to hold them harmless for killing game of certain species within a stipulated area, u ...

over "Horewich". The local enforcement of Forest Law was through a Bailiff who served the

Lord of the Manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

and it was he who decided punishments. Trespassers in the forest were brought before the

Manorial Manorialism, also known as the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, sometimes forti ...

Court Leet The court leet was a historical court baron (a type of manorial court) of England and Wales and Ireland that exercised the "view of frankpledge" and its attendant police jurisdiction, which was normally restricted to the hundred courts. Etym ...

Preindustrial

By the 16th century, subsequent to the

reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

land ownership had shifted from Church to the crown and was then sold to new owners, who transformed the town into an agricultural economy, and forests were cleared. Many of the farms from the period still existed until the housing boom of the 19th and 20th centuries, like many Lancashire towns the cotton industry was prominent as at least a secondary occupation in many households, weaving became a widespread occupation, and industries like bleaching, dying and paper making grew from the use of water power with the towns preindustrial plentiful access to flowing water. The town continued this path until the arrival of the railway workshops in the 19th century. In 1598 a number of men were presented at the court leet for tithing and in 1621 the court leet recorded "paid for

hue and cry In common law, a hue and cry is a process by which bystanders are summoned to assist in the apprehension of a criminal who has been witnessed in the act of committing a crime. History By the Statute of Winchester of 1285, 13 Edw. I statute 2. c ...

e that came from Horwich after the man who made an escape forth of ye

stocks Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing ...

for stealing certain lynen cloth 8 d". The earliest map of Horwich is dated 1620 and is known as 'The Platt of Horwich', naming the landowner as Sir Thomas Barton, of the Barton family of Holme Hall in the manor of Holme

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

and

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 ...

, Bolton. A plague pit is noted on the map, with victims of a 1623 outbreak, interred in a mass grave under what is now Lever Park Avenue. By the 17th century, the amount of woodland in the Horwich forest was reduced by house building and for fuel. Horwich Moor was enclosed between 1815 and 1818. Race meetings were held between 1837 and 1847 at the 'Old Lords estate', an area next to the Rivington border, named after 11th Baron Willoughby. Four Barons Willoughby of Parham are interred at Horwich Parish Church. The manor became the property of the Andertons of Lostock Hall, Lostock, who purchased it in 1599 from Nicholas and Elizabeth Mosley. These lands were confiscated by

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

in 1715 after the Battle of Preston. They were leased to the Blundells whose coat of arms is displayed above the door at the Blundell Arms on Chorley Old Road. The Pilkington family were notable in the town's history, prior to the Ridgways. The town coat of arms incorporates the Pilkington Cross, in recognition of the founder of the

Rivington and Blackrod High School Rivington and Blackrod High School in the North West region of England is a Leverhulme Trust multi-academy school alongside Harper Green School, it operates as a Church of England teaching environment with a sixth form school. The school is lo ...

, James Pilkington, Bishop of Durham and the prominent role in the local history of the family. Richard Pilkington, a leading non-conformist and owner of Horwich Manor, and his family feature in the town's history from the post

Protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...

to the industrial revolution being benefactors and founders of a number of places of worship. Another William Pilkington (1765–1831) became a physician and

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Ameri ...

in St Helens. It is this branch that links Horwich to the founders of

Pilkington Glass 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 ...

, his sons being Richard (1795–1869) and William (1800–1872).

Industrial Revolution

In the 1770s brothers, John and Joseph Ridgway, land agents to the Blundells, moved their

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 from

Wallsuches Wallsuches is a small district of Horwich, Greater Manchester, England. Etymology The etymology of the place-name itself is unclear, although it is believed the name may be from Old English ''wella'' (or the regional dialect variant wella) "strea ...

. Their works was the oldest and one of the few stone-built mills in the Bolton borough. The firm was one of the earliest users of chemical 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 ...

. In 1798 the firm installed a

Boulton and Watt Boulton & Watt was an early British engineering and manufacturing firm in the business of designing and making marine and stationary steam engines. Founded in the English West Midlands around Birmingham in 1775 as a partnership between the Engli ...

steam engine. Horwich Vale Printworks, founded in 1799 by the River Douglas, printed cloth using machines and handblocks. On the slopes of Winter Hill, stone was quarried and there were several small collieries and a

firebrick A fire brick, firebrick, or refractory is a block of ceramic material used in lining furnaces, kilns, fireboxes, and fireplaces. A refractory brick is built primarily to withstand high temperature, but will also usually have a low thermal cond ...

and tile works. In 1896 the Montcliffe Colliery was owned by Adam Mason and Son and managed by Joseph Crankshaw and Joseph Kenwright. It employed 26 men underground and seven surface workers getting coal and fireclay from the Mountain

coal seam Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

. Crankshaws pipeworks used the fireclay and had had several beehive kilns at their works at Tiger's Clough. In the mid-19th century,

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 were built by W. & W. Bennett and Peter Gaskell. Ridgways provided land for the early 19th century Club Houses, a grid pattern development of streets of stone built cottages south of Church Street. Some had basements for hand loom weaving. In 1851 the occupants were crofters, stovers and bleachers.

Heavy Industry

In 1881 the population of 3,761 lived in 900 houses and had remained stable for fifty years, the arrival of the railway works and other industries including W.T. Taylor's cotton mill resulted in a considerable change to Horwich leading to a rapid increase in population, creating a boom in population by 1891 to 12,850 people, Horwich became a railway town in this period of the

. Coming with this increased population was a need for more houses, schools, and retail and service industries to provide for this new population. Large areas of former farmland was built on with the creation of vast numbers of brick terraced house streets of Victorian and Edwardian types of

two-up two-down Two-up two-down is a type of small house with two rooms on the ground floor and two bedrooms upstairs. There are many types of terraced houses in the United Kingdom, and these are among the most modest. Those built before 1875, the pre-regulat ...

for the

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

who had arrived from across Britain and Ireland, still used in the 21st century. Many new streets near Horwich Locomotive Works were named after famous engineers of the time. Local government in Horwich meets and is administered from a typical Victorian-style building which became known as Horwich Public Hall, a gift to the town by Peter Martin of The Street, Rivington in 1879 and still in use. The post-war years saw a boom in the builds of Council Houses. In 1937 the

de Havilland Aircraft Company The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...

built a factory that supplied aircraft to

Cobham's Flying Circus Sir Alan John Cobham, KBE, AFC (6 May 1894 – 21 October 1973) was an English aviation pioneer. Early life and family As a child he attended Wilson's School, then in Camberwell, London. The school relocated to the former site of Croyd ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the factory manufactured variable pitch propellers for

Spitfires The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

, making it a target for German bombers, who in July 1942 attempted to raid the factory by employing some of Germany's best pilots and crews in two

Junkers JU 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...

bombers in a mission using the Rivington reservoirs as landmarks to navigate at low level flying over the water then rooftops of Lever Park to find its target. The raid went off course due to low clouds. The company was taken over by

Hawker Siddeley Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers and acquisitions as one of onl ...

and subsequently

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 ...

, the site was halved and moved to the south side of Hall lane Lostock when taken over by MBDA in 1997 it is still in 2013 making missiles and the site is now used for integration and test purposes. Horwich works was very active in armament production in the first and second world wars, in recognition

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...

and his wife Queen Elizabeth visited the town in 1940.

Railway Town

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway 0-4-0ST locomotive WREN

In the period of the railway works from spring 1884 to 1983 Horwich changed drastically. The site first opened as the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

(L&YR) works, leading to a large complex for building and maintaining locomotives, the site replaced one at

Miles Platting Miles Platting is an inner city part of Manchester, England, northeast of Manchester city centre along the Rochdale Canal and A62 road, bounded by Monsall to the north, Collyhurst to the west, Newton Heath to the east, and Bradford, Holt Tow ...

. Horwich Works was built on 142 hectares of land bought for £36,000. The first workshop, Rivington House opened in February 1887. It is 106.7 metres long by 16.8 metres wide. The long brick built workshops had full-height arched windows and were separated by tram and rail tracks. Work to construct the three-bay, 463.3 metres long, 36 metres wide, erecting shop began in March 1885. Inside it were 20 overhead cranes. By November 1886 the first locomotives arrived at the works for repair. The first Horwich built locomotive, Number 1008, left the works in 1887 and is preserved at the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant r ...

.Simmons, Jack, (1986) ''The Railway in Town and Country,'' Newton Abbot: David and Charles ()Larkin, Edgar J. and Larkin, John G., (1988) ''The Railway Workshops of Great Britain, 1823–1986,'' London: Macmillan Press () In the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and Second World War, the works played a part in the war effort manufacturing

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

s and

munition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...

s. The war led to women being employed in manufacturing at the site, but this did not continue in post-war years with

occupational inequality Occupational inequality is the unequal treatment of people based on gender, sexuality, height, weight, accent, or race in the workplace. When researchers study trends in occupational inequality they usually focus on distribution or allocation patte ...

persisting. The L&YR amalgamated with the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

in 1922 becoming a constituent of the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

, (LMS) in 1923. Horwich Works continued to build and repair locomotives for the LMS until the company was

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

in 1948 by the

Transport Act 1947 The Transport Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6 c. 49) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Under the terms of the Act, the railway network, long-distance road haulage and various other types of transport were nationalised and came under ...

, becoming

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ways. In 1962, British Railways transferred control of its main works to British Railways Workshops Division, with its headquarters in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

. In 1970 it was renamed

British Rail Engineering Limited British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) was the railway systems engineering subsidiary of British Rail. Established in 1970, the maintenance arm was split as British Rail Maintenance Limited in 1987, and the design and building of trains was pr ...

(BREL) and remained the towns most significant employer. Production changed and the last steam locomotive built at Horwich Works left on 27 November 1957, after which the works produced shunting diesel trains until 28 December 1962. It was reduced to repairing engines and maintaining railway wagons. On 18 February 1983 BREL announced that the works would close at the end of the year. Protest marches and spirited trade union resistance failed to alter the decision and at 1 pm on Friday, 23 December 1983 Horwich Works closed after 97 years. The town went through a period of high unemployment afterward, The freehold of the railway works site was transferred from British Rail to Bolton Council in the mid-1990s. A proposal to demolish the works and build 1,700 homes and a school was submitted 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 ...

in early 2010. The initial phase of the development commenced in 2019. Asbestos used to insulate steam engines and railway carriages linked to

mesothelioma Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The most common area affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lining ...

has been a legacy affecting former workers and their families with asbestos dust also being carried in clothing. The redevelopment of the site required it to be cleared of contaminants before building commenced. Part of the site is planned for demolition for the creation of a link road in 2019, linking the Middlebrook Retail Park, M61 and Horwich Railway Station. With the closure of Horwich Locomotive Works and other heavy industries, the town went through a period of hardship until the development of the Middlebrook Retail Park and the arrival in the town of Bolton Wanderers Football Club, which revived the service and retail sectors, alongside this the town is now known for sub-urban residential accommodation with the benefit of access to the motorway and other transport links. The economic area is centered around the Middlebrook area, this is planned to expand with new industrial areas being built toward

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 ...

Governance

Horwich was within the county boundaries of Lancashire from the 12th century and was a

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 ...

in the historic ecclesiastical parish of Deane, in the

Hundred of Salford The Salford Hundred (also known as Salfordshire) was one of the subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire, in Northern England (see:Hundred (county division). Its name alludes to its judicial centre being the township of Salford (the s ...

. In 1837 Horwich joined with other townships and

civil parishes 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. ...

to form the

Poor Law Union and took joint responsibility for the administration and funding of the

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

in that area and built a

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'' ...

Farnworth Farnworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southeast of Bolton, 4.3 miles south-west of Bury (7 km), and northwest of Manchester. Historically in Lancashire, Farnworth lies on the River Ir ...

. The Horwich

Local board of health Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...

was established in 1872 and was superseded by

Horwich Urban District Horwich was, from 1872 to 1974, a local government district centred on the town of Horwich in the administrative county of Lancashire, England. History Horwich was a township and chapelry in the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Deane in the Sa ...

of the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

of Lancashire in 1894. Under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

Horwich Urban District was abolished in 1974 and its area became a

successor parish Successor parishes are civil parishes with a parish council, created in England in 1974. They replaced, with the same boundaries, a selected group of urban districts and municipal boroughs: a total of 300 successor parishes were formed from the fo ...

of the newly created

in Greater Manchester and was removed from the county of Lancashire. On 9 January 1974 Horwich was granted a

Town Charter A city charter or town charter (generically, municipal charter) is a legal document (''charter'') establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Traditionally the granting of a charter ...

by the

Earl Marshal Earl marshal (alternatively marschal or marischal) is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England (then, following the Act of Union 1800, in the United Kingdom). He is the eig ...

, giving Horwich the status of a town, a

town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...

and the ability to elect a Mayor. An official

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

was granted and assigned on 6 December 1974 by the Earl Marshal.Horwich Coat of Arms
Retrieved 29 March 2007. Horwich is covered by two electoral Wards of the Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, the Horwich and Blackrod, and Horwich North East Wards. Each Ward elects three councillors to the Metropolitan Borough Council.

Horwich Town Council Horwich Town Council is a local authority with limited powers and covers the town and civil parish of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is made up of fourteen elected Town Councillors, representing eigh ...

, formed in 1974, has six Wards; Vale, Bridge, Lever Park, Church, Claypool and Brazley, which elect 14 representatives to the Town Council. Horwich is part of the Bolton West Constituency. Its Member of Parliament is Chris Green who won the parliamentary seat at the 2015 General Election.

Geography

Reebok stadium with Rivington Pike in background - panoramio

Suburban localities in Horwich include Wallsuches and Middlebrook. Horwich extends to and measures from north to south and west to east. The River Douglas flowing in a south westerly direction forms part of its northern boundary. The landscape to the north is dominated by Winter Hill,

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 ...

and the

. The highest point is on the moors in the north from where the ground slopes down towards the south and west, where the lowest land is about . On Wilders and Horwich Moors the underlying rock is Millstone Grit, and in the intermediate slopes are found the Lower

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 ...

of the

Lancashire Coalfield The Lancashire Coalfield in North West England was an important British coalfield. Its coal seams were formed from the vegetation of tropical swampy forests in the Carboniferous period over 300 million years ago. The Romans may have been the fir ...

. The Middle Coal Measures are found in the southwest of the township. Red Moss, 1.5 km south of the town centre, is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSIs) which was designated in 1995 because of its biological interest. Red Moss is the best example of lowland raised

mire A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types ...

in Greater Manchester and is one of 21 SSSIs in the area. The site is managed by the

Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside The Lancashire Wildlife Trust or Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside is a wildlife trust covering the county of Lancashire and parts of Greater Manchester and Merseyside in England. It includes all of the ceremonial cou ...

Demography

At the 2001 UK census, Horwich had a population of 19,312 of which 9,370 were male and 9,942 were female. The 2001 population density is lower than Bolton at 12.5 people per hectare compared to 18.7 in Bolton. At the 2011 UK census, Horwich's population increased to 20,067 of which 9,777 were male and 10,290 were female. The 2011 census recorded a total of 9,013 households, of which were 1,979

detached houses A stand-alone house (also called a single-detached dwelling, detached residence or detached house) is a free-standing residential building. It is sometimes referred to as a single-family home, as opposed to a multi-family residential dwelling ...

, 2,642 semi-detached houses, 3,254

terraced houses In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...

, 971 purpose-built

flats Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

, 160 other flats (including

bedsit A bedsit, bedsitter, or bed-sitting room is a form of accommodation common in some parts of the United Kingdom which consists of a single room per occupant with all occupants typically sharing a bathroom. Bedsits are included in a legal category ...

s), and 7 caravans (or other mobile or temporary structure).

Population change

Until the late 18th century, Horwich was a small rural community. In 1774, it had a population of 305, comprising 156 females and 149 males. After 1780 the population increased as the

brought changes to the town but remained constant until 1885 when the locomotive works were built more than trebling the population in ten years.

Economy

Many of Horwich's traditional industries, Horwich Works and W.T. Taylor's cotton mill closed in the late 20th century. Regeneration was led by the construction of the University of Bolton Stadium for Bolton Wanderers at Middebrook in 1995. The development which stretches into neighbouring Lostock, attracted industrial and commercial users including

Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...

, generating jobs to replace those lost in the old industries and the area is now dominated by

small and medium enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...

. E.ON and

RBS RBS may refer to: Organisations Banking * The Royal Bank of Scotland, a retail banking subsidiary of NatWest Group ** RBS International, the offshore banking arm of NatWest Group Education * Regent's Business School * Rotterdam Business School ...

have set up offices close the University of Bolton stadium. Watson Steel Structures founded in 1933 and BAe's successor company,

Matra BAe Dynamics Matra BAe Dynamics was formed in August 1996 by merger of half the missile business of Matra Defense of France and BAe Dynamics (a division of British Aerospace) of the UK and was Europe's largest manufacturer of missiles and UAVs. British Aeros ...

operates from the Middlebrook area.

Georgia Pacific Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, toilet and paper towel dispensers, packaging, building products and r ...

has a paper manufacturing plant close to the University of Bolton Stadium.

Halbro Halbro Sportswear Limited is a British manufacturer of sportswear and equipment for both codes of Rugby. The firm was established in 1919 and is based in the town of Horwich, Greater Manchester. Clubs using Halbro jerseys include the RAF Rugby L ...

, manufacturers of sportswear and equipment for both codes of rugby, is based on Chorley New Road. There are

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

and

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of York ...

stores on the outskirts of town and

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...

and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

stores closer to the town centre. EU grants have contributed to new "traditional style" shop fronts in the town centre, which has many small specialist shops. The Horwich indoor market building was closed and demolished in 2009 but there is a weekly outdoor market.

Transport

Public transport is co-ordinated 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. ...

. The nearest railway stations are at

and Horwich Parkway adjacent to the University of Bolton Stadium where there is a Park and Ride facility with trains to Bolton, Manchester and Preston. Blackrod station is nearer the town centre. The original

Horwich railway station Horwich railway station was located in Lancashire, England on a branch from the Manchester to Preston Line. It was closed to passengers on 27 September 1965 and to goods on 25 April 1966. Opened on 14 February 1870 to serve the town of Horwi ...

was closed in the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised British Rail, railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Develop ...

to passenger traffic on 27 September 1965, goods traffic continued until 1966, the line was fully closed in 1967. Frequent buses operate between Horwich and Bolton. The 575 is operated by

Arriva North West Arriva North WestCompanies House extract company no 1990871

, with Arriva services terminating in

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 ...

. Stagecoach Lancashire provide service 125 between Preston and Bolton via

and Adlington. Bus links to Middlebrook Retail Park are provided by

Diamond Bus 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 ...

services 516 (Evening and Sunday services only), 517 and 518 which all between Horwich and Leigh via Westhoughton and Atherton. Service 576, which operates from Bolton to Wigan via the Middlebrook and Blackrod areas in Horwich also runs in the evenings. Horwich is situated close to the motorway network with access at junction 6 of the

. The A673 Bolton to Preston road passes through the town which is accessed by the B6226 and B5238.

Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...

is 50 minutes by direct train from

Horwich Parkway railway station Horwich Parkway is a railway station serving the town of Horwich and Middlebrook near Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. Located within the historic county of Lancashire the station is north west of Manchester Piccadilly on the Manchest ...

Education

The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company built the Railway Mechanics Institute in 1888. It became the Technical College but has been demolished. Horwich secondary school students years attend either

, a Specialist

Technology College In the United Kingdom, a Technology College is a specialist school that specialises in design and technology, mathematics and science. Beginning in 1994, they were the first specialist schools that were not CTC colleges. In 2008, there were 59 ...

which was originally the Rivington & Blackrod Grammar School on a site in Rivington close to the boundary with Horwich, or St Joseph's RC High School on Chorley New Road. The oldest school building is the old Horwich Parish School which was built as a

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, Infant and Sunday School in 1793 and now used as a

parish hall A church hall or parish hall is a room or building associated with a church, generally for community and charitable use.

and is a

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 ...

. Horwich Parish Church of England Primary School occupies the listed premises built in 1832. Our Lady's school was built in 1886 on Chorley New Road and Holy Family Primary School on Victoria Road in 1894. Holy Family was the first Lancashire County Council school to be granted aided status under the 1944 Education Act. The schools merged on the Victoria Road site as St. Mary's RC Primary School.

Religion

Prior to the

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

existed dedicated to St Mary's Church in Deane. In 1565 the commissioners for "removing superstitious ornaments" took various idolatrous items from the chapel. The local population were forced by various means to conform to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

and as with all other towns and villages across the country

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

was suppressed and it was not until 1886 when Father Hampson opened St Mary's Roman Catholic Church on Chorley New Road that the local Catholic population had a formal place of worship. The presbytery there was built by Father McGrath in 1906. After 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 ...

, with the contrivance of the vicar of Deane, the Chapel of Horwich was used by nonconformists and in 1669 a

conventicle A conventicle originally signified no more than an assembly, and was frequently used by ancient writers for a church. At a semantic level ''conventicle'' is only a good Latinized synonym of the Greek word church, and points to Jesus' promise in M ...

, meeting of nonconformists, was reported at Horwich and the ringleaders were prosecuted. In 1672 a nonconformist service was held at Old Lord's Farm, the home of the

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 ...

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Thomas Willoughby, a soldier of the

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

, who later become 11th Baron Willoughby of Parham. In 1716 Bishop Gastrell of Chester recovered the chapel for the established church. The chapel was replaced in 1782 and rebuilt as Holy Trinity Church, a

Commissioners' Church A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglican church in the United Kingdom built with money voted by Parliament as a result of the Church Building Acts of 1818 and 1824. The 1818 Act supplied ...

, in 1831. Until 1853 became a parish in its own right with Holy Trinity as the parish church. After the non conformists were ejected from Horwich Chapel, Richard Pilkington built "New Chapel" between 1716 and 1719. It was enlarged in 1805. In 1890 the Unitarian Free Church was built on Church Street. In the 18th and 19th centuries other nonconformist churches and chapels were built. Lee Lane Congregational Church, founded in 1754, closed in 2005 and was converted into a flats. It was originally built in 1856 on the site of an earlier build known as Horwich Lee Chapel built in 1774 on the site of an earlier house, also owned by Thomas Willoughby and was used for meetings from 1682 by

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

members splitting away from the

Rivington Unitarian Chapel Rivington Unitarian Chapel is an active place of Unitarian worship in Rivington, Lancashire, England. It was founded in 1703, although its congregation dates to 1667. It is designated as a Grade II* listed building with some restoration in 1990 ...

as its doctrine changed. The Independent Methodist chapel in Lee Lane was built in 1867,

Methodism 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 br ...

had been practised from 1810. Primitive Methodists had a chapel on Horwich Moor and where a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

church was built in 1890.

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 ...

play at the

having moved from

near Bolton town centre in 1997. Indoor facilities for sports training and major racket sports tournaments are provided at

Bolton Arena Bolton Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena, located at Middlebrook on the boundary between Horwich and Lostock in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It has a seating capacity of 6,000 people and hosts indoor sport ...

, which was used for badminton events in the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

. Several of the town's sporting organisations have origins in the sport and social clubs of Horwich Locomotive Works. Horwich RMI Harriers and Athletic Club founded in 1924, is based at Middlebrook and participates in road, fell and cross country races, track and field athletics. Horwich Cycling Club was founded in 1934 as the Horwich Wheelers. It is involved in the organisation of the Horwich Carnival Road Races, held in the town centre. Horwich RMI Cricket Club was founded in 1892. The club plays in 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 ...

which it joined in 1934.

Twin town

In March 1990, Horwich and

Crowborough Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and 33 miles (53 ...

, East Sussex entered into a unique twinning arrangement when they became the first towns within the United Kingdom to sign a

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 ...

charter. It was signed by the Mayors of Horwich and Crowborough at a ceremony in the Public Hall, Horwich on 22 March 1990 and the Town Hall, Crowborough on 27 March 1990.Horwich's Town Twinning
Retrieved 29 March 2007. On the 25th anniversary of the Town Twinning, in March 2015, the Mayor of Horwich, Cllr. Richard E W Silvester and the Mayor of Crowborough, Cllr. Ronald G Reed signed 25th Anniversary celebratory Town Twinning documents in Crowborough Town Hall on Tuesday 10 March 2015 and in Horwich Public Hall on Thursday 19 March 2015, to re-new the twinning agreement. Horwich Cycle Club members travelled down to Crowborough on Friday 15 May 2015 and cycled with members of Wealden Cycle Club over that weekend as part of the celebrations.

Notable people

References

Bibliography

*. * * * *. * *.

External links

Bolton Museum Archive Photographs

www.horwichheritage.co.uk Horwich Heritage

Horwich: Its History, Legends, and Church
by Thomas Hampson {{authority control Towns in Greater Manchester Civil parishes in Greater Manchester West Pennine Moors Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton Railway towns in England