Harwood is a suburb to the north-northeast 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 ...

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 ...

, bordering

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 ...

North West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

England. Harwood is also part of the historic county 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 ...

History

The township was recorded as Harewode in 1212 and 1302. The manor which included Bradshaw, was part of the Manchester

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contra ...

held by the Grelleys 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 ...

. In 1212 it was divided, the parts held by Roger de

Samlesbury Samlesbury () is a village and civil parish in South Ribble, Lancashire, England. Samlesbury Hall, a historic house, is in the village, as is Samlesbury Aerodrome and a large modern brewery owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev. The population at the ...

and Alexander de Harwood. The Samlesbury portion descended in the same way as

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 ...

and the Harwood portion to the Traffords of

Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of 235,493 in 2017. It covers Retrieved on 13 December 2007. and includes the area of Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Ur ...

who sold it in 1589 and afterwards much divided. The Radcliffes and Bartons 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 ...

held land in Harwood for many generations and Adam Mort of Astley held a

messuage In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts ...

and a

fulling mill Fulling, also known as felting, tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelled waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven or knitted cloth (particularly wool) to elimin ...

in 1630. In 1612, Sir Nicholas Mosley and his son, Edward, conveyed the manor of Harwood to a partnership of five yeomen; Matthew Harrison, Henry Haworth, Raufe Higson, Lawrence Horrocks and Edward Greenhalgh. In the

Hearth tax A hearth tax was a property tax in certain countries during the medieval and early modern period, levied on each hearth, thus by proxy on wealth. It was calculated based on the number of hearths, or fireplaces, within a municipal area and is cons ...

returns of 1666, forty-two hearths were liable to tax but only one house had three hearths. The common lands were enclosed in 1801. Christ Church was built in 1840 and Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels were also built.

Governance

Lying within the boundaries of the historic county of

since the early 12th century, Harwood was a township in 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 ...

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

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 it became part of the Bolton Poor Law Union which took responsibility for funding 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 in 1898 it became part of

Turton Urban District Turton Urban District was, from 1873 to 1974, a local government district centred on the historical area of Turton in the administrative county of Lancashire, England. History Background Turton was a township and chapelry of the civil and ec ...

Geography

Harwood is 2½ miles north east of Bolton in 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 ...

to the north of the road to

. Bradshaw Brook separates it from Tonge. The township covered about of hilly land, the highest point is at Bowstone Hill and the lowest . Stone was quarried and the brooks used by bleachworks. The underlying rocks are

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 ...

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 and

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

s. Originally a small village within the former

, but now a small part of 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 ...

. Harwood is mostly residential, with most businesses and shops concentrated around a

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqua ...

supermarket at its centre. Neighbouring districts include Affetside, Bradshaw and Breightmet. Harwood is picturesque with St Maxentius church at its Bolton facing end, with historic tower. There are several public houses; (House Without a Name, Seven Stars,Grey Mare, Bill'n'Coos, Crofters and the White Horse) many serving food, a medical practice,library, large park (Longsight Park also containing Bolton arboretum) and a small playground off Recreation Street. Numerous footpaths leading out to the West Pennine Hills.

Transport

Harwood is served by the 507 bus from Bolton. On Monday to Saturday weekdays, the 480 runs hourly running between

and

, via Bradshaw, Harwood, Affetside and Tottington. The nearest

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s are located 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 ...

within walking distance on the main road and

Bromley Cross Bromley Cross is a residential area of South Turton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It gives its name to a larger electoral ward, which includes Eagley, Egerton, and Cox Green. Historically part of Lancashir ...

within the public footpaths in Bradshaw.

Education

Primary schools in the area are St Brendan's, St Maxentius, Harwood Meadows, Hardy Mill. The popular secondary school for residents of Harwood is Turton High School in Bromley Cross, though both Canon Slade and

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 ...

are nearby.

References

External links

Information about Harwood

GENUKI: Harwood, Lancashire genealogy

{{Authority control Areas of Bolton