Over Hulton is a suburb of

Westhoughton Westhoughton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southwest of Bolton, east of Wigan and northwest of Manchester.Metropolitan Borough of Bolton '')'' , image_skyline =Bolton Town Hall.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Bolton Town Hall, the Seat of local government, seat of Bolton Council , image_blank_emblem = Coat of arms of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council.png , blank_embl ...

, 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 ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, ...

, England. Historically part 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 ...

, it lies south west 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 weavers settled in the area in the 14th centu ...

History

The ancient district of Hulton, contained three townships, Over Hulton, Middle Hulton and

Little Hulton Little Hulton is an area in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, south of Bolton, northwest of Salford, and northwest of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Little Hulton is bordered by Farn ...

, it was recorded as Helghtun and Hulton in 1235, Hilton in 1278 and 1292, Hulton in 1292 although Hilton was still used until the 17th century. The chief manor was held by the Hultons at Hulton Park in Over Hulton. The earliest recorded Hultons were Iorweth and Madoc who came from Wales in 1167. It is possible they were joining family who were in the township from 989. Richard de Hulton, is recorded as having freehold of lands in the districts of Hulton, Ordsall, Flixton and Heaton in 1304. At Hulton he built Hulton Hall which was surrounded by a park with of water. The estate was rich in coal mines. The last surviving member of the Hulton family was Sir Geoffrey Hulton, his family had owned the land for 800 years. The hall was demolished in 1958. In 1819, a member of this family, the magistrate

William Hulton William Hulton (23 October 1787 – 30 March 1864) was an English landowner, magistrate and collier who lived at Hulton Park, in the historic county of Lancashire, England. The Hultons owned the estate since the late-12th century. Biograp ...

ordered the Yeomanry Cavalry in to arrest William Hunt as he addressed the demonstration at St Peter's Field in Manchester setting off what was to become known as the

Peterloo massacre The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Square, Manchester, St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Fifteen people died when cavalry charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who had gathered to d ...

. 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 ...

ran to the west serving the Hulton Collieries. The Hulton Collieries Hulton Bank Colliery, otherwise known as the Pretoria Pit, was situated to the south of Hulton Park and just north of the Atherton boundary. The colliery was open from 1901 to 1934. An explosion on 21 December 1910 was the third worst mining disaster in British mining history. In 1902 a tramway from

Lowton Lowton is a suburban village within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It is around from Leigh, south of Wigan and west of Manchester city centre. The settlement lies across the A580 East Lancashire Road. W ...

via Leigh and

Atherton Atherton may refer to: Places Australia * Atherton, Queensland, a town on the Atherton Tablelands of Far North Queensland * Atherton Tableland, a fertile plateau in Queensland * Shire of Atherton, a former local government area of Queensland o ...

opened to Four Lane Ends where it connected with the trams of Bolton Corporation. In 2010 the Hulton Park Estate was offered for sale after being home to the Hulton family since 1167. It was bought by the

Peel Group The Peel Group is a British infrastructure and property investment business, based in Manchester. In 2022, its Peel Land and Property estate extends to of buildings, and over of land and water. Peel retains minority stakes in its former ports ...

Governance

Part of the hundred of Salford, until the 19th century, Over Hulton 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, C ...

in the

Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of Deane. In 1837 Over Hulton along with neighbouring

s (or

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. ...

) became part of the

Poor Law Union which took 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 he ...

in that area. In 1898 the Daubhill area of Over Hulton was added to Bolton County Borough and the remainder was added to Westhoughton Urban District.

Geography

The area of Over Hulton is of mainly arable land and the underlying rocks are the middle

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 Coa ...

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 ...

. Over Hulton is the most westerly of the Hulton Townships. The Manchester to Chorley road, the A6, crosses the Bolton to Leigh road, the A579 at Four Lane Ends which was the original hamlet in the township. The M61 passes to the north of Over Hulton. The Logistics North industrial area was developed in the 2010s, adjacent to the M61 motorway.Place North West https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/harworth-starts-51000-sq-ft-final-unit-at-logistics-north/

Religion

There are two churches in Over Hulton, St Andrew's C. of E. was established in 1977 and the Roman Catholic St Vincent de Paul.

References

Notes

External links