Pemberton is a town and an electoral ward of the

Metropolitan Borough of Wigan The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, in North West England. It is named after the main settlement of Wigan. It covers the towns of Atherton, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Golborne, Hindley, Ince-in-Mak ...

, 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, Tam ...

, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Douglas,. which separates it from the town of Wigan, and east of the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at ...

. The area today serves as a predominantly residential suburb along with the adjoining area of Orrell and as a ward has a population of 13,638,Pemberton
2001 United Kingdom Census, neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. URLs accessed 11 November 2008. increasing to 13,982 at the 2011 Census.

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

a 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 Lancash ...

, Pemberton was formerly 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 ...

and parish in the

hundred of West Derby The West Derby Hundred (also known as West Derbyshire) is one of the six subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire, in northern England. Its name alludes to its judicial centre being the township of West Derby (the suffix ''- shire'' me ...

. Following 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 ...

, Pemberton became a densely populated

industrial district Industrial district concept was initially used by Alfred Marshall to describe some aspects of the industrial organisation of nations. Industrial district (ID) is a place where workers and firms, specialised in a main industry and auxiliary indus ...

comprising a variety of coal mines, stone-quarries, brick manufactories, and

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses 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. Although some were driven b ...

s. Coal mining was the principal industry of what was described in 1911 as an "unpicturesque, bare and open" area. The former

Pemberton Urban District Pemberton Urban District was an urban district from 1894 to 1904, when it was added to the County Borough of Wigan The County Borough of Wigan was, from 1889 to 1974, a local government district centred on Wigan in the northwest of England ...

, along with Wigan Municipal Borough to form the

County Borough of Wigan The County Borough of Wigan was, from 1889 to 1974, a local government district centred on Wigan in the northwest of England. It was alternatively known as Wigan County Borough. The district was created by the Local Government Act 1888, with i ...

in 1904.

History

The name Pemberton derives from ''Penn-bere-tūn'', which is believed to be a combination of the Celtic ''penn'' meaning

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not a ...

, 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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''bere'' meaning

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

plus the Old English suffix of '' -ton'' meaning a farm or settlement. Unmentioned in the ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

'' of 1086, Pemberton does not appear in records until 1212, when it was documented to have been a

thegn In Anglo-Saxon England, thegns were aristocratic landowners of the second rank, below the ealdormen who governed large areas of England. The term was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers. In medieval Scotland, there ...

age estate, or manor, comprising "two plough-lands", with an annual rate of 20

shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or ...

payable by the tenant, Alan de Windle, to King John. There were several collieries in the area, and sandstone was also quarried. At Newtown were

s and iron works. A well at

Lamberhead Green Pemberton is a town and an electoral ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Douglas,. which separates it from the town of Wigan, and east of the M6 motorway. The ...

(Pingate) was noted for its excellent water quality. The area is served by Pemberton railway station.

Governance

Pemberton was formerly a

in Wigan ecclesiastical parish, in the

, and was recognised as a

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 authorit ...

in 1866. From 1894 to 1904, the Pemberton parish constituted the

. In 1904 the urban district was abolished with its territory transferred to the

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 A ...

and local government

.Vision of Britain
- Pemberton CP The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica describes Pemberton as being part of Wigan (which then formed 5082 acres). In 1920, the Pemberton parish was abolished and its former area was used to enlarge the

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the 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 north-east and Warrington t ...

parish, making the area of the parish and county borough identical. Pemberton today is considered part of Wigan for purposes of 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 t ...

, and in most reputable contemporary publications. This is also the approach taken also in several other modern online sources, which omit Pemberton as a standalone settlement.

Electoral Ward

The electoral ward of Pemberton is represented by three elected councillors. The ward covers the following neighbourhoods: *Kitt Green *

( Orrell) *Marsh Green

Wigan Council Members for Pemberton

*On 28 January 2013, Councillor Barbara Bourne, a representative of Pemberton since 1996, died in office following a long-term illness. She was responsible for a long campaign for a new medical centre, which was opened in the area of Kitt Green, in 2010.http://manchestergazette.co.uk/archives/11573 The office for a third councillor currently remains vacant.

Geography

Described in 1911 as "unpicturesque, bare and open", Pemberton is predominantly made up of privately owned homes and local authority maintained housing, including Newtown,

Worsley Mesnes Worsley Mesnes () is a mainly residential area of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ward population at the 2011 census was 11,974. Transport Worsley Mesnes Drive is the main road through the housing estate. In 2015, it was fitted with WRT ...

, Norley Hall, Worsley Green and Marsh Green. Pemberton and its adjoining district of Orrell form one continuous residential area. The soil is clay and loam, over

Coal Measure 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 ...

s and stone.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Wigan South
Wigan MBC. {{Authority control Areas of Wigan