Atherton () is a town 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 and historically 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 ...

. The town, including Hindsford,

Howe Bridge Howe Bridge is a suburb of Atherton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically within Lancashire, it is situated to the south west of Atherton town centre on the B5215, the old turnpike road from Bolton to Leigh. The settlement was built as a mod ...

and Hag Fold, is south 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 ...

, east of

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 ...

, 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 ...

. From the 17th century, for about 300 years, Atherton was known as Chowbent, which was frequently shortened to Bent, the town's old nickname. During the Industrial Revolution, the town was a key part of the Manchester Coalfield. Atherton was associated with coal mining and nail manufacture from the 14th century, encouraged by outcropping coal seams. At the beginning of the 20th century, the town was described as "the centre of a district of collieries, cotton mills and iron-works, which cover the surface of the country with their inartistic buildings and surroundings, and are linked together by the equally unlovely dwellings of the people". Atherton's last deep coal mine closed in 1966, and the last cotton mill closed in 1999. Today the town is the third-largest retail centre in the Borough of Wigan; almost 20% of those employed in the area work in the wholesale and retail trades, although there is still some significant manufacturing industry in the town. Evidence has been discovered of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

road passing through the area, on the ancient route between Coccium (Wigan) and

Mamucium Mamucium, also known as Mancunium, is a former Roman fort in the Castlefield area of Manchester in North West England. The ''castrum'', which was founded c. AD 79 within the Roman province of Roman Britain, was garrisoned by a cohort ...

(Manchester). Following the Anglo-Saxon invasion of England, Atherton, which is built on and around seven brooks, became part of the manor of

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

until 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 Con ...

, when it became a township or

vill Vill is a term used in English history to describe the basic rural land unit, roughly comparable to that of a parish, manor, village or tithing. Medieval developments The vill was the smallest territorial and administrative unit—a geographical ...

in the ancient parish of Leigh. Since 1974 the town has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, a local government district of the Metropolitan County of

and since 2010 it has been part of the Bolton West parliamentary constituency.

History

Toponymy

Atherton was recorded as Aderton in 1212 and 1242, and Atherton in 1259. Opinions differ as to the derivation of the name. One is the farmstead or village of a man named Aethelhere, an

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 ...

personal name and the suffix ''tun'', meaning an enclosure, farmstead or manor estate; another is ''adre'', Saxon for little brook with the suffix ''tun''. Either is possible as Atherton is bounded by brooks to the west and south, and crossed by several others. The western boundary is Hindsford Brook, originally named Goderic Brook after a Saxon saint. The Chow – recorded as Chew, Cholle and Chowl – family were tenants of the Athertons living at the valley by Chanters Brook. This part of the township became known as Chow's Bent but the meaning of Bent has been lost, perhaps a bend or slope. It was referred to in the 14th century as Chollebynt or Shollebent. Chowbent, or Bent, was the name given to the built-up part of Atherton from the mid-17th century for at least 300 years. As the population grew, the town was called Atherton, although the names ''Chowbent'' or ''Bent'' are used by locals.

Early history

Evidence of a Roman road and

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 prin ...

settlement have been found in and around the area. The Roman road between Manchester and Wigan is shown on the 1849 6"

OS map , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

crossing Miller's Lane at 90 degrees about halfway down. The site of Gadbury Brickworks at

Gibfield Colliery Gibfield Colliery was a coal mine owned by Fletcher, Burrows and Company in Atherton, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. A shaft was sunk at Gibfield to the Trencherbone mine in 1829 by John Fletcher next to the Bolton and Lei ...

has been excavated, and evidence of Roman and possibly earlier settlements found.

Manor

The manor was held by the Atherton family from the de Botelers, whose chief manor was at

. William and Nicholas Atherton fought at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The manor house was situated towards the south of the ancient

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 ...

Christopher Saxton Christopher Saxton (c. 1540 – c. 1610) was an English cartographer who produced the first county maps of England and Wales. Life and family Saxton was probably born in Sowood, Ossett in the parish of Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

's map shows a medieval deer park in the time of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

. "Mad" Richard Atherton, the last direct male descendant of the Athertons is remembered for two events; his expulsion of the congregation from the first Atherton Chapel in 1721, and building Atherton Hall on a grand scale, to designs by architect William Wakefield. Work on the hall started in 1723 and was not finished until 1743. The carriage drive from the hall led over Lion's Bridge down an avenue to gates which faced the parish church in Leigh where the Athertons had a chapel. Richard Vernon Atherton was the last of the Atherton male line. He married Elizabeth Farington and had a daughter named Elizabeth. The Atherton family's association with the township ended with Richard Atherton's death in 1726. His daughter, Elizabeth, married Robert Gwillym and their son, Robert Vernon Atherton, married Henrietta Maria Legh. They had five children; the sons died young, and their eldest daughter Henrietta Maria Atherton married Thomas Powys, 2nd Baron Lilford whose father was ennobled by

Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

in 1797, taking the title of

Baron Lilford Baron Lilford, of Lilford in the County of Northampton, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1797 for Thomas Powys, who had previously represented Northamptonshire in the House of Commons. His grandson, the third Baron, ...

. He left his estates to his son, Thomas Atherton Powys. The Atherton estate was inherited by Lord Lilford, who preferred to live at his family seat,

Lilford Hall Lilford Hall is a Grade I listed Jacobean stately home in Northamptonshire in the United Kingdom. The 100-room house is located in the eastern part of the county, south of Oundle and north of Thrapston. History It was started in 1495 as a Tudor ...

in Northamptonshire. Lord Lilford could not afford the upkeep of another house and Atherton Hall was put up for sale but, after failing to sell, it was demolished in 1824. Some outbuildings were left standing and are private property still known as Atherton Hall.

Two battles

The area was divided in its allegiance during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. In 1642, men of Chowbent were on their way to Leigh Church when word came that

James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby, KG (31 January 160715 October 1651) was an English nobleman, politician, and supporter of the Royalist cause in the English Civil War. Before inheriting the title in 1642 he was known as Lord Strange. He was ...

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 governm ...

troops were marching through Leigh, probably en route for Manchester. The men of Chowbent armed themselves and drove the Earl's men back to Lowton Common, killing some, wounding others and taking prisoner about 200 men: "... we are all upon our guard, and the Naylors of Chowbent, instead of making Nayles, have busied themselves making Bills and Battle Axes." (Civil War tracts of Lancashire, Chetham Society Series, vol II). In 1715, during the

Jacobite rising , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...

the supporters of the Old Pretender were marching on Preston. General Charles Wills wrote to Minister Wood of Atherton Chapel asking him to raise a force to be at

Cuerden Green Cuerden is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, in Lancashire, England. It is situated between Bamber Bridge and Leyland, and had a population of 77 in 2001.River Ribble at Walton-le-Dale and a ford at Penwortham, which they defended successfully. The Highlanders were routed, and for his efforts Parson James Wood was given a £100

annuity In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals.Kellison, Stephen G. (1970). ''The Theory of Interest''. Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, Inc. p. 45 Examples of annuities are regular deposits to a savings account, ...

(equivalent to £ in ) by Parliament and the title "The General" by his congregation.

Industrial history

Atherton, along with neighbouring Shakerley, was associated with coal mining and nail manufacture. Alexander Naylor was taxed on his goods in 1332, showing the industry was present for at least 600 years. Encouraged by the proximity of outcrops of coal, iron was brought from Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Spain. Several types of nails were made, including

lath A lath or slat is a thin, narrow strip of straight-wood grain, grained wood used under roof shingles or tiles, on lath and plaster walls and ceilings to hold plaster, and in Latticework, lattice and Trellis (architecture), trellis work. ''Lath ...

nails, slate nails, thatching nails and sparrowbills. The nail smithies manufactured ploughs and

scythe A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor mac ...

s; their products were taken by

pack horse Pack or packs may refer to: Places * Pack, Austria, a municipality in Styria, Austria * Pack, Missouri * Chefornak Airport, Alaska, by ICAO airport code Groups of animals or people * Pack (canine), family structure of wild animals of the b ...

to be sold in Manchester, Denbigh,

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

and Kendal. The nail industry developed into the manufacture of nuts and bolts. Thomas Blakemore was the first in 1843 and by 1853 there were eight manufacturers of nuts and bolts including James Prestwich and Robert Parker. Some nut and bolt manufacturers also made spindles and flyers for spinning machinery. Collier Brook Bolt Works on Bag Lane dating from 1856 survives and is a Grade II listed building. Coal had been mined for several hundred years in numerous shallow shafts and

adit An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, ventilated, and minerals extracted at the lowest convenient level. Adit ...

s, but took on greater importance when in 1776 Robert Vernon Atherton leased the coal rights to Thomas Guest from Leigh and John Fletcher from

. In 1845 the era of deep mining commenced with the sinking of Fletcher's Lover's Lane pit at

. The Crombouke Day-Eye, a drift mine accessing the shallow Brassy and Crombouke mines, opened in 1870 and closed in 1907. (A coal seam was referred to as a "mine" in this part of Lancashire.) By the early 1870s

Fletcher, Burrows and Company Fletcher, Burrows and Company was a coal mining company that owned collieries and cotton mills in Atherton, Greater Manchester, England. Gibfield, Howe Bridge and Chanters collieries exploited the coal mines (seams) of the middle coal measure ...

's Howe Bridge Colliery, the biggest of the three Howe Bridge pits, was sunk to the Black & White, or Seven Foot mine. The pit closed in 1959.

, situated alongside 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 ...

, was working in 1829, and coal was mined from the Trencherbone mine. Forty years later a shaft was sunk to Arley Mine. The pit closed in 1963. In September 1913 the first pit head baths in the country were opened at Gibfield.

Chanters Colliery Chanters Colliery was a coal mine which was part of the Fletcher, Burrows and Company's collieries at Hindsford in Atherton, Greater Manchester, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. Geology Chanters Colliery exploited the Mid ...

was in Hindsford, where shafts were sunk to the Trencherbone mine in 1854. In the late 1890s shafts were deepened to to reach the Arley mine. Atherton had its share of mining disasters — on 11 February 1850 five men died in a gas explosion caused by a lighted candle at Gibfield, and 27 men died at Lovers Lane Colliery after a

firedamp Firedamp is any flammable gas found in coal mines, typically coalbed methane. It is particularly found in areas where the coal is bituminous. The gas accumulates in pockets in the coal and adjacent strata and when they are penetrated the releas ...

explosion caused by blown-out shot on 28 March 1872. On 6 March 1957 eight men died at Chanters Colliery after an explosion of gas. Chanters closed in 1966 bringing the era of deep coal mining in the town to an end. In 1908, the Lancashire and Cheshire Coal Owners Association opened Howe Bridge Mines Rescue Station. EnaMill

The

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 grew out of a cottage spinning and weaving industry that was widespread across the district. As industrialisation gathered pace, local

weavers Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainmen ...

felt threatened by the advent of powered looms, and in April 1812 a mob smashed the machines and burnt down a new factory, Westhoughton Mill, in neighbouring

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.Luddite The Luddites were a secret oath-based organisation of English textile workers in the 19th century who formed a radical faction which destroyed textile machinery. The group is believed to have taken its name from Ned Ludd, a legendary weaver ...

s, three men and a boy of 14, were tried at Lancaster Assizes and hanged.

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 ...

was woven and after 1827 silk also was brought from Manchester. In 1938

James Burton James Edward Burton (born August 21, 1939, in Dubberly, Louisiana) is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 (his induction speech was given by longtime fan Keith Richards), Burton has also been recognized ...

had built

s on both sides of the Hindsford Brook including Lodge Mill. Dan Lane Spinning and Doubling Mills were built in the 1840s and lasted until the 1950s. Howe Bridge Spinning Mills, the largest complex in Atherton was started in 1868 and the last mill built in 1919. It closed as a textile factory in early 1999. Mills built in the 20th century were Laburnum Mills in 1905 (closed 1980), and Ena Mill in 1908 which closed in 1999. The Ena Mill, now converted for other uses, is a Grade II

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 ...

Governance

Atherton is 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 ...

. The ward elects three councillors to the 75-member metropolitan borough council, Wigan's

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

. As of 2019 Councillors in all three local wards are part of the Independent Network. Historically, Atherton was in the

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

West Derby West Derby ( ) is an affluent suburb of Liverpool, England. It is located East of the city and is also a Liverpool City Council ward. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382. History West Derby Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', Wes ...

, a judicial division of southwest Lancashire. Atherton was one of the six townships or

s that made up the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Leigh. The townships existed before the parish. The manor of Atherton was held by the Atherton family from the de Botelers, whose chief manor was at

. Under the terms of the

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relie ...

the townships were part of the Leigh Poor Law Union which was established on 26 January 1837 comprising an area covering the whole of the ancient parish of Leigh and part of Winwick. Workhouses existed in Pennington,

Culcheth Culcheth is a village in the Borough of Warrington, ceremonial county of Cheshire and historic county of Lancashire, England, six miles (10 km) north-east of Warrington town centre; it is the principal settlement in Culcheth and Glazebury ci ...

Tyldesley Tyldesley () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, southeast of Wigan ...

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. ...

and Hag Fold in Atherton, but the

Leigh Union workhouse Leigh Union workhouse, also known as the Leigh workhouse and after 1930, Atherleigh Hospital, was a workhouse built in 1850 by the Leigh Poor Law Union on Leigh Road, Atherton in the historic county of Lancashire. Background The Elizabethan Poor ...

at Atherleigh replaced them in the 1850s. In 1863 the Local Government Act 1858 was adopted for the township, meaning it was governed by a

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 ...

, a type of regulatory body responsible for standards of hygiene and sanitation in the township. In 1894 part of the township was added to Leigh Urban District; the remainder became

Atherton Urban District Atherton was, from 1863 to 1974, a local government district in Lancashire, England. History The township of Atherton historically lay in the large ecclesiastical parish of Leigh and Leigh Poor Law Union formed in 1837. In 1863 Atherton Local ...

. The urban district was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, when the area became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, a local government district of the metropolitan county of

. There has been much protest to the local government arrangements, with a significant proportion of Atherton residents having a stronger affinity to nearby bordering areas of Bolton and Salford, than Wigan itself. This is seen in the local councillor representation of 3 independent councillors for Atherton in a usually strong Labour voting area. Atherton is part of the Bolton West Parliamentary constituency. It is the only ward in the borough of Wigan to be represented outside of the boroughs 3 constituencies (the remainder of the borough is represented by Leigh, Makerfield or Wigan). Atherton's MP is Chris Green of the Conservative Party who won the parliamentary seat for Bolton West in the 2015 general election. Howe Bridge is in the Leigh constituency represented by James Grundy (

Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...

Geography

At (53.5231°, −2.4955°), and northwest of central London, Atherton is situated east of Wigan and west-northwest of the city of Manchester, at the eastern end of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. Atherton, which includes Hindsford to the southeast,

in the southwest, and Hag Fold in the north, is generally low lying. The soil is clay in much of the township. The southwest of the town is above sea level, rising to in the north. Atherton is built around seven brooks: the Shakerley Brook forms the western boundary with Tyldesley; Chanters Brook flows through the area known as "The Valley"; Knight's Brook (Bag Lane); Colliers Brook; Small Brook is the boundary with Westleigh; Westhoughton Brook forms the boundary with Daisy Hill; and Red Waters Brook. The underlying rocks are the coal measures of the Manchester Coalfield. Atherton's climate is generally temperate, like the rest of Greater Manchester. The mean highest and lowest temperatures ( and ) are slightly above the national average, while the annual rainfall () and average hours of sunshine (1394.5 hours) are respectively above and below the national averages. The town is situated on the old high road, now the A579 from Bolton to Leigh. The A577 runs from the town to Tyldesley in one direction and to Wigan in the other.

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 Nationa ...

, 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 t ...

, the Urban Subdivision of Atherton was part of the Greater Manchester Urban Area and had a total resident population of 20,302, of which 9,908 (48.8%) were male and 10,394 (51.2%) were female, living in 8,745 households. The settlement occupied , compared with in the 1991 census. Its population density was compared with an average of across the Greater Manchester Urban Area. The median age of the population was 40, compared with 36 within the Greater Manchester Urban Area and 37 across England and Wales. The majority of the population of Atherton were born in England (96.29%); 1.56% were born elsewhere within the United Kingdom, 0.89% within the rest of the European Union, and 1.26% elsewhere in the world. Data on religious beliefs across the town in the 2001 census show that 86.6% declared themselves to be Christian, 7.2% said they held no religion, and 0.3% 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

Atherton is within the

Travel to Work Area. The town is within the Manchester

Larger Urban Zone The larger urban zone (LUZ), or functional urban area (FUA), is a measure of the population and expanse of metropolitan and surrounding areas which may or may not be exclusively urban. It consists of a city and its commuting zone outside it. The ...

. At the time of the 2001 Census, there were 8,755 people (43.1%) in employment who were resident in Atherton. Of these, 19.65% worked in the wholesale and retail trades, including the repair of motor vehicles; 19.28% worked within the manufacturing industry, and 10.27% worked within the health and social work sector. The census recorded the economic activity of residents aged 16–74 as 36.7% in full-time employment, 11.0% in part-time employment, 6.8% self-employed, 4.0% unemployed, 1.7% students with jobs, 3.2% students without jobs, 14.6% retired, 6.5% looking after home or family, 11.8% permanently sick or disabled, and 3.8% economically inactive for other reasons. The 4.0% unemployment rate was high compared with the national rate of 3.3%. According to the Office for National Statistics estimates, during the period between April 2001 and March 2002, the average gross income of households was £380 per week (£19,760 per year), substantially less than the £470 per week (£24,440) for the rest of the North West. The average car ownership per household was 1.01, compared with 0.93 across the Greater Manchester Urban Area; 43.74% of households owned a single car or van, and 30.76% owned none. Atherton, the third-largest retail centre in the Wigan Borough, has a small pedestrian shopping centre. Most shops front on to Market Street and date from late Victorian times, the majority operated by small independent retailers, although there is a supermarket that brings customers into the town centre. Older, low cost, mostly terraced housing, surrounds the centre of town. Bolts and fastenings are still manufactured in Atherton by Smith Bullough, one of the few remaining bolt and nut manufacturers in the UK. , a business park is planned for the former Gibfield Colliery site.

Landmarks

There are several historic

listed buildings 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 ...

in and around Atherton, some, but not all, in the area referred to as Chowbent. They include the 17th-century Alder House, Chowbent Chapel, St John the Baptist's Church (1879), and Chanters Farmhouse, all of which are

s. The name "Chanters" derives from a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area i ...

granted by the Bishop of Lichfield in 1360 to Sir William de Atherton. The name is also given to a bridge over the Hindsford Brook and a former colliery. A pseudo- Egyptian

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...

near the south-east corner of the parish church, similar to one in Leigh, was probably built for Robert Vernon Atherton in 1781. It was restored in 1867 twelve years before the church was finished. It is a Grade II listed structure. Between 1873 and 1875, mineowners Fletcher Burrows built a small model village at Howe Bridge, comprising cottages, shops, a village club, and a bath house for their employees. This Victorian village on either side of Leigh Road, together with St Michael and All Angel's Church, is a conservation area. The Ena Mill, one of Atherton's large spinning mills, complete with chimney, survives as a reminder of the textile industry. Atherton's war memorial is a

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

at the intersection of Leigh Road and Hamilton Street was designed by architect Arthur John Hope and constructed of

Darley Dale Darley Dale, also known simply as Darley, is a town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, with a population of 5,413. It lies north of Matlock, on the River Derwent and the A6 road. The town forms part ...

stone. It was unveiled in January 1922 by Private J. Roylance, a soldier blinded in action during 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 ...

Transport

The Bolton to Leigh road was turnpiked in about 1770 and a toll gate was installed on the Atherton boundary on Bolton Road. Shakerley Lane toll road emerged near Green Hall on Bolton Road, and was built to get coal from the Shakerley pits to the turnpike road. In 1825, the

received

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

and the single-track railway was opened in 1828 bringing the railway to the western side of the township where it was close to the coal mines at Howe Bridge and Gibfield. Railway stations opened at Atherton Bag Lane and further south at Atherleigh The line was connected to the

Liverpool and Manchester Railway The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively ...

by the Kenyon and Leigh Junction Railway in 1831 and connected to the Tyldesley–Wigan line in 1883 when a station was opened at Chowbent renamed

in 1901. 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 ...

's line from Manchester to Southport passes to the north of Atherton and

Atherton Station Atherton station is a former Caltrain station in Atherton, California. The station had one side platform and one island platform serving the two tracks of the Peninsula Subdivision, with a concrete and wooden shelter on the west side of the tra ...

which was opened in 1887–88 remains open. Atherton railway station in 1989

In 1900, a bill authorising the South Lancashire Tramways Company to construct over of tramway in southern Lancashire was given Royal Assent. However, by November 1900 the South Lancashire Electric Traction and Power Company had acquired the shares. The first section of tramway opened on 20 October 1902 between

and Four Lanes Ends via Leigh and Atherton. The company got into financial difficulty and in turn became Lancashire United Tramways later

Lancashire United Transport Lancashire United Transport (LUT) was a tram, bus and trolleybus operator based at Howe Bridge in Atherton, 10 miles north west of Manchester. It was the largest independent bus operator in the United Kingdom until its acquisition by the Grea ...

(LUT). LUT had headquarters and a large depot in Howe Bridge. On 16 December 1933, the last tram ran from Leigh to Four Lane Ends. The following day trolley buses took over. Public transport in Atherton is co-ordinated by the

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 ...

. There are public transport links by rail from Atherton and Hag Fold stations to

and

operated by Northern, and by bus to

, Leigh,

, Manchester, the

Trafford Centre The Trafford Centre is a large indoor shopping centre and entertainment complex in Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1998 and is third largest in the United Kingdom by retail space. Originally developed by the Peel Group, the Trafford C ...

and Middlebrook Retail and Leisure Complex operated 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 ...

of Atherton,

Stagecoach Manchester Stagecoach ManchesterCompanies House extract company no 2818654

and First Greater Manchester. Atherton is also known for the Vantage V2 bus service by First Greater Manchester.

Education

The first school in Atherton was Chowbent Grammar School founded before 1654, followed by Chowbent Chapel School in 1734. Lane Top National School opened in 1840 and Chowbent Unitarian School and Hindsford St Anne's in 1860. Howe Bridge School opened in 1869 and St Philip's a year later. An undenominational school in Lee Street opened in 1871 followed by St George's and Sacred Heart School in Hindsford in 1873. In the 1890s, the technical school originally opened as a school for science and art, followed by St Richard's in 1891 and Flapper Fold Higher Grade School in 1893. Green Hall Special School opened in 1957, and a new infant school was opened on Lodge Lane for Sacred Heart. Meadowbank Primary School can also be found on Flapper Fold Lane, marking the boundary between Atherton and Hag Fold. Hesketh Fletcher Senior School opened in 1967 and closed on 31 August 2011. Atherton High School opened in 2012.

Religion

Three chapels or churches have been built on the site of the Parish Church of St John the Baptist. A chapel was built in 1645 by John Atherton. It is sometimes referred to as the Old Bent Chapel. It remained unconsecrated and was used by the

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 ...

s. In 1721 Richard Atherton expelled the

dissenter A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Usage in Christianity Dissent from the Anglican church In the social and religious history of England and Wales, and ...

s and the chapel was consecrated in 1723 by the

Bishop of Sodor and Man The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man (Manx Gaelic: ''Sodor as Mannin'') in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese only covers the Isle of Man. The Cathedral Church of St German where t ...

. A new chapel on the site was consecrated by the

Bishop of Chester The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York. The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the ...

in 1814. The present church dedicated to

St John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

was consecrated in 1879. The church, designed by Austin and Paley, is built out of

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

stone. It measures and the square tower rises to . The fabric of the church has suffered from mining subsidence. The New Bent or Chowbent Chapel, the earliest Nonconformist chapel in Atherton, was built in 1721 and opened in 1722. The chapel was built by the Presbyterian congregation after it was expelled from the first chapel. A mission occupying a barn in Hindsford was replaced in 1901 by St Anne's Church designed by Austin and Paley. It has since been converted to residential use. St Michael and All Angels at Howe Bridge was built in 1877. There are chapels of the

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

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 compe ...

, Independent

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 ...

, and Primitive Methodist denominations; a Congregational Church at Howe Bridge was opened in 1904. Roman Catholics celebrated mass in a loft behind the Star and Garter public house on Tyldesley Square until Sacred Heart Church opened in Hindsford in 1869. The site was given by Lord Lilford and building materials were donated by John Holland, manager of

Yew Tree Colliery Yew Tree Colliery was a coal mine operating on the Manchester Coalfield after 1845 in Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. In 1845 George Green of Wharton Hall, Little Hulton, and his brother leased ...

in Tyldesley. It served the growing Catholic population in Hindsford and Tyldesley. Sacred Heart closed in 2004, and its parish together with St Richard's in Mayfield Street which opened in 1928, Holy Family in

Boothstown Boothstown is a suburban village in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. Boothstown forms part of the Boothstown and Ellenbrook ward, which had a population at the 2011 Census of 9,599. The village is within the boundaries of th ...

, St Ambrose Barlow in Astley, St Gabriel's, Higher Folds in Leigh were united as a single community with St Margaret Clitherow as its patron.

Sport

Swimming baths opened in Mayfield Street in 1902 and a swimming club was formed. The baths closed in 2005 and the Atherton & Leigh Amateur Swimming Club moved to the new Leigh Sports Village facility in 2008. Atherton has two semi-pro football teams, the oldest of which is Atherton Collieries A.F.C., formed in 1916, who play in the Northern Premier League. Others are Atherton Laburnum Rovers F.C., members of the North West Counties Football League and Atherton Town FC. Atherton Cricket Club was formed in 1872 and has played in the Bolton and District Cricket Association since 1921.

Public services

Atherton is policed by the

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 ...

force from Atherton Police Station, which covers Atherton, Tyldesley, Astley and Mosley Common, and is one of 5 subdivisions within the Wigan division. It is part of the L division, which covers the entirety of Wigan borough. 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 Atherton fire station. Health services in the Wigan borough are provided by the Wigan Borough Clinical Commissioning Group. Hospital services are provided by the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust who provide an

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 care of pa ...

service at Wigan's Royal Albert Edward Infirmary and outpatient clinics at Leigh Infirmary. Waste management is coordinated by the Wigan Authority, which is a statutory waste disposal authority in its own right. Atherton's Distribution Network Operator for electricity is Electricity North West Ltd. United Utilities manages Atherton's drinking and wastewater.

Culture

Atherton Botanical Garden Club, which is today a social club, was formed in 1850 and organised lectures, study groups and rambles on

Chat Moss Chat Moss is a large area of peat bog that makes up part of the City of Salford, Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. It also makes up part of Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside and Warringto ...

for its members. A public library was opened in 1905 with an

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

grant. Bent Chapel already had a library in the Chowbent School and donated 4,000 books to the new town library. Central Park, a public park, was created in 1912. Other parks were later provided in Lodge Lane, Hindsford and Devonshire Place. The urban district council also acquired the grounds belonging to Howe Bridge Welfare in 1963. In the early and mid-20th century Atherton had three cinemas, the Gem in Bullough Street, the Savoy and the Palace on Market Street. An amateur photographic society was formed in 1938. Formby Hall, demolished in 2018, used to host the ''Bent 'n' Bongs''

Beer Festival A beer festival is an event at which a variety of beers are available for purchase. There may be a theme, for instance beers from a particular area, or a particular brewing style such as winter ales. Asia * Singapore holds an annual Beer Festiva ...

over the last weekend of every January.

Notable residents

There were several ministers of note of Chowbent Chapel including James Wood, the "General" (1672–1759), who distinguished himself at the Battle of Preston in 1715. Thomas Walker Horsfield (1792–1837) was a historian and topographer. Joseph Nightingale (1775–1824), born in Chowbent, was a prolific English writer and

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as ...

who subsequently became a Unitarian.

Eric Laithwaite Eric Roberts Laithwaite (14 June 1921 – 27 November 1997) was a British electrical engineer, known as the "Father of Maglev" for his development of the linear induction motor and maglev rail system. Biography Eric Roberts Laithwaite wa ...

(1921–1997) was an engineer, principally known for his development of the

linear induction motor A linear induction motor (LIM) is an alternating current (AC), asynchronous linear motor that works by the same general principles as other induction motors but is typically designed to directly produce motion in a straight line. Characteristica ...

and

Maglev Maglev (derived from '' magnetic levitation''), is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of electromagnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage ...

rail system. Lemn Sissay grew up and lived in Atherton. Chess grandmaster

Nigel Short Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in the ...

grew up in Atherton and attended St Philip's School. Architect Arthur John Hope (1875–1960), a partner in

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 Ho ...

was born and lived in Atherton. Edward Ormerod, a mining engineer at Gib Field Colliery, invented the Ormerod detaching hook, an important mining safety device.

Andrew Whyment Andrew "Andy" Whyment (born 2 April 1981) is an English actor, known for portraying the role of Darren Sinclair-Jones in the BBC sitcom ''The Royle Family'' and Kirk Sutherland on '' Coronation Street''. Career Whyment trained at the Laine John ...

, Coronation Street actor lives in Atherton.Keely Hodgkinson was raised in Atherton near Leigh and Wigan in Greater Manchester. She has three siblings. Her mother Rachel trained for a time with Leigh Harriers, and her father Dean had run the London Marathon in the past. 02] She attended Fred Longworth High School in Tyldesley, and Loughborough College. 112] In 2020, she became a student of criminology at the Leeds Beckett University, and took a gap year in 2021.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Atherton at lan-opc
*
Mort family, Alder House
{{authority control Towns in Greater Manchester Unparished areas in Greater Manchester Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan