Howe Bridge is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

of Atherton,

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.

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 ...

within

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 Lancas ...

, it is situated to the south west of Atherton town centre on the B5215, the old

turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powe ...

road from

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 ...

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staff ...

. The settlement was built as a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

pit village A pit village, colliery village or mining village is a settlement built by colliery owners to house their workers. The villages were built on the coalfields of Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution where new coal mines were developed in ...

by the owners of Atherton Collieries.

History

John Fletcher of

, a member of a family with mining interests, came to Atherton in 1768 to sink two shafts. Ralph Fletcher was part-owner in the

Ladyshore Colliery Ladyshore Colliery, originally named Back o' th Barn, was situated on the Irwell Valley fault on the Manchester Coalfield in Little Lever, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. Founded by Thomas Fletcher Senior, the colliery opene ...

. The pits developed and

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 measures ...

's Atherton Collieries was formed in 1870, owning all the coalmines in the town.

Howe Bridge Colliery Howe Bridge Colliery was a coal mine which was part of the Fletcher, Burrows and Company's collieries at Howe Bridge in Atherton, Greater Manchester, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. The Fletchers owned several small pits wh ...

employed 460 men in 1954. In 1908 the Howe Bridge Mines Rescue Station opened on Lovers Lane. It was the first mines rescue station in Lancashire.

Transport

The station at Howe Bridge was originally named ''Chowbent'' and, in common with other stations on the

Manchester to Wigan Line The Manchester and Wigan Railway refers to a railway in North West England, opened in 1864 and closed to passengers on 3 May 1969, which was part of the London and North Western Railway before the Grouping of 1923. This route was an alternative ...

, was opened by 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 ...

on 1 September 1864.

South Lancashire Tramways South Lancashire Tramways was a system of electric tramways in south Lancashire authorised by the South Lancashire Tramways Act of 1900. The ''South Lancashire Tramways Company'' was authorised by the act to build over of track to serve the to ...

built a

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

shed, power station and offices in 1901 on the north side of Leigh Road. It was taken over by Lancashire United Transport who built a bus depot on the south side Leigh Road on the site of the closed Howe Bridge Colliery pithead.

Religion

A school and mission opened at Howe Bridge in the Atherton parish in 1869.

St Michael and All Angels Church St Michael and All Angels Church may refer to: Africa * St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre Malawi * St. Michael and All Angels' Anglican Church, Weltevreden Park, Johannesburg, South Africa America * Cathedral Church of Saint Michael a ...

was built in 1877 as a result of the late Victorian urbanisation which occurred when the small settlement on the road from Atherton to Leigh became a

when deep mining began at

. The church was designed by

Paley and Austin Sharpe, Paley and Austin are the surnames of architects who practised in Lancaster, Lancashire, England, between 1835 and 1946, working either alone or in partnership. The full names of the principals in their practice, which went under vario ...

of Lancaster, and the £7,000 cost was given by John Fletcher.

Landmarks

Between 1873 and 1875, Fletcher, Burrows and Company, owners of the local collieries, built a model village on Leigh Road, comprising terraced cottages, shops, Atherton Collieries 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 Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{commons category, Howe Bridge Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Areas of Greater Manchester Model villages Atherton, Greater Manchester