Pilkington 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 of

Prestwich-cum-Oldham Prestwich-cum-Oldham (also known as Prestwich with Oldham) was an ancient ecclesiastical parish of the hundred of Salford, within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire, England. With the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Prestwich as ...

, hundred of Salford and 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 Lancash ...

, in northern England.

History

Manor

The Pilkington family can be traced from about 1200. The senior line acquired the manor of Bury when Roger Pilkington who died in about 1347, married Alice Bury. Roger Pilkington and his father, also Roger, were present with

Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster Thomas of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl of Derby, ''jure uxoris'' 4th Earl of Lincoln and ''jure uxoris'' 5th Earl of Salisbury (c. 1278 – 22 March 1322) was an English nobleman. A member of the House of Pl ...

, at the

Battle of Boroughbridge The Battle of Boroughbridge was fought on 16 March 1322 in England between a group of rebellious barons and the forces of King Edward II, near Boroughbridge, north-west of York. The culmination of a long period of antagonism between the King a ...

in 1322. The older Roger was imprisoned and fined, his son secured pardon by undertaking military service abroad. His son Sir Roger Pilkington (1325–1407) served under

Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster (– 23 March 1361) was an English statesman, diplomat, soldier, and Christian writer. The owner of Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, Grosmont was a member of the House of Plantagenet, which was ruling o ...

in 1355, and under John of Gaunt in 1359–60 and 1369. The Pilkingtons built a house with a moat between 1359 and 1400 and were granted a licence to crenellate the manor house at Bury in 1469 when it became known as Bury Castle. Roger's son Sir John Pilkington (d. 1421) was granted custody of the manors of Prestwich and

Alkrington Alkrington Garden Village is a suburban area of Middleton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester England. Historically a part of Lancashire, in the Middle Ages Alkrington was a township in the parish of Prestwich-cum- ...

. He married Margaret (d. 1436), heir of John Verdon of

Brixworth Brixworth is a large village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The 2001 census recorded a parish population of 5,162, increasing to 5,228 at the 2011 census. The village's All Saints' Church is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Loca ...

, Northamptonshire, soon after the death of her first husband, Hugh Bradshaw of Leigh. Margaret's son from her first marriage, William Bradshaw, died in 1415, leaving a daughter, Elizabeth. In 1430 Margaret settled the manors of her inheritance which included Stagenhoe in Hertfordshire,

Clipston, Northamptonshire Clipston is a village and civil parish that is administered as part of West Northamptonshire in England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 643. The town of Market Harborough is much nearer, about north-east and so the v ...

and Brixworth in Northamptonshire, and Bressingham in Norfolk, on her Pilkington sons, John, Edmund (d. about 1451), and Robert (d. 1457). Four years after the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1489, Sir Thomas Pilkington of Pilkington lost his estates by Royal Attainder to the Stanleys, who received the title '

Earl of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

'. Sir Thomas Pilkington was granted Royal pardon in 1508

Governance

Following 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 ...

, Pilkington formed part of the Bury Poor Law Union. In 1866, 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 ...

was established for the Whitefield area of Pilkington, which had begun to urbanise and expand into a town in its own right. In 1885 part of Pilkington was merged into the Municipal Borough of Bury. Following the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

, the township of Pilkington was dissolved and its area divided between the then County Borough of Bury, Radcliffe Urban District, Whitefield Urban District, Outwood township and Unsworth township.

Geography

It was bounded on two sides, the southwest and north, by the River Irwell, and encompassed the settlements of Blackford Bridge, Cinder Hill, Hollins, Besses o' th' Barn, Outwood, Ringley, Stand,

Unsworth Unsworth is a village and residential area of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of Unsworth Ward, as of the 2011 census is 9,492. The village sits approximately north of the city of Manchester and ...

, and Whitefield. The township was abolished in 1894.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{refend History of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury History of Lancashire 1894 disestablishments in England