Belmont is a village and former

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, now in the parish of North Turton, in the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

area of

Blackburn with Darwen Blackburn with Darwen is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, North West England. The borough includes the towns of Blackburn and Darwen plus a wider rural area which includes the villages of ...

, in the ceremonial county of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. It is close to

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

and has around 500 inhabitants.

History

Archaeological finds at or near Belmont have been

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...

material and a flint blade, Flint

Microlith A microlith is a small Rock (geology), stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically a centimetre or so in length and half a centimetre wide. They were made by humans from around 60,000 years ago, across Europe, Africa, Asia and Austral ...

Core and Flint Scraper. Finds have included

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

Barbed and tanged arrowheads. Items found from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

include a spearhead with Bronze Age Round cairns on Noon Hill and Winter Hill. Before 1804 Belmont was known as Hordern and was part of the upper part of the township of Sharples in the parish of Bolton le Moors. The township contained

cotton mills Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a wikt:boll, boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almo ...

, a large

dye Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...

works owned by Thomas Rycroft that had a landmark chimney (which has been demolished), and a print works; there was a paper works at Spring Side in Folds. Following a factory fire several years ago a housing estate was developed with houses designed to look traditional. The

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

parish church of St Peter's designed by John Edgar Gregan, built at the end of 1849 was consecrated on 1 April 1850. One of Gregan's last projects, the church was constructed from local stone on the site of an ancient farm.

John Hick John Harwood Hick (20 January 1922 – 9 February 2012) was an English philosopher of religion and theologian, who taught in the United States for the larger part of his career. In philosophical theology, he made contributions in the areas o ...

, a local

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

and later MP for

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, was very involved with the church and responsible for the installation of several

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows, the

church bell A church bell is a bell in a church building designed to be heard outside the building. It can be a single bell, or part of a set of bells. Their main function is to call worshippers to the church for a service of worship, but are also rung o ...

s and

turret clock A turret clock or tower clock is a clock designed to be mounted high in the wall of a building, usually in a clock tower, in public buildings such as Church (building), churches, university buildings, and town halls. As a public amenity to enab ...

Civil parish

Belmont was formerly a

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...

in the parish of

Bolton-le-Moors Bolton le Moors (also known as Bolton le Moors St Peter) was a large civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in hundred of Salford in the historic county of Lancashire, England. It was administered from St Peter's Church, Bolton in the township ...

, from 1894 Belmont was a civil parish in its own right, on 1 April 1925 the parish was abolished and merged with Turton. In 1921 the parish had a population of 635.

Governance

Belmont is in the borough of Blackburn with Darwen. Tockholes is part of the Rossendale and Darwen constituency. Andy MacNae has been the Member of Parliament for Rossendale and Darwen since 2024. Jake Berry was previous the MP for this constituency.

Geography

Belmont is a

linear In mathematics, the term ''linear'' is used in two distinct senses for two different properties: * linearity of a '' function'' (or '' mapping''); * linearity of a '' polynomial''. An example of a linear function is the function defined by f(x) ...

settlement in

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...

in the

West Pennine Moors The West Pennine Moors is an area of the Pennines covering approximately of moorland and Reservoir (water), reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The West Pennine Moors are separa ...

, built along the old

to Preston road, the A675. It lies about northwest of Bolton in a valley between Anglezarke Moor and Turton Moor. There is a minor road to

Rivington Rivington is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, occupying . It is about southeast of Chorley and about northwest of Bolton. Rivington is a rural area consisting primarily of ...

to the west. The

Winter Hill transmitting station The Winter Hill transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications site on Winter Hill, at the south eastern boundary of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, and above Bolton. It is owned and operated by Arqiva. Height The o ...

stands on Winter Hill about southwest of the village. Belmont Reservoir, built by Bolton Waterworks in the 19th century, occupies the valley to the north of the village, and is home to Bolton Sailing Club. The smaller Ward's Reservoir, built in the early 19th century to supply water to the former Rycroft Dye Works and known locally as the ''Blue Lagoon'', was drained in 2010.

Economy

The village has one public house, and a restaurant/bar. It also has around 20 business located in the old bleach works including various forms of engineering, decorative glass, architectural iron works, vehicle restoration workshops, landscaping, specialist coatings, motorbike engineers and bathroom retailers.

Education

Primary education is provided by Belmont Primary School.

Religion

St Peter's Church Belmont is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

serving the local community of Belmont Village, including a

Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

References

External links

Belmont Village Web SiteGENUKI Lancashire GenealogySt Peters parish churchSt Peter's ChurchBelmont Primary School
{{authority control Villages in Lancashire Former civil parishes in Lancashire Geography of Blackburn with Darwen West Pennine Moors