Deane is an area of

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 ...

, in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. It is about south west of Bolton and northwest of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. Historically a part 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 ...

, the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Deane was one of eleven

es within the hundred of

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

and covered roughly half of the present

Metropolitan Borough of Bolton The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton ( ) is a metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England, named after its largest town, Bolton, but covering a larger area which includes Blackrod, Farnworth, Horwich, Kearsley, Westhoughton, and part of ...

. The Church of St Mary on which the parish was centred was in the township of Rumworth.

History

Toponymy

The name Deane derives from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

word ''"denu"'' - meaning valley.Billington(1982), In earlier times Deane was written without the final "e". The stream running in the valley to the west of the church was named the ''Kirkbroke'' - meaning Church Brook. The valley is also referred to as Deane Clough, "clough" being a Northern English word for a ravine or deep valley.

Early church history

Since

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

times there has been a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

at Deane in the township of Rumworth, the earliest record is from the year 1100. This

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

dedicated to St Mary the Virgin was sometimes referred to as St Mariden i.e. St Mary's, Deane in old documents. Deane chapelry in the ancient

of Eccles was mentioned in 13th-century deeds and became a parish in its own right in 1541. St Mary's Church, on the site of the original chapel, dates from 1452 replacing an earlier structure, the tower and north door are older than the rest of the building. The church has been altered at various times and was restored in about 1880.

George Marsh

The

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

, George Marsh, a farmer's son, was born in Deane in 1515. When

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

became King in 1547, Marsh's study of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

led to his appointment as a preaching minister. When Edward VI died in 1553, his half-sister

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...

became Queen. She sought to re-establish

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, Marsh became victim to her persecution of the reformers. He appeared before Justice Barton at Smithills Hall accused of preaching false doctrines. Imprisoned at

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, he refused to deny his beliefs, was tried, convicted, and burnt at the stake on 24 April 1555. A memorial was erected in the churchyard in 1893, it is a Grade II listed structure.

Governance

Lying within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire since the early 12th century, Deane was originally the northern half of the ancient parish of Eccles, but in 1541 it became a civil and

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

in its own right.Salford hundred: The parish of Deane
''British History Online''. Retrieved on 15 March 2009. As with many large parishes in the north of England, Deane was divided into the ten townships of Horwich, Halliwell, Heaton, Rumworth (where Deane Parish Church is situated),

Westhoughton Westhoughton ( ) is a List of towns in England, town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southwest of Bolton, east of Wigan and northwest of Manchester.Over Hulton, Middle Hulton,

Little Hulton Little Hulton is a suburb in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, south of Bolton, northwest of Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, and northwest of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, histo ...

, Farnworth and Kearsley. Under provisions of the

Poor Relief Act 1662 The Poor Relief Act 1662 ( 14 Cha. 2. c. 12) was an act of the Cavalier Parliament of England. It was ''an Act for the Better Relief of the Poor of this Kingdom'' and is also known as the Settlement Act or the Settlement and Removal Act. The ...

, the ten townships became separate autonomous

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

, replacing the civil parish of Deane as the main unit of local administration, although the ecclesiastical parish still remained under the authority of the vicar of Deane. In 1837, Rumworth along with neighbouring

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

s (or

civil parishes In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishe ...

) became part of the

Poor Law Union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

which took responsibility for the administration and funding of the

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

in that area. In the 19th century many of the Deane townships became independent civil parishes and were merged into the Municipal Borough of Bolton or formed they own urban districts. Deane was a civil parish until 1866, in 1872, part of Rumworth township became part of Bolton Municipal Borough, on 31 December 1894 Deane became a parish again, being formed from the

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

part of Rumworth and became part of Bolton Rural District, on 30 September 1898 the parish was abolished and merged with Bolton and became part of the County Borough of Bolton. In 1891 the parish had a population of 22,994.

Geography

References

Notes Bibliography * *

External links

Deane C.of E. ParishGENUKI - DeaneA Vision of Britain - DeaneBBC History Trail - DeaneHeatons of Deane
{{Areas of Bolton Areas of Bolton Former civil parishes in Greater Manchester