Bolton is a town in
Greater ManchesterGreater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.56 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and...
, in the
North West of EnglandNorth West England is one of the nine official regions of England. It has a population of 6,853,200 and comprises five counties of England – Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Cheshire....
. Situated close to the
West Pennine MoorsThe West Pennine Moors is an area of approximately of moorland and reservoir scenery, located in Lancashire, between the towns of Chorley, Bolton, Horwich, Ramsbottom, Haslingden, Oswaldtwistle and Darwen...
, it is north west of the city of
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the
Metropolitan Borough of BoltonThe Metropolitan Borough of Bolton is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest town Bolton, but covers a far larger area including six smaller towns and a number of villages around the West Pennine Moors.-Creation:...
, of which Bolton is the largest settlement and
administrative centreAdministrative centre is often used in several countries to refer to a county town, or other seat of regional or local government, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. -See also:*Local government*Regions of Norway*Regions of Portugal*District center...
. The town of Bolton has a total population of 139,403, whilst the wider metropolitan borough has a population of 262,400.
HistoricallyThe historic counties of England are ancient subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires. They were used for various functions for several hundred years and continue to form, albeit with considerably...
a part of
LancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Lancashire County Council is based in Preston. However, Lancaster is still considered to be the county town...
, Bolton originated as a small settlement in the moorland known as
Bolton le MoorsBolton le Moors was a civil parish of the hundred of Salford in the historic county of Lancashire, England.-History:...
. During the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The first and second civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war saw fighting between supporters of...
the town was a
Parliamentarian"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they were the supporters of Oliver Cromwell against King Charles I. Cromwell rose to prominence as a Member of Parliament and Parliamentary soldier, and eventually...
outpost in a staunchly
RoyalistCavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I during the English Civil War . Prince Rupert, commander of much of Charles I's cavalry, is often considered an archetypical Cavalier.-Early usage:...
region. In 1644 Bolton was stormed by 3,000 Royalist troops led by
Prince Rupert of the RhineRupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria , commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, , soldier, inventor and amateur artist in mezzotint, was a younger son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and Elizabeth Stuart, and the nephew of King Charles I of England, who created him Duke of...
. This attack, which later came to be known as the
Bolton MassacreThe Bolton Massacre, sometimes recorded as the Storming of Bolton, was an episode in the English Civil War, on 28 May 1644, in which it was alleged that up to 1,600 of Bolton's defenders and citizens were slaughtered during and after its storm and capture by the Royalist forces under Prince Rupert...
, resulted in 1,600 residents being killed and 700 taken prisoner.
Noted as a former
mill townA mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories .- United Kingdom:...
, textiles have been produced in Bolton since
FlemishThe Flemish people , the Flemings or the Flemish are the over six million people of Flanders, the northern region of the country Belgium — and the majority of all Belgians....
weavers settled in the area during the
15th centuryAs a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was the century which lasted from 1401 to 1500.Spanish and Portuguese explorations led to discovery of the Americas and the sea passage along Cape of Good Hope to India for the European civilization...
, developing a wool and cotton weaving tradition. The urbanisation and development of Bolton largely coincided with the introduction of
textile manufacture during the Industrial RevolutionWith the establishment of overseas colonies, the British Empire at the end of the 17th century/beginning of the 18th century had a vast source of raw materials and a vast market for manufactured goods...
. It was a
boomtownA boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons,...
of the 19th century and, at its zenith in 1929, 216
cotton millA cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
s and 26 bleaching and dying works, made it one of the largest and most productive centres of
cotton spinningSpinning is an ancient textile art in which plant, animal or synthetic fibers are twisted together to form yarn. For thousands of years, fiber was spun by hand using simple tools, the spindle and distaff...
in the world. After
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
the British cotton industry declined sharply and by the 1980s cotton manufacture had virtually ceased in Bolton.
Bolton is today noted for its Premier League football club
Bolton WanderersBolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football club based in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently in the Premier League....
who play from the
Reebok StadiumThe Reebok Stadium is the home stadium of English Premier League football club Bolton Wanderers, and is located on the Middlebrook Retail Park in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. It is commonly known as 'The Reebok'...
, with
ReebokReebok International Limited, a subsidiary of German sportswear giant Adidas, is a producer of athletic footwear, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...
, the sportswear company, being based in the town.
Toponymy
The name Bolton derives from the Old English
bothel and
tun, meaning a "settlement with a special building". The first record of the town dates from 1185 as
Boelton.
The current Arms of Bolton Metropolitan Borough are a pun on the word Bolton, as they depict an arrow (a "bolt") passing through a crown (a "tun"). The town's motto of
Supera Moras means "overcome difficulties" (or "delays"), and is a pun on the Bolton-super-Moras version of the name, meaning (like Bolton-le-Moors) "Bolton on the moors".
Early history
Man has lived on the moors on which Bolton now stands for many thousands of years. There's a stone circle on Cheetham Close above
EgertonEgerton is a small village of the unparished area of South Turton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it is situated three miles north of Bolton and 12 miles north west of Manchester City Centre. The village takes its name from the...
, and Bronze Age burial mounds on Winter Hill. A Bronze Age mound was excavated in Victorian times outside Haulgh Hall.
The Romans came to the area building roads from Manchester to
RibchesterRibchester is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Ribble, northwest of Blackburn and east of Preston.The village has a long history with evidence of Bronze Age beginnings...
to the east and the A6 to the west. It is claimed that the genereal
AgricolaAgricola is Latin for farmer and can refer to a number of different people and things.-Romans:* Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman general, whose biography Agricola was written by the historian Tacitus* Julia Agricola, wife of Tacitus...
built a fort at
BlackrodBlackrod is a town and civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is north-northeast of Wigan and west of Bolton, and, according to the United Kingdom Census 2001, has a population of 5,300....
by clearing land above the forest.
Evidence of a
SaxonThe Saxons were a confederation of Old Germanic tribes. Their modern-day descendants in Lower Saxony and Westphalia and other German states are considered ethnic Germans ; those in the eastern Netherlands are considered to be ethnic Dutch; those in north...
settlement exists in the form of religious objects found when the present Victorian parish church was built.
Bolton is first mentioned in recorded history in 1067 when William the Conqueror bestowed the Manor of Bolton to Roger de Poitou.
The town was given a charter to hold a market in Churchgate on 14 December 1251 by King
Henry III of EnglandHenry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 to his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
. It was then made into a market town and borough by a charter from the Earl of Derby, William de Ferrers, on 14 January, 1253.
English Civil War
During the English Civil War, Bolton supported Parliament and the Puritan cause, unlike most of the rest of Lancashire. The town was twice attacked unsuccessfully until the third assault on 28 May, 1644. Prince Rupert's army along with troops under the Earl of Derby, attacked the town. There were 1,500 dead, and 700 taken prisoner. It became known as the
Bolton MassacreThe Bolton Massacre, sometimes recorded as the Storming of Bolton, was an episode in the English Civil War, on 28 May 1644, in which it was alleged that up to 1,600 of Bolton's defenders and citizens were slaughtered during and after its storm and capture by the Royalist forces under Prince Rupert...
.
Textile manufacture
The town's position on the west of the Pennines provides a damp climate. It is this feature which probably led to Flemish weavers, fleeing the
HuguenotThe Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Since the eighteenth century, Huguenots have been commonly designated "French Protestants", the title being suggested by their German co-religionists or "Calvinists"...
persecutions in the 17th century, to eventually settle here, as moisture-laden air allows for the spinning of cotton with little breakage. The cotton industry was to provide the catalyst for the town's expansion between the 14th and 19th centuries. Large, steam-powered textile mills eventually dominated the town's skyline, providing the major employment and defining the rhythm of the working week, so much so that an annual shut-down for maintenance in late June became the Bolton holidays. There were also some large iron foundries in the town as well as other engineering works, many connected with the cotton industry. The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal connected the town to
BuryBury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester. Bury is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, of which Bury is the...
and
ManchesterManchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2007, the population of the city was estimated to be 458,100...
.
The
Bolton and Leigh Railway|}The Bolton and Leigh Railway was an early British railway.-History:The company obtained its Act of Parliament on 31 March 1825 to build a line "from the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal at Bolton to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Leigh", allowing steam haulage and stationary steam-hauled...
was one of the oldest in Lancashire, opening to goods traffic in 1828 and to passengers in 1831.
Bolton was Worktown in the
Mass-ObservationMass-Observation was a United Kingdom social research organization founded in 1937. Their work ended in the mid 1960s but was revived in 1981. The Archive is housed at the University of Sussex....
project which has left us with many photographs taken around the town by
Humphrey SpenderHumphrey Spender was an English photographer, painter, architect and designer.-Family:Humphrey Spender was the third son of Harold Spender, a Liberal journalist and writer who founded the Boys' Club movement with Arnold Toynbee. Humphrey's mother, Violet Schuster, came from a German family who had...
as part of that project.
Governance
Bolton Council is made up of 60 directly elected Councillors of which there are presently 28 Labour Party Councillors, 23 Conservative Party Councillors and 9 Liberal Democrat Councillors.
The Labour Party is presently in control of Bolton Council and has formed an administration with 10 Executive Members.
The present Leader of Bolton Council is Cllr. Clifford Morris and the present Mayor of Bolton is Cllr. Norman Critchley.
Civic history
Until the early 19th century, Great Bolton and Little Bolton were two of the eighteen
townshipIn England, township usually means a village or hamlet. A township may be co-terminous with a chapelry, manor, or other minor area of local administration.-History:...
s of the
ecclesiastical parishA parish is a territorial unit that was usually historically served by a local church. This administrative unit is typically found in Roman Catholic, Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Church of Sweden, United Methodist, and Presbyterian churches...
of
Bolton le MoorsBolton le Moors was a civil parish of the hundred of Salford in the historic county of Lancashire, England.-History:...
. These two townships were separated by the
River CroalThe River Croal is a river located in Greater Manchester, England. It is a tributary of the River Irwell.Rising at the confluence of Middle Brook and Deane Church Brook, it flows eastwards through Bolton, collecting Gilnow Brook and the larger River Tonge at Darcy Lever...
, with Little Bolton on the north side of the river and Great Bolton on the south side.
In 1838, Great Bolton, most of Little Bolton and the Haulgh area from Tonge with Haulgh township were incorporated under the
Municipal Corporations Act 1835The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 – sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales...
as a
municipal boroughMunicipal boroughs were a type of local government which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...
, making it the second to be created in England, after
DevonportDevonport, formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. Devonport was originally one of the "Three Towns" which were merged in 1914 to form what would later become, in 1928, the...
. Further additions were made to the borough, with part of Rumworth in 1872, and part of
HalliwellHalliwell is a predominantly residential area of Bolton, and an electoral ward of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England...
in 1877.
In 1889, Bolton was granted
County BoroughCounty borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. The Local Government Act 1972 abolished them in England and Wales, but they are still used in the Republic of Ireland and Northern...
status and became entirely self-governing and independent from
Lancashire County CouncilLancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It currently consists of 84 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, who won control of the council in the local council elections in June 2009, ending 28 years of...
jurisdiction. In 1898, it was extended further by adding the
civil parishIn England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and in some places the lowest tier of local government, below districts and counties. A civil parish can alternatively be known as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council; and in a limited number of...
es of
BreightmetBreightmet is a settlement near Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is 2½ miles east of Bolton town centre. The name comes from the Old English 'breorht' meaning bright and 'maed' or 'mead' meaning meadow, so making bright meadow...
,
Darcy LeverDarcy Lever is a small village in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.Historically part of Lancashire, the main part of the village lies along the B6209 , which links to Bolton and Little Lever....
,
Great LeverGreat Lever is a mainly residential settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is located in the South of the town, close to Farnworth and about 2 miles from Bolton town centre. Great Lever has many shops and services serving the local community. These...
, the rest of
HalliwellHalliwell is a predominantly residential area of Bolton, and an electoral ward of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England...
,
HeatonHeaton is a mostly residential district and council ward of Bolton, Greater Manchester, lying about 2 miles to the north west of the town centre. It is bounded by Deane to the south, Markland Hill to the west and Smithills and Halliwell to the north....
, Lostock, Middle Hulton, the rest of Rumworth (which had been renamed
DeaneDeane is an area of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is around to the northwest of the city of Manchester.Historically a part of Lancashire, the Parish of Deane was once a parish within the hundred of Salford and covered roughly half of the present Metropolitan Borough of...
in 1894), Smithills, and Tonge, plus Astley Bridge Urban District, and part of Over Hulton civil parish.
The
County Borough of BoltonBolton was, from 1838 to 1974, a local government district in the northwest of England, coterminate with the town of Bolton.- History :Bolton was created a free borough in 1253 when William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby granted a charter. However the borough did not develop into a self-governing...
was abolished in 1974 and became a constituent part of the
Metropolitan Borough of BoltonThe Metropolitan Borough of Bolton is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest town Bolton, but covers a far larger area including six smaller towns and a number of villages around the West Pennine Moors.-Creation:...
in
Greater ManchesterGreater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.56 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and...
.
Parliamentary representation
Under the
Reform Act of 1832The Representation of the People Act 1832, commonly known as the Reform Act 1832, was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of the United Kingdom...
, a
Parliamentary BoroughParliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament. The term came into use in the 19th century in the United Kingdom, when certain boroughs were disenfranchised, becoming merely municipal boroughs. The two...
was established for the town. The
Bolton constituencyBolton was a borough constituency centred on the town of Bolton in the county of Lancashire. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons for the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system....
had two
Members of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
who both represented the whole borough.
The
Parliamentary BoroughParliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament. The term came into use in the 19th century in the United Kingdom, when certain boroughs were disenfranchised, becoming merely municipal boroughs. The two...
continued until 1950 when it was abolished and replaced with two parliamentary constituencies,
Bolton EastBolton East was a borough constituency in the town of Bolton in Lancashire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The constituency was created for the 1950 general election...
and
Bolton WestBolton West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
, each with one
M.PA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
.
In 1983, Bolton East was abolished and two new constituencies were created, Bolton North East (which covers a large part of the former Bolton East), and Bolton South East (which covers most of the former
Farnworth constituencyFarnworth was a county constituency in Lancashire which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election.- Boundaries :...
). Also in 1983, there were major boundary changes to Bolton West, which took over most of the former
Westhoughton constituencyWesthoughton was a parliamentary constituency in Lancashire. Centred on the former mining and cotton town of Westhoughton, it returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
.
Geography
| Neighbouring towns and villages |
North-West:
HorwichHorwich is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest from the city of Manchester....
|
North:
EgertonEgerton is a small village of the unparished area of South Turton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it is situated three miles north of Bolton and 12 miles north west of Manchester City Centre. The village takes its name from the...
and ChapeltownChapeltown is a village of the civil parish of North Turton, in the Blackburn with Darwen unitary authority, in the north west of England. It is situated on the B6391 and lies on southern slopes of the West Pennine Moors. The village was once the historic centre of the old Turton Urban District.The...
|
North-East:
TottingtonTottington is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, in Greater Manchester, England.Historically a part of Lancashire, Tottington's early history is marked by its status as an important Medieval fee, a type of Royal Manor which encompassed several townships...
|
West:
Aspull and BlackrodBlackrod is a town and civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is north-northeast of Wigan and west of Bolton, and, according to the United Kingdom Census 2001, has a population of 5,300....
|
Bolton |
East:
Little LeverLittle Lever , is a large village within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southeast of Bolton, west of Radcliffe, and west-southwest of Bury.-Toponymy:...
and RadcliffeRadcliffe is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on undulating ground in the Irwell Valley, along the course of the River Irwell, south-west of Bury and north-northwest of Manchester. Radcliffe is contiguous with the town of Whitefield to the...
|
South-West:
WesthoughtonWesthoughton is a town and civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is southwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester....
|
South:
AthertonAtherton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It is east of Wigan, north-northeast of Leigh and southwest of Bolton...
and TyldesleyTyldesley is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It occupies an area north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, east-southeast of Wigan and west-northwest of the city of Manchester...
|
South-East:
FarnworthFarnworth is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is located southeast of Bolton and northwest of Manchester....
and KearsleyKearsley is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies about 12 km north west of the City of Manchester and about 6 km south of Bolton....
|
Bolton Parish Church
The
Parish ChurchA parish church, in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
, dedicated to St Peter, is a fine example of the
gothic revival styleThe Gothic Revival is an architectural movement which began in the 1740s in England. Its popularity grew rapidly in the early nineteenth century, when increasingly serious and learned admirers of neo-Gothic styles sought to revive medieval forms in contrast to the classical styles prevalent at the...
. Built between 1866 and 1871 of
LongridgeLongridge is a small town and civil parish in the borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is situated at the western end of Longridge Fell, a long ridge above the River Ribble, several miles north-east of the city of Preston. Its nearest neighbours are Grimsargh and the Roman town of...
stone to designs by
PaleyEdward Graham Paley, usually known as E. G. Paley, , was an English architect who practised in Lancaster, Lancashire, in the second half of the 19th century.-Education and career:...
, the church is in width, in length, and in height. The
towerA bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
is high with 13
bellsA church bell is a bell which is rung in a church either to signify the hour or the time for worshippers to go to church, perhaps to attend a wedding, funeral, or other service...
.
The first known church on the same site was built in
Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading Germanic tribes in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, to the Norman conquest of 1066...
times. It was rebuilt in
NormanThe Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
times and again in the early 1400s. Little is known of the first two churches, but the third building was a solid, squat building with a sturdy square tower at the west end. It was modified over the years until it fell into disrepair and demolished in 1866. Fragments of stone and other artefacts from these first three buildings are displayed in the museum corner of the present church.
Today, the present parish of Bolton-le-Moors only covers a small area in the town centre, but until the 19th century it covered a much larger area and was divided into eighteen chapelries and townships.
The neighbouring ancient parish of
DeaneDeane is an area of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is around to the northwest of the city of Manchester.Historically a part of Lancashire, the Parish of Deane was once a parish within the hundred of Salford and covered roughly half of the present Metropolitan Borough of...
once covered a large area to the west and south of Bolton, and the township of
Great LeverGreat Lever is a mainly residential settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is located in the South of the town, close to Farnworth and about 2 miles from Bolton town centre. Great Lever has many shops and services serving the local community. These...
had been part of the ancient parish of
MiddletonMiddleton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Irk, south-southeast of Rochdale, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester...
.
Bolton Town Hall
Situated in the town centre, the Town Hall is an imposing
neoclassicalNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, both as a reaction against the Rococo style of anti-tectonic naturalistic ornament, and an outgrowth of some classicizing features of Late Baroque...
building. It was designed by William Hill who later designed the
Portsmouth GuildhallPortsmouth Guildhall is the biggest events venue in the Hampshire city of Portsmouth in England. The building, completed in 1890, was designed in the neo-classical style by architect William Hill, who had earlier been responsible for the design of the town hall in Bolton...
. Opened on 5 June 1873 by
Albert Edward, Prince of WalesEdward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death on 6 May 1910...
(later as Edward VII), it was built on the site of an old Pot Market which had previously been known as Market Square. In the 1930s, the building was extended, by
Bradshaw Gass & HopeBradshaw Gass & Hope is an English firm of architects founded in 1862 by Jonas James Bradshaw . The style "Bradshaw Gass & Hope" was adopted after J. J...
, with additional office space which almost doubled in size.
Incorporated within the Town Hall are the Albert Halls. The original Albert Hall was destroyed by a massive fire on 14 November 1981. It took three and half years for the complete internal reconstruction work to be finished. Reopened in 1985, the new Albert Halls now comprises two separate halls and several function rooms.
Smithills Hall
Smithills HallSmithills Hall is a Grade I listed manor house, and a Scheduled Monument in the town of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. One of the oldest manor houses in the north west of England, it dates from the 14th Century....
is thought to date back to the 14th Century when William de Radcliffe received the Manor of Smithills from the Hulton family. The manor was first recorded in the 11th Century as part of a package of land granted to Roger de Poitou by William the Conqueror. In the 12th and 13th centuries the manor was held by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem and then passed to Hulton family.
Legend has it that the Saxon King Ælla of Deira built a summer palace near to where the hall now stands, above Ravedon Brook. In 739
Eanbald, Archbishop of York-Life:He was a fellow student at York with Alcuin under Ethelbert, his predecessor at York. Alcuin called him a "brother and most faithful friend." Ethelbert put Alcuin and Eanbald in charge of rebuilding York Minster, as the duties of archbishop kept Ethelbert from handling the details.Eanbald was...
and
Æthelberht, Bishop of HexhamÆthelberht was a 8th century Anglo-Saxon bishop. His consecration as Bishop of Whithorn can be placed using the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle on 15 June in either 776 or 777, and took place at York. In either 789, 790 or 791 he became Bishop of Hexham; he was succeeded at Whithorn by Beadwulf. He died on...
are said to have dedicated a chapel to the Blessed Virgin at Smithills in response to the sacking of Lindisfarne. In 1554
George MarshGeorge Marsh may refer to:* George Perkins Marsh , American diplomat and philologist* George Marsh , Protestant Martyr* George A. Marsh, a three-masted schooner built in Michigan in 1882...
was accused at Smithills Hall of false preaching. He is said to have stamped his foot at the entrance passage to the chapel, burning a footprint into the stone flag which can still be seen today.
The Great Hall was built sometime in the 14th Century, the chapel in the 16h century and greatly extended during the 19th. It is now a museum.
Hall i' th' Wood
Hall i' th' WoodHall i' th' Wood is an early 16th century manor house in Bolton, Greater Manchester . It is a Grade I listed building and is currently used as a museum by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council. The original building is timber framed and has a stone flagged roof; there were later additions to the...
is a late mediaeval yeoman farmer's house which may have been built by Laurence Brownlow. It passed to the Norris family around 1637 and the stone west wing added. In the 18th Century it was divided up into tenements for leasing and this was how its most famous occupant
Samuel CromptonSamuel Crompton was an English inventor and pioneer of the spinning industry.- Early life :Samuel Crompton was born at 10 Firwood Fold, Bolton, Lancashire to George and Betty Crompton . Samuel had two younger sisters...
came to live and work there. In the 19th Century its condition deteriorated further with cattle kept in the Great Hall and the stone wing used as a barn.
In 1895 was bought by the Bolton industrialist William Hesketh Lever who restored it and presented it to
Bolton CouncilThe Metropolitan Borough of Bolton is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest town Bolton, but covers a far larger area including six smaller towns and a number of villages around the West Pennine Moors.-Creation:...
in 1900. It remains a museum to this day.
St George's Church
The red-brick St George's Church was built in 1794-96 when the Little Bolton area was a separate township from Great Bolton, divided from it by the
River CroalThe River Croal is a river located in Greater Manchester, England. It is a tributary of the River Irwell.Rising at the confluence of Middle Brook and Deane Church Brook, it flows eastwards through Bolton, collecting Gilnow Brook and the larger River Tonge at Darcy Lever...
. Built by Peter Rothwell it was paid for by the Ainsworth family.
The last service was in 1975, it was leased to Bolton Council and became a craft centre in 1994. For many years
Stuart Hall-People:*Stuart Hall , British radio and television presenter*Stuart Hall , British cultural theorist and first editor of the New Left Review...
of
It's a KnockoutIt's a Knockout was a popular British television gameshow. Commentators included Eddie Waring, David Vine and Stuart Hall - who was famous for collapsing into genuine hysterical laughter mid-way through commentating on any particular game on a regular basis...
fame housed his clock collection in the craft centre, but the building has now returned to the
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches...
and remains closed.
It is a Grade II* listed building.
Others
Other town centre landmarks in Bolton include Le Mans Crescent, Ye Olde Man & Scythe, Little Bolton Town Hall, The Market Place, Wood Street and Holy Trinity Church. Outside the town centre can be found Mere Hall,
Firwood Fold10 Firwood Fold is a 16th century house in Bolton, Greater Manchester . It is a Grade I listed building and the birthplace of Samuel Crompton....
, Haulgh Hall, Park Cottage, St Mary's Church, Deane, Lostock Hall Gatehouse and
All Souls ChurchAll Souls Church, All Soul's Chapel, and variations, may refer to:in the United Kingdom*All Souls Church, Langham Placein Canada:*All Souls' Chapel , a National Historic Site of Canadain the United States...
. Notable mills still overlooking parts of the town are Falcon Mill, Sir John Holden's Mill and the Swan Lane Mills Complex. Most views are dominated by the Winter Hill TV Mast on the
West Pennine MoorsThe West Pennine Moors is an area of approximately of moorland and reservoir scenery, located in Lancashire, between the towns of Chorley, Bolton, Horwich, Ramsbottom, Haslingden, Oswaldtwistle and Darwen...
above the town. Just outside the town's boundaries is the
Royal Bolton HospitalThe Royal Bolton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is based in the town of Farnworth in Greater Manchester, England. It provides NHS health care services for the people in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton and surrounding areas...
in
FarnworthFarnworth is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is located southeast of Bolton and northwest of Manchester....
and provides healthcare services for the people of Bolton and the wider metropolitan borough.
Township populations
These
censusThe United Kingdom has taken a census of its population every ten years since 1801, with the exception of 1941 . In addition to providing a wealth of interesting information about aspects of the make-up of the country, the results of the census plays an important part in the calculation of resource...
population figures are for the former townships of Great Bolton and Little Bolton.
| Year |
1801 |
1811 |
1821 |
1831 |
1841 |
1851 |
1861 |
1871 |
1881 |
1891 |
| Great Bolton |
12,549 |
17,070 |
22,037 |
28,299 |
33,449 |
39,923 |
43,435 |
45,313 |
45,694 |
47,067 |
| Little Bolton |
4,867 |
7,099 |
9,258 |
12,896 |
15,707 |
19,888 |
24,942 |
35,013 |
41,937 |
44,307 |
| Sources: Local population statistics. Great Bolton Tn/CP: Total Population. Little Bolton Tn/CP: Total Population. |
Bolton population
| Year |
1901 |
1911 |
1921 |
1931 |
1939 |
1951 |
1961 |
1971 |
1981 |
1991 |
2001 |
| Population |
168,215 |
180,851 |
178,683 |
177,250 |
163,823 |
167,167 |
160,789 |
154,223 |
143,921 |
139,020 |
139,403 |
County Borough 1901-1971 Urban Subdivision 1981-2001
|
Economy
In recent times, the town has swapped much of its heavy industry for service-based activities including a large number of data processing and call centres and also hi-tech electronics and IT companies. It attracts shoppers from all over the north of England and further afield, not only to the Victorian splendour of the town centre but to newly developed
MiddlebrookMiddlebrook is the name given to a locality on the boundary between Horwich and Lostock in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England....
retail park, home to
Bolton WanderersBolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football club based in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently in the Premier League....
, the
Bolton ArenaThe Bolton Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena, located on the boundary between Horwich and Lostock in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England....
, leisure facilities, shops, pubs, restaurants and sundry other businesses. The town retains a variety of more traditional industries, employing people in, amongst other things, aerospace, paper-manufacturing, packaging, textiles, transportation, steel foundries and building materials. The area of Horwich around Middlebrook has been designated by Bolton Council as the `Bolton Economic Development Zone', and is currently seeing much building work, predominantly office space for law firms and business headquarters.
Tourism plays an important part in the local economy, with visitor attractions such as Hall i' th' Wood (the home of inventor Samuel Crompton), Smithills Country Park and
Smithills HallSmithills Hall is a Grade I listed manor house, and a Scheduled Monument in the town of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. One of the oldest manor houses in the north west of England, it dates from the 14th Century....
,
RivingtonRivington is a small village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, in Lancashire, England. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001 it had a population of 144.-Geography and toponymy:...
, Last Drop Village, Barrow Bridge mill village,
Bolton Steam MuseumBolton Steam Museum is a museum in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which houses a variety of preserved steam engines. It is owned and run by the Northern Mill Engine Society .-Overview:...
and the civic museums in the town centre. Residents and visitors alike can make use of the facilities at Leverhulme, Moss Bank and Queen's parks.
Bolton is the birthplace of the
ReebokReebok International Limited, a subsidiary of German sportswear giant Adidas, is a producer of athletic footwear, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...
brand. The company's European headquarters are located in the
Reebok StadiumThe Reebok Stadium is the home stadium of English Premier League football club Bolton Wanderers, and is located on the Middlebrook Retail Park in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. It is commonly known as 'The Reebok'...
. Bolton is also the home of the family bakery,
WarburtonsWarburtons is a British baking firm based in Bolton, England. The firm produces one million bakery products per day. The company employs around 3,300 people at eleven bakeries across the United Kingdom. It is the UK's third biggest bread manufacturer after Allied Bakeries and RHM...
, who began their business in 1876 on Blackburn Road in Bolton.
Bolton also has a strong presence in the Aerospace industry through the production of military missiles and systems. This centred round the
British AerospaceBritish Aerospace was a UK aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. In 1999 it purchased Marconi Electronic Systems, the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc, to form BAE Systems....
(BAe) factory in Lostock which formerly had the largest machine shop in Europe. BAe also had factories in
FarnworthFarnworth is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is located southeast of Bolton and northwest of Manchester....
,
WingatesWingates is a small settlement located in the town of Westhoughton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.Historically part of Lancashire, it lies mainly along the A6 road between Blackrod and Walkden. It is the home of Wingates Band, one of best-known brass bands in...
and in the Spa Lane area of Bolton. The Lostock factory has been reduced drastically over the last couple of decades with the bulk of the buildings being sold off. A workforce of around 300 people continue to work there under the
BAE SystemsBAE Systems plc is a British defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire, England, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is the world's second-largest defence contractor and the largest in Europe...
subsidiary
MBDAMBDA is a missile developer and manufacturer with operations in Britain, France, Germany, and Italy. It was formed by a merger of Aérospatiale-Matra Missiles , Finmeccanica and Matra BAe Dynamics in 2001...
. Current missile systems produced there include; ASRAAM,
RapierRapier is a British surface-to-air missile developed for the British Army and Royal Air Force. Entering service in 1971, it eventually replaced all other anti-aircraft weapons in Army service; guns for low-altitude targets, and the English Electric Thunderbird...
and
Storm ShadowStorm Shadow is an Anglo-French air-launched cruise missile, manufactured by MBDA and used by France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Greece. Storm Shadow is the British name for the weapon; in French service it is called SCALP EG...
which are in service with the RAF and various forces around the globe.
Bolton town centre over the next 10 years will under go a series of major improvements including Church Wharf by Ask developments and bluemantle it will cost 226 million, Merchants Quarter which includes the local developer Charles Topham group it will cost 200 million, Bolton Innovation Zone(BIZ) which is a large 300 million development it has the University of Bolton at its core, this development will include various develpers. There is also the central street development which is a retail lead development which will cost 100 million by Wilson Bowden Developments Limited there is also many smaller operations. The developments listed above are likely to attract 20,000 new jobs.
Transport
Bolton is well served in terms of both the local road network and national routes.
The A6, a major north–south
trunk roadA trunk road, trunk highway, or strategic road is a major road—usually connecting two or more cities, ports, airports, etc.—which is the recommended route for long-distance and freight traffic...
, passes through Hunger Hill and Westhoughton.
The
A666The A666 is a major road in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, England. Known as 'Manchester Road', 'Bolton Road' or 'Blackburn Road' depending on which area it is in, it runs from its junction with the A6 and A580 at the Irlams o' th' Height boundary with Pendlebury near Manchester, through...
(sometimes referred to as `The Devil's Highway' because of the numeric designation) is a 4-lane
dual carriagewayA dual carriageway or divided highway is a road or highway in which the two directions of traffic are separated by a central barrier or strip of land, known as a central reservation or median...
which acts as a spur from the large
M61The M61 motorway is a motorway in north-west England. It runs from the M60 motorway north-west of Manchester, heading north-west past Bolton and Chorley to join the M6 just north of the junction between the M6 and M65 motorways to the south of Preston....
/
M60The M60 motorway is an orbital motorway circling Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. It passes through all Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs except for Wigan and Bolton. Most of the City of Manchester is encompassed within the motorway, except for the...
motorwayThe OECD has defined a motorway as:Motorways are identical to freeways as a road type, and comparable to the United States's Interstate Highways as a classification....
interchange, carrying traffic to and from the town centre. The A666 continues North, up through Astley Bridge, Egerton and on into Darwen and Blackburn, Lancashire. The
M61The M61 motorway is a motorway in north-west England. It runs from the M60 motorway north-west of Manchester, heading north-west past Bolton and Chorley to join the M6 just north of the junction between the M6 and M65 motorways to the south of Preston....
itself has three dedicated junctions serving the borough.
Bolton is served by the
National ExpressNational Express is the brand under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are marketed, and also the company that manages this network and operates some of the services...
coach network.
Bolton is located on the Manchester loop of the West Coast Mainline and as such is served by Virgin West Coast trains passing through Manchester Piccadilly station. There are regular commuter services between most of the local stations and Manchester. The Bolton metropolitan area is served by the following railway stations:
- Bolton Trinity Street
Bolton railway station is the principal railway station in the town of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is located on the Manchester spur of the West Coast Main Line and is managed by Northern Rail...
- a town-centre transport interchange
- Bromley Cross
Bromley Cross railway station, situated in Bromley Cross, a suburb to the north of Bolton, is served by the Northern Rail 'Ribble Valley' line 4 km north of Bolton....
- Hall i' th' Wood
Hall i' th' Wood railway station is the last stop before Bolton on the Northern Rail franchise's "Ribble Valley Line" line into Blackburn and Clitheroe....
- Blackrod
Blackrod railway station serves the village of Blackrod, 6.5 miles north west of Bolton railway station, 1.5 miles from the town centre of Horwich - closer indeed than station....
- Horwich Parkway
Horwich Parkway is a railway station serving the town of Horwich and the western area of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically located within Lancashire, the station is 16¼ miles north west of Manchester Piccadilly on the Manchester to Preston commuter line.Rail services are...
(for the Reebok StadiumThe Reebok Stadium is the home stadium of English Premier League football club Bolton Wanderers, and is located on the Middlebrook Retail Park in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. It is commonly known as 'The Reebok'...
- Bolton Wanderers FC)
- Lostock
Lostock railway station serves the Lostock suburb of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. According to large scale Ordnance Survey maps and local usage, the area is named Lostock Junction and the station is referred to as such by many local people...
- Westhoughton
Westhoughton railway station serves the town of Westhoughton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, north-western England. The station is 25 km north west of Manchester Piccadilly.- Overview :...
- Moses Gate
Moses Gate Railway Station serves the Moses Gate suburb of Farnworth, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.It lies on the Manchester-Preston Line, though only local services run by Northern Rail call here....
- Farnworth
Farnworth Railway Station serves the Greater Manchester town of Farnworth, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, England. It was originally known as Farnworth and Halshaw Moor railway station....
- Kearsley
Kearsley Railway Station serves the Greater Manchester town of Kearsley and the villages of Stoneclough, Prestolee and Ringley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in north-western England...
Education
Bolton is home to a leading independent day school,
Bolton SchoolBolton School is an independent school in Bolton, Greater Manchester, in the North-West of England.-History:Established as Bolton Grammar School, it is not known exactly when the Boys' School was founded, though it is recorded as being a 'going concern' as early as 1516...
, whose Boys' Division originated around 1516. It was endowed by Robert Lever in 1641 and again by William Hesketh Lever (later Lord Leverhulme) in 1898, allowing it to be rebuilt alongside a new Girls' Division on its current site in Chorley New Road. The town can also boast Lord's Independent School, established by Mr Lord, a local eccentric, in 1906.
Bolton also has its own modern university, the
University of BoltonThe University of Bolton is a university in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.-History:...
. Formerly Bolton Institute of Higher Education, it gained university status in 2005 and has seen much building work and growth since.
The town's secondary schools include Mount St Joseph Business and Enterprise college
Canon Slade SchoolCanon Slade School is a Church of England secondary school on Bradshaw Brow in Bradshaw, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.-Admissions:The school is a Designated Performing Arts College with a role of role of 1702 pupils...
, Withins School, Sharples School, Ladybridge High School,
Thornleigh Salesian CollegeThornleigh Salesian College is a Salesian and Catholic secondary school in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.- History :Thornleigh College was founded in 1925 by The Salesian Order of Don Bosco at the request of the Clergy of Bolton....
, Turton High School Media Arts College and Smithills School, which boasts a world champion brass band. Bolton also has a community college which provides further education to many in the borough and has many sites throughout, as well as
Bolton Sixth Form CollegeBolton Sixth Form College is a further education college for students aged 16 and higher located in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.- Overview :Bolton Sixth Form College is the largest further education college in Bolton...
, which comprises North and South campuses Also the newly rebuilt Bolton University located on College Way nearby the town centre.
The Bolton Teaching and Learning Centre serves schools as a central point for online materials.
Sports
The town gives its name to the English Football League club
Bolton Wanderers F.C.Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football club based in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently in the Premier League....
which was formed in 1874 and is currently based at
Reebok StadiumThe Reebok Stadium is the home stadium of English Premier League football club Bolton Wanderers, and is located on the Middlebrook Retail Park in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. It is commonly known as 'The Reebok'...
in
HorwichHorwich is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest from the city of Manchester....
since 1997. For 102 years prior to that they played at
Burnden ParkBurnden Park was the home of English FA Premier League football team Bolton Wanderers F.C. between 1895 and 1997.-Location:Situated in the Burnden area of Bolton - approximately one mile from the town centre - the ground served as the home of the town's football team for 102 years...
south of Bolton town centre, this is now the site of an
AsdaAsda is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, toys and general merchandise. They also have a mobile network, called Asda Mobile....
superstore. The club has won four
FA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association. The name "FA Cup" usually refers to the English men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held...
s, the most recent in 1958, and have spent a total of 70 seasons in the top division of the English league - more than any club never to have been league champions.
The oldest football club in
LancashireLancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Lancashire County Council is based in Preston. However, Lancaster is still considered to be the county town...
,
Turton F.C.Turton F.C. are an association football club based in Edgworth, in the North Turton district of Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire, England.They are members of the Lancashire Football Association, and in the 2009-10 season their senior team is playing in the West Lancashire League Premier Division,...
, was formed in a village on the moors above Bolton in 1871 and is said to have introduced the Association game to the county. There have been recent claims that their original ground, which is still in use, is the oldest surviving football ground in the world. It is claimed matches were played there since the 1830s.
Indoor facilities for sports training and major racket sports tournaments are provided courtesy of the newly built
Bolton ArenaThe Bolton Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena, located on the boundary between Horwich and Lostock in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England....
, which was used for some of the events in the
2002 Commonwealth GamesThe 2002 Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, England from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The XVII Commonwealth Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in England, eclipsing London's 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating.After the 1996 Manchester...
.
Bolton is home to one of North West England's largest Field Hockey Clubs,
Bolton Hockey ClubBolton Hockey Club is a Men’s and Ladies Field Hockey Club Based in Greater Manchester . It has over 180 members of which approximately 140 are playing members...
.
There are two local cricket leagues in Bolton, the
Bolton Cricket LeagueThe Bolton Cricket League is a cricket league comprising fourteen teams in and around Bolton, Greater Manchester in North West England. The league runs competitions at First Team, Second Team, Under 18, Under 15, Under 13 and Under 11 levels.-Teams:...
, and the Bolton Cricket Association.
Speedway racingMotorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway or flat track motorcycle racing , is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit...
, then known as Dirt Track Racing, was staged at Raikes Park in the pioneer days – 1928 – when the venue was short lived.
Bolton also has a
rugby unionRugby union is a full contact team sport, a form of football which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. It is played with an oval-shaped ball, outdoors on a level field, usually with a grass surface, 100 m...
club,
Bolton RUFCBolton RUFC are an amateur rugby union team who play in the North Lancs 1 league of the English rugby union league system.- History :Bolton RUFC was first formed in 1872, seven years before Bolton Wanderers Football Club, and was first listed in the "Football Annual" of 1874.It reads: "Bolton...
were formed in 1872 (7 years before Bolton Wanderers FC), and are situated on Avenue Street. The club operates 4 senior teams, as well as thriving womens and junior sections.
Bolton Robots of DoomBolton Robots of Doom is an English baseball team from Bolton situated in the North West region of England, playing in the Northern Division league 1 under the British Baseball Federation.-History:...
is a
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The goal is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond...
club that was started in 2003, playing their home games at The Ball Park at Stapleton Avenue. In addition to the adult team, there is a junior team, Bolton Bears. Baseball in Bolton dates back to 1938 with a team called Bolton Scarlets.
Bolton is also home to the Bolton Bulldogs, an American football team which plays home games at smithills school. They opperate a varsity and junior varsity (JV) teams
Culture and society
According to a survey of the
British Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between scientific workers...
Boltonians are the friendliest people in Britain.
Bolton is one of the more deprived boroughs in England according to the Indices of Deprivation 2000. It is the 28th most deprived in England in terms of numbers of people who are income deprived. A third of the borough's population lives in seven wards which are amongst the 10% most deprived in England. Despite this, Bolton is currently experiencing much attention and is experiencing an influx of people, leading to property prices increasing faster than most other parts of the UK. The borough already contains traditional and also increasingly affluent areas including Heaton, Horwich, Harwood and Smithills.
On 13 February 2003, Bolton was granted
Fairtrade TownFairtrade Town is a marketing tool in which this status is awarded by a recognized Fairtrade certification body describing an area which is committed to the promotion of Fairtrade certified goods...
status.
Bolton's oldest public house is
Ye Olde Man and ScytheThe Ye Olde Man & Scythe is a public house located on Church Gate, not far from Preston's of Bolton the diamond centre of the north, in Bolton, England...
, dating from 1251 – one of the oldest remaining public houses in England.
Arts
Bolton has a theatre called
The OctagonThe Octagon Theatre is a producing theatre located in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.-Programme:The Octagon produces an average of seven professional theatre productions a year. These are collected into two seasons, running approximately January to July and September to December...
along with many small, independent groups such as Bolton Little Theatre, Farnworth Little Theatre and the Phoenix Theatre Company. Inside the town hall there is also a large theatre and conference complex called The Albert Halls, named after the Prince Consort, Prince Albert whose early death in 1861 at the comparatively young age of only 42 would eventually lead to many buildings and monuments throughout Great Britain and her vast empire being named in his memory. The Halls opened on 5 June 1873.
Visual arts are also represented in Bolton via
Bolton MuseumBolton Museum is a public museum and art gallery in the town of Bolton, Greater Manchester, owned by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council.The collections include natural history, archaeology, art, local history and one of Britain's oldest public aquariums...
and Art Gallery which has a fine collection of both local and international art.
Le Mans Crescent, (currently home to the central library, museum, art gallery, aquarium, magistrates' court and town hall) is to be at the centre of a new Cultural Quarter. This area will no longer house the magistrates' court; instead the library and museum are to be extended into these sections of the building, along with other new cultural projects. These works are to take place during a large-scale expansion and improvement project, which is set to more than double the size of the current town centre and improve its appearance, infrastructure and amenities.
Library
Bolton Central Library was one of the early public libraries established after the
Public Libraries Act 1850The Public Libraries Act 1850 is an Act of the British Parliament. In the 1840s, support grew for the concept of providing public libraries for the British people championed by chartist Edward Edwards and the liberal Members of Parliament Joseph Brotherton, and William Ewart...
, opening on 12 October 1853 in the Exchange Building on Market Square (present day Victoria Square). The library moved to its present site in Le Mans Crescent on 4 July 1938.
Media
The town's local daily newspaper is
The Bolton NewsThe Bolton News - formerly the Bolton Evening News - is a daily newspaper covering the towns of Bolton, Bury and Leigh in north-western England...
, formerly known as the Bolton Evening News. There are weekly free papers, such as the Bolton Journal and Bolton Council's free monthly newspaper, Bolton Scene.
The town falls under the
BBC North WestBBC North West is the BBC English Region serving Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, the Ribble Valley in North Yorkshire, the Isle of Man , north-west Derbyshire and southern Cumbria....
and the
ITV GranadaGranada Television is the United Kingdom ITV contractor for North West England and the Isle of Man.It is the only one of the original four ITA franchisees from 1954 that survived as a franchise holder into the twenty-first century. Broadcasting began on 3 May 1956, with the company originally...
television regions, which are served by the Winter Hill transmitter near
BelmontBelmont is a village in Lancashire, England. It is close to Winter Hill and the village is situated between the towns of Bolton and Darwen. It has around 500 inhabitants and lies within the civil parish of North Turton in the unitary authority area of Blackburn with Darwen.-Services:* Primary...
, just to the north-west of the town.
Local radio is provided by
Tower FMTower FM is an Independent Local Radio station which broadcasts across the towns of Bolton and Bury and parts of North Manchester in the UK from an old mill in Bolton....
, a station which broadcasts across Bolton and
BuryBury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester. Bury is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, of which Bury is the...
. In addition, a new radio station called Bolton FM began broadcasting from the Bolton town centre on 20 June 2009.
Cultural references
The industrial village of
Barrow BridgeThe Barrow Bridge is a single track steel railway bridge in south east of the Republic of Ireland. Joining counties Kilkenny and Wexford, at 2,131 ft it is the longest bridge in the Republic of Ireland and spans the meeting place of two rivers of The Three Sisters ; the Nore and the Barrow. The...
became Millbank in Benjamin Disraeli's novel
ConingsbyConingsby, or The New Generation, is an English political novel by Benjamin Disraeli published in 1844.-Background:The book is set against a background of the real political events of the 1830s in England that followed the enactment of the Reform Bill of 1832...
.
Bolton is referenced in the famous
Monty Python's Flying CircusMonty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC sketch comedy programme from the Monty Python comedy team, and the group's initial claim to fame. The show was noted for its surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags, and sketches without punchlines...
Dead ParrotThe Dead Parrot sketch, alternatively and originally known as the Pet Shop sketch or Parrot Sketch, is a popular sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus, and one of the most famous in the history of British television comedy...
sketch, in which it is the location of the shopkeeper's brother's pet shop. The shopkeeper's brother (played by
Michael PalinMichael Edward Palin, CBE is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
), incorrectly describes the town as
IpswichIpswich is a non-metropolitan district and the county town of Suffolk, England on the estuary of the River Orwell. Nearby towns are Felixstowe in Suffolk and Harwich and Colchester in Essex...
. On being challenged by
Mr PralineMr Eric Praline is a character from the television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, played by actor John Cleese.-Appearances:The Monty Python team consciously decided to avoid recurring characters...
(played by
John CleeseJohn Marwood Cleese is an Academy Award-nominated English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer who is known for being a member of the group of comedians responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films: And Now for Something Completely Different,...
), Palin's character defends himself, claiming (wrongly) that Ipswich is a
palindromeA palindrome is a word, phrase, number or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction...
of Bolton. Cleese's character retorts,
"It's not a palindrome. The palindrome of Bolton would be Notlob. It don't work." As a consequence, Bolton is sometimes humorously nicknamed, "Notlob". Bolton is also referred to in Monty Python's "Blackmail" sketch, in which the host of the gameshow "Blackmail" (played by
Michael PalinMichael Edward Palin, CBE is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
) announces that if a Miss Betty Teal from Lancashire sends the show 15 pounds, he will refrain from revealing her lover in Bolton.
In "
The RutlesThe Rutles are a band that are known for their visual and aural pastiches and parodies of The Beatles. Originally created by Eric Idle and Neil Innes as a fictional band to be featured as part of various 1970s television programming, the group evolved into a real band that recorded and toured, and...
" (
Eric IdleEric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer and composer of comic songs. He wrote and performed as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python.-Early life:...
, 1978) the bands manager (after Arthur Scouse) was Leggy Mountbatten. In the words of the film "In October 1961 Leggy Mountbatten, a retail chemist from Bolton, entered their lives. Leggy had lost a leg in the closing overs of World War Two and had been hopping around Liverpool ever since. One day he accidentally stumbled down the steps of a dingy disco, what he saw there was to change his life: a sailor who told him about the Rutles. It was a dank, sweaty, basement cellar, torrid and pulsating with sound. Leggy hated it. He hated their music, he hated their hair, he hated their noise: but he loved their
trousersFor the TrouSerS implementation of the TCG Software Stack, see Trusted Computing Group.Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately...
."
http://www.rutles.org/
Spring and Port WineSpring and Port Wine is a 1967 stage play by Bill Naughton. It became a film in 1970.The story is set in the Northern England town of Bolton, and concerns the Crompton family, and in particular the father, Rafe Crompton, and his attempts to assert his authority in the household as his children grow...
by playwright,
Bill NaughtonWilliam John Francis Naughton, or Bill Naughton was a British playwright and author, best known for his play Alfie....
was filmed and set in Bolton.
The Family WayThe Family Way is a 1966 British comedy film based on Bill Naughton's play All in Good Time . It began life in 1961 as a television play entitled Honeymoon Postponed....
based on Naughton's play
All in Good Time was also filmed and set in Bolton.
More famously
Peter KayPeter John Kay is an English comedian, writer, producer, director and actor. His work includes That Peter Kay Thing , Phoenix Nights , Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere , Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and other independent productions.-Early career:Kay was born in Farnworth near Bolton,...
is from Bolton and much of his comedy TV series
That Peter Kay ThingThat Peter Kay Thing was a series of six spoof documentaries shown on Channel 4 in January and February 2000. Set in and around Bolton, these followed the lives of different characters and starred Peter Kay as the subject of each documentary. All of the episodes displayed Kay's penchant for...
and
Phoenix Nights are set in the town. The latter was filmed at St Gregorys Social Club in
FarnworthFarnworth is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is located southeast of Bolton and northwest of Manchester....
, and an episode of the former was set at
Bolton West servicesAnderton is a village and civil parish in the Chorley borough of Lancashire, England. The main village in the parish, Anderton, is a suburb of the town of Adlington, but the parish extends east to the Rivington Reservoir, and includes Grimeford Village....
on the
M61The M61 motorway is a motorway in north-west England. It runs from the M60 motorway north-west of Manchester, heading north-west past Bolton and Chorley to join the M6 just north of the junction between the M6 and M65 motorways to the south of Preston....
.
Many Bolton buildings have also stood in for other towns and cities. Bolton Town Hall stood in for an East European Bank in the 1980s film
Sleepers and Le Mans Crescent has featured as an upmarket London street in the
Jeremy BrettJeremy Brett , born Peter Jeremy William Huggins, was an English actor, most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in four Granada TV series.-Early life:...
version of
Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes is a fictional character of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who first appeared in publication in 1887. He is the creation of British author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
and a Russian secret service building in the 1990s comedy series "Sleepers".
The 1990s BBC drama "Between the Lines" also filmed an episode in Victoria Square.
Notable people
Bolton has produced its fair share of actors,
comedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain members of an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
s,
musicianA musician is a person who performs or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument.* A singer uses his or her voice as an instrument....
s,
sports personalitiesProfessional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are those in which athletes receive payment for their performance. While men have competed as professional athletes throughout much of modern history, only recently has it become common for women to have the opportunity to become professional...
,
engineerEngineers are concerned with developing economical and safe solutions to practical problems, by applying mathematics and scientific knowledge while considering technical constraints. The term is derived from the Latin root "ingenium," meaning "cleverness"...
s,
inventorAn inventor is a person who creates or discovers a new method, form, device or other useful means. The word inventor comes form the latin verb invenire, invent-, to find...
s,
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
s, authors and other notable people. They have all made a mark in different periods of time, whether at local, national or international level.
External links
- www.theboltonnews.co.uk, The Bolton News website
- www.boltonfm.com, Bolton FM Launch Website.
- www.bolton.gov.uk, Bolton Council.
- Links in a Chain - The Mayors of Bolton. Biographical details of the Mayors of Bolton since 1838 and the Mayors and Chairmen of Farnworth
Farnworth is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is located southeast of Bolton and northwest of Manchester....
, KearsleyKearsley is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies about 12 km north west of the City of Manchester and about 6 km south of Bolton....
, Little LeverLittle Lever , is a large village within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southeast of Bolton, west of Radcliffe, and west-southwest of Bury.-Toponymy:...
, BlackrodBlackrod is a town and civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is north-northeast of Wigan and west of Bolton, and, according to the United Kingdom Census 2001, has a population of 5,300....
, WesthoughtonWesthoughton is a town and civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is southwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester....
, HorwichHorwich is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest from the city of Manchester....
and Turton-People:*Thomas Edward Michell Turton, Legal Advisor to Lord Durham, British North America, 1838**Thomas Edward Michell Turton, biography*Thomas Turton, Dean of Westminster from 1842 to 1845, then Bishop of Ely...
.
- www.boltonians.org.uk, Listing well over 600 Boltonians - born, bred or adopted.
- www.boltonswar.org.uk, An Oral History of Bolton during the Second World War.
- www.bolton.org.uk, Bolton History, Photos, Links & Trivia.
- www.boltonmuseums.org.uk, Bolton Museum & Archive Service - Collections include an original spinning mule
The spinning mule was invented in 1779 by Samuel Crompton. It spins textile fibres into yarn by an intermittent process: in the draw stroke, the roving is pulled through and twisted; on the return it is wrapped onto the spindle. Its rival, the throstle frame or ring frame uses a continuous process,...
made by inventor Samuel CromptonSamuel Crompton was an English inventor and pioneer of the spinning industry.- Early life :Samuel Crompton was born at 10 Firwood Fold, Bolton, Lancashire to George and Betty Crompton . Samuel had two younger sisters...
, works by Bolton born artist Thomas MoranThomas Moran from Bolton, England was a painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains...
and one of Britains oldest public Aquaria.
- The Bolton Council of Mosques
- www.stmarks.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk, History of St Marks Parish 1866-1972 with school and church photos along with the social history of the area.