SALFORD HUNDRED 



DEANE 



is in the gift of the vicar of Farnworth. 68 Of St. 

 Thomas's, Dixon Green, built in 1879, the Bishop 

 of Manchester is patron. 69 The Church Army has a 

 mission hall. 



The Wesleyan Methodists have five churches 

 Wesley, in Church Street, Moses Gate, Long Cause- 

 way, Plodder Lane, and New Bury. 70 The Primitive 

 Methodists and Independent Methodists also each 

 have one. 71 The New Connexion formerly had a 

 preaching room at New Bury, but gave it up in 

 1846." 



The Baptists opened a chapel in 1879 ; ra this was 

 succeeded by the present church in 1907. 



The Congregationalists were the first to esta- 

 blish a place of worship in Farnworth, the old 

 chapel being built in 1808. Now they have three 

 churches. 74 



There is a Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel. 



The Catholic Apostolic church has an iron build- 

 ing. 



There is also a barracks of the Salvation Army. 



The Roman Catholic church of St. Gregory the 

 Great originated in 1852. After using an old ware- 

 house and other buildings a small chapel was built, 

 which in twenty years' time proving too small, the 

 present church in Presto Street was erected, and 

 opened in 1876. 



Dixon Green School was founded in 1715. 



KEARSLEY 



Kersleie, 1268 ; Keyresley, 1443 ; Kyrsley, Kerse- 

 ley, xvi cent. Kersley continues in use as an alterna- 

 tive spelling. 



Kearsley, formerly a part of Farnworth, has become 

 a separate township. Its north-eastern boundary is 

 formed by the Irwell, and the road from Manchester 

 to Bolton passes north-west through the centre, having 

 a length of a mile and a half within the boundaries. 

 The total area of the township is 997 acres. 1 The 

 surface in general slopes from the higher land on the 

 south-west border to the steep banks of the Irwell. 



Lower Kearsley, by the bridge over that river, is often 

 called Ringley, being considered part of Ringley in 

 Pilkington. 



Kearsley proper clusters along the south-east end 

 of the main road mentioned ; but Farnworth is ex- 

 tending over the Kearsley borders in the north, and 

 Stoneclough is a hamlet near the Irwell on the road 

 to Radcliffe. Clammerclough is a district to the 

 north-west of the last - named, and lies between 

 Darley in Farnworth and the Irwell. Kearsley Moss 

 formerly occupied the south-west quarter of the town- 

 ship. The Manchester and Bolton line of the Lanca- 

 shire and Yorkshire Company passes through Kearsley 

 parallel to the high road, and has a station near Stone- 

 clough called Kearsley. 



In 1901 the population recorded was 9,218.* 



The township is a busy industrial place. There 

 are collieries, iron foundries, paper mills, power- 

 loom mills, spindle works, and chemical works ; * 

 bricks and tiles are made and cotton-spinning car- 

 ried on. 



A local board was formed in 1865 ;* in 1894 this 

 was replaced by an urban district council of twelve 

 members elected by two wards, east and west. 



William Hulme's house, with seven hearths, was 

 the only large one in the township in 1666, when 

 the total number of hearths liable to the tax amounted 

 to thirty-nine. 5 



Doming Rasbotham in 1787 wrote thus : 'Oak 

 and alder trees have been found deeply embedded in 

 the turf upon Kearsley moor. The timber was as 

 black as ebony,' but not so well preserved as usual. 6 



There was anciently no manor of 

 M4NOR KEARSLET, which was merely a part 

 of Farnworth, itself a hamlet in Barton. 

 The earliest deed relating to it is a grant of the whole 

 by Edith de Barton to Cockersand Abbey. 7 A num- 

 ber of the neighbouring families had lands and common 

 rights in Kearsley, and one of the lords of Farnworth 

 appears to have been specially associated with it, so 

 that it will be convenient to give the descent of his 

 family in this place. 



Richard son of Adam de Redford, who was living 

 in 1276, is the earliest on record. 8 He was succeeded 



68 Barton, Farn-worth t 246-50. 



89 Mancb. Dioc. Dir. For district see 

 Land. Gaz. 14 Sept. 1880. Barton, op. 

 cit. 241-4 ; schoolroom services had been 

 held from 1867. 



7 Barton, op. cit. 227, 234. Assem- 

 blies for public worship began at Dixon 

 Green about 1810. A chapel was built 

 in Market Street in 1830, and a larger 

 one in Church Street in 1860-1. A 

 school chapel at Moses Gate was opened 

 in 1872, and a chapel built five years 

 later. 



7* Ibid. 232. A mission was begun in 

 1835 and the first chapel in Queen Street 

 built in 1840, succeeded by a larger in 

 1860. 



7 J Nightingale, Lanes. Nonconf. iii, 143. 



78 Barton, op. cit. 409 ; services had 

 begun in hired rooms and then in a 

 cottage in 1873. 



74 Ibid. 162 ; the old chapel was en- 

 larged in 1837, and the present Market 

 Street Chapel opened in 1850, the old 

 building continuing in use for class- 

 rooms, &c. Schools were established at 

 Dixon Green and New Bury. Albert 

 Road Chapel, originating at the former 



centre in 1856, was opened in 1862 ; the 

 first Francis Street Chapel in 1869, and 

 the second in 1884; ibid. 182-90; 

 Nightingale, op. cit. iii, 135-49, views of 

 the four churches are given. There is 

 also a mission-room. 



1 1,005, including 25 of inland water, 

 according to the 1901 Census Report. 



Pop. Returns, 1901. 



8 Clammerclough Cotton Mill was built 

 about 1828 ; Barton, Farnvuorth, 84. Ben- 

 jamin Rawson's Alkali Works were esta- 

 blished earlier. 



4 Lond. Gaz. 17 Oct. 1865. In Barton's 

 Farnivorth, pp. 89-101, are printed extracts 

 from the township books from 1809 on- 

 wards. The constables and burley men 

 were officials. 



5 Subs. R. bdle. 250, no. 9, Lanes. 



6 Barton, Farn-worth t 1 6. 



7 Cockersand Chartul. (Chet. Soc.), ii, 

 709. This charter gives a portion of her 

 land in Farnworth, ' the whole of Kearsley 

 with all its appurtenances' within bounds 

 as follows : Up the deep lache from Irwell 

 towards Stockbridge, then going down Fle- 

 thithaleth to the Irwell again ; for the 

 health of the soul of Edith's son John. 



39 



Kearsley is not named in the Cockersand 

 Rentals, so that the grant may have been 

 revoked or exchanged. 



8 Assize R. 1238, m. 34. 



In 1294 Richard son of Adam de 

 Redford released to Adam son of John 

 de Lever all his claim to lands held by 

 the latter in Farnworth and Great Lever ; 

 Towneley's LeverChartul.(Add.MS.3 2103 

 no. 1-260), no. 53. The same Richard 

 gave to Adam de Lever, for the service 

 of an arrow, land which Henry de Blinds- 

 hill had approved beyond Walkden ; no. 27. 

 To his brother Henry he granted all the 

 land of Hassumbottom, the Hokensnape 

 and Ritherake being among the boun- 

 dary marks, no. 40. To Richard son of 

 John de Hulton he granted 6 acres on 

 the north side of Walkden Bank, at a 

 rent of a pair of white gloves, Richard 

 de Hulton at the same time allowing 

 certain approvements of the waste of 

 Farnworth ; no. 43. The elder Richard 

 was still living in 1297 when, as Richard 

 de Redford the elder, he released to Robert 

 son of Jordan (de Hulton), rector of War- 

 riugton, all his right in land in Barton 

 and Farnworth ; no. 69. 



