A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



The most considerable contributor to the land tax 

 of 1 796 was William Marsden ; after him came John 

 Gregory, Stevenson's trustees, and Patten ; these in 

 all paid about a third of the tax. 63 



Robert Barlow of Urmston joined Prince Rupert 

 when he invaded the county in 1 644 took part in 

 the battle at York, and continued in arms with that 

 force ; his property seems to have been confiscated. 64 



In connexion with the Established Church a school- 

 chapel was opened in 1858 ; this was followed within 

 ten years by St. Clement's Church, consecrated in 

 January 1868. The site of church and churchyard 

 was the gift of Colonel Ridehalgh. A separate dis- 

 trict was assigned to it, and the patronage is vested in 

 the Bishop of Manchester. 65 



The Wesleyan Methodists have had a meeting- 

 place here since about 1813, but services were dis- 

 continued for some years after 1850. They were 

 resumed about 1868, and in 1872 the present church 

 was opened. The Primitive Methodists had a chapel 

 in 1825, but the present one dates from 1873. The 

 Independent Methodists have had services since 

 1838." 



A Congregationalist minister preached occasionally 

 in Urmston about 1 840, but the present church dates 

 only from 1880, services having begun in a school- 

 room the previous year. 67 The Baptists have a church. 



The Unitarians have held services since I894- 68 



The Roman Catholic church of the English Martyr* 

 was opened in 



RADCLIFFE 



Radeclive,Dom. Bk., 1193,1202, 1212,1311 ; Rad- 

 clive, 1227 ; Radeclif, 1309, 1360. The place is 

 said to take its name from a cliff of red sandstone on 

 the side of the Irwell. 



The township and parish of Radcliffe lies in a bend 

 of the River Irwell, which bounds it on the east and 

 south, except in a few places where the difference of 

 boundary may be explained by changes in the course 

 of the river or other causes. The principal ancient 

 buildings, the church and the tower, are situated in 

 the south-east corner, at which point the Roch, flow- 

 ing from the east, joins the Irwell. The township 

 measures ^\ miles from erst to west, and has an area 

 of 2,533 acres. 1 The hig'iest land, about 500 ft. 

 above sea level, is in the north-west, and from it the 

 surface gradually descends to the east and south, the 

 land by the river being of course the lowest. The 

 population in 1901 was 20,590.* The Coal Measures 

 underlie the entire parish. There is a large area in 

 the valley of the Irwell, both above and below the 

 confluence with the River Roch, covered by alluvial 

 deposit. The principal road is that passing north- 

 west through Pilkington and crossing the river by a 

 bridge about a mile west-south-west of the church. 

 Around this point a hamlet called Radcliffe Bridge 

 gradually formed, and has in modern times become 

 the centre of trade and population. The road, after 

 crossing the bridge, goes northerly to join the Bury 

 and Bolton road, passing through the hamlet called 

 Black Lane. To the north of the Bury and Bolton 

 road is the Radcliffe portion of Cockey Moor. From 

 the bridge roads go eastward to the church, and then 

 cross the Irwell to join the Manchester and Bury road. 

 Other roads go west through Little Lever to Bolton. 



The Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's Liver- 

 pool and Bury line crosses the north of the township,, 

 going east and north-east, and has a station at Black 

 Lane. The company's East Lancashire section, with 

 a station at Radcliffe Bridge, runs through the town- 

 ship, and is joined by the line through Prestwich to 

 Manchester, which has a station called Radcliffe. The 

 Bury Canal crosses the township on the north-west 

 side of the town, and then goes west near the Irwell 

 till it joins the Manchester and Bolton Canal in Little 

 Lever. 3 



Dr. Aikin in 1795 found the 400 houses in the 

 township for the most part ' of an inferior sort,' and 

 the inhabitants chiefly weavers, crofters, or employed 

 in the coal works which abounded in the neighbour- 

 hood ; those who lived by farming being very few.* 

 The village has now grown into a town, and gives a 

 name to one of the Parliamentary divisions of the 

 county. 5 Part of the area was incorporated in Bury 

 in 1876, and the remainder was governed by a local 

 board formed in i866. 6 The town, together with a 

 portion of Whitefield in Pilkington, is under the Act 

 of 1894 governed by an Urban District Council of 

 twenty-four members, elected from four wards Rad- 

 cliffe Hall, Radcliffe Bridge, Black Lane, and Stand 

 Lane ; the last is in Pilkington. 7 The council-room 

 is at the public baths, built in 1899. The market 

 house and market rights were purchased from Lord 

 Wilton in 1897. Technical schools were opened in 

 1896, a public park in 1902, and a free library, the 

 gift of Mr. Carnegie, in 1907. A museum has been 

 given by the Literary and Scientific Society. 



Gas is supplied by a company formed in 1846. 

 Electric lighting works have been established recently. 



from Hugh Scott, Gilbert his son and heir, 

 and Margaret wife of Gilbert, Richard 

 brother of Hugh, and Roger brother of 

 Gilbert ; Pal. of Lane. Feet of F.bdle. 54, 

 m. 1 5 6. John Hey, who died in 1 596, held 

 messuages in Urmston and Culcheth, and 

 left as heir his son Edmund, six years of age; 

 Duchy of Lane. Inq. p.m. xvii, no. 90. 



Mr. Crofton adds : At Urmston hal- 

 mote 19 Oct. 1613 (when Edmund Hey 

 would be twenty-three) the free tenants 

 who are recorded were Alexander Rad- 

 cliffe, gent., John Newton, gent., and the 

 heirs of John Hey each fined 6d. for not 

 appearing. This is the only record re- 

 lating to Hey. At next Court, 16 Apr. 



1614, only Radcliffe and Newton are 

 named, as if Hey had sold to someone. 



63 Returns at Preston. 



64 Royalist Comf. Papers {Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 137. 



65 Lawson, Flixton, 98-102; Land. 

 Gaz, 31 Mar. 1868 (district). 



66 Lawson, op. cit. 130, 131. 



'7 Nightingale, Lanes. Nonconf. v, 74, 

 77-9 ; Lawson, op. cit. 131. 



68 Ibid. Ibid. 



1 2,473, including I2O of inland water, 

 according to the census of 1901. Various 

 alterations in the boundaries were made 

 in 1894 and 1896. In the former year 

 part of Radcliffe on the east of the Irwell 



56 



was included in Bury, while a fragment of 

 Elton was placed in Radcliffe (Local 

 Govt Bd. Orders 31671 and 30905) j 

 and later Whitefield in Pilkington had a 

 portion of Radcliffe added to it ; ibid, 



338SS. 



2 Including Stand Lane, the population 

 was 25,368. 



8 The canal has a large reservoir on the 

 border of Radcliffe and Elton. 



4 Country round Mane b. 259. 



5 Radcliffe-cum-Farnworth Division. 

 8 Land. Gaz. 2$ May 1866. 



1 The bounds of each ward are given in 

 detail in the official year-book issued by 

 the council. 



