A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



cross pieces, and the gables are without barge-boards ; 

 but the whole presents a very charming appearance, 

 the roofs retaining the old stone slates and the restora- 

 tion of the building having been effected in a manner 

 so as to preserve all the characteristic features of the 

 old work. At the north end is a later addition * in 

 brick with a good 1 8th-century window and door- 

 way. A stone in the cellar of the inn bears the date 

 1632. The building is the property of the Corpora- 

 tion. 



The annual rush-bearing or wakes are held on the 

 last Saturday but one in August. A mock mayor was 

 formerly chosen on Easter Tuesday.' 



The hearth tax return of 1666 shows that there 

 were here 113 hearths liable. The largest dwellings 

 were those of Lady Anne Assheton with eighteen 

 hearths ; Mr. Simmonds, fourteen ; Richard Hilton 

 the younger, ten ; Susan Wrigley, nine ; and Isaac 

 Walkden, six. 7 



In the latter part of the 1 7th century the cotton 

 manufacture began to take root in Middleton. For 

 a long time it was a cottage industry, and even in 

 1770 there were only about twenty habitations in the 

 village. The widow of the last Sir Ralph Assheton 

 is stated to have been resolutely opposed to the in- 

 troduction of the mill system, perhaps because of its 

 destructive effect on the amenities of the place. The 

 Suffields not residing, this objection ceased, but the 

 land tenure was unfavourable. Silk-weaving was in- 

 troduced about 1778, and has continued to be one 



of the chief trades. By 1795 the 'more profitable 

 branches of muslin and nanken ' employed the 

 weavers. The first cotton mill was built about 1800. 

 In 1812 the Luddites attacked the mills. 8 By 1833 

 all the branches of the cotton manufacture had been 

 established. In that year the great calico-printing 

 works were established at Rhodes. All these trades 

 continue to flourish ; there are also iron foundries, 

 machinery is made, and the manufacture of chemicals 

 and soap is carried on. 



A botanical society was formed in 1842 and an 

 agricultural society in 1859. The Mechanics' In- 

 stitute was opened in 1 848. 



The Middleton Albion, a weekly paper, was started 

 in 1857, and lasted till 1895. The present news- 

 paper, the Guardian, published on Fridays, was estab- 

 lished in 1873. 



The people were formerly very Radical in their 

 politics, Chartism finding a ready welcome. Samuel 

 Bamford, born at Middleton in 1788, poet and 

 politician, was several times imprisoned on charges of 

 treason. He died in 1872 and has a monument in 

 the cemetery. 9 Amos Ogden, who died in 1850, 

 was another prominent Radical. 10 



MIDDLETON, like Bury, in the I2th 

 MANOR century formed part of the Montbegon fee 

 of Tottington, held later by the Lacys 

 and the Earls and Dukes of Lancaster. With its de- 

 pendencies or hamlets making up the whole parish 

 of Middleton it was held of the lord of Tottington 



THE BOAR'S HEAD INN : THE FRONT 



5 Formerly the old Sessions House ; 

 now used as an assembly room ; Mancb. 

 Guard. 29 Oct. 1904. 



6 Handbook, 131. See also N. and Q. 

 (4th ser.), vii, 119. 



7 Subsidy R. bdle. 250, no. 9 Lanes. 



l62 



8 There were also riots ini82O andi843. 



9 There is an account of him in Diet. 

 Nat. Biog. 10 Handbook, 143. 



