SALFORD HUNDRED 



BOLTON-LE-MOORS 



TURTON 



Turton, 1212, and commonly; Thurton, 1277; 

 Terton alias Torton, 1282. 



This township, with an area of 4,614 acres, 

 extends in a north and north-west direction for 

 nearly 5 miles. A large part of the centre is occupied by 

 lofty moorlands, known as Turton Heights and Tur- 

 ton Moor, rising to 1,100 and 1,280 ft. respec- 

 tively. Along the northern and eastern boundaries 

 flows the Cadshaw or Bradshaw Brook, on the upper 

 part of which have been formed two large reservoirs 

 for the Bolton Waterworks. The village of Turton, 

 called Chapeltown, lies near this brook about the 

 centre of the valley, close to the junction of the 

 boundaries of Turton, Edgeworth, Quarlton, and 

 Bradshaw. Billy Brook bounds Chapeltown on the 

 west and south ; to the south of it the ground rises 

 again, forming a spur of the greater hills mentioned, 

 and here stands Turton Tower at a height of 600 ft. 

 above the sea. Still farther to the south, on the 

 slope of the main elevation, is the hamlet of Bromley 

 Cross. 1 Farther south again, on the tongue of land 

 between Bradshaw and Eagley Brooks, lie the hamlets 

 of Birtenshaw and Oaks. Eagley Brook forms the 

 south-west boundary of the township. Proceeding 

 north-west from Birtenshaw are in succession the 

 villages and hamlets of Toppings, Dunscar, Coxgreen, 

 Egerton or Walmsley, and Dimple. 



In 1 90 1 the census was taken in two portions ; 

 the population of the eastern half, together with 

 Harwood and Bradshaw, was 1,611 ; and that of the 

 western part, including Longworth, was 7,389. 



The principal road, that from Bolton to Darwen, 

 divides at the southern end of the township so as to 

 pass round each side of the central hill ; the eastern 

 branch goes through Turton village to Edgeworth, 

 and the western through Egerton, over Charters Moss, 

 916 ft. high, to Blackburn. The Lancashire and 

 Yorkshire Company's Bolton and Blackburn railway 

 passes through the eastern side of the township, and 

 has three stations the Oaks, Bromley Cross, and 

 Turton and Edgeworth. 



To the north of Toppings stands the Blair Hos- 

 pital, built in 1886 from a bequest of Stephen Blair, 

 formerly M.P. for Bolton. 1 



On the summit of the hill to the north-east of 

 Walmsley is or was a Druidical circle. 8 The Hang- 



ing stone is near the extreme north-west boundary. 

 The copper head of an old British standard has been 

 found. Some notes of Turton Tower, Egerton 

 Hall, and skulls found, are given in Harland and 

 Wilkinson's Legends. 



The ' old Turton acre ' had 6^ yards to the 

 perch. 4 



A token was issued at Walmsley Chapel in 1652.* 



There were 138 hearths liable to the tax in 1666. 

 The largest houses were those of James Chetham, 

 with fourteen hearths, and Mrs. Walmsley six. 6 



The cross and stocks were formerly near the school 

 at Turton. 



A local board was formed in 1873 ; 7 this was re- 

 placed by an urban district council in 1 894. Four 

 years later the district was extended so as to include 

 the adjacent townships of Harwood, Bradshaw, 

 Quarlton, Edgeworth, Entwisle, Longworth, and the 

 northern part of Sharpies. 8 The council has twenty- 

 one members, elected by seven wards Chapeltown, 

 Bromley Cross, Eagley, Egerton, Bradshaw, Edge- 

 worth, and Belmont. By the same Act the township 

 or civil parish of Turton was extended to include 

 Harwood and Bradshaw. 



There are numerous cotton mills, print works, 

 bleach works, dye works, and quarries. The land 

 is chiefly in pasture. The Egerton spinning mills 

 were formerly worked by a powerful water wheel. 

 There is a disused paper mill at Chapeltown. 



The cattle fair, formerly held on 4 and 5 Sep- 

 tember, now takes place on the first Monday in 

 September. A poetical lament over the immorality 

 which used to characterize the occasion was printed 

 by William Sheldrake in I789. 9 



The manor of TURTON, assessed as 

 M4NOR one plough-land, was from the earliest 



record of it a mem- 

 ber of the barony of Manches- 

 ter. In 1 212 it formed part 

 later called a fourth or an 

 eighth part of the composite 

 knight's fee held chiefly by 

 Richard de Lathom, 10 and ap- 

 pears to have been granted to 

 one of the junior members of 

 the Lathom family, who also 



. f rmt LATHOM. Or on a 



received the manor of Tar- Mef indented azure three 



bock in Huyton. 11 There was, plates. 



1 Arthur Bromley of Turton occurs in 

 1617 and later ; Lanes. Inq. p.m. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), ii, 45. 



8 End. Char. Rep. for Bolton Parish, 

 1904, p. 77. 



8 It was almost entirely destroyed by 

 a farmer in order to prevent trespassing. 

 Another circle has been found ; Lanes, 

 and Ches. Antiq. Soc. xi, 155 ; xii, 42-51. 



4 Scholes, Turton Toiuer, 14. 



* Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soe. v, 91 ; 

 it bears the initials W. A. W. 



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



7 Land. Gaz. 8 April 1873. 



8 By the Bolton, Turton, and West- 

 houghton Extension Act, 1898. 



9 The writer gives a not too flattering 

 account of the ' little paltry-looking vil- 

 lage,' with its thirteen houses, chapel, and 

 school. The villagers combined agricul- 

 ture and weaving. 



10 Lanes. Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. 

 Lanes, and Ches.), i, 54. In 1282 

 Robert de Lathom held Turton for the 



fourth part of a knight's fee, while twenty 

 years later Ellen de Torbock held directly 

 of Thomas Grelley the eighth part of a fee 

 in Turton; ibid. 248, 314. In 1320 

 Ellen de Torbock for the eighth part of a 

 fee in Turton owed homage to the lord of 

 Manchester, paid yearly i8</. sake fee and 

 i S</. for castle ward, and rendered puture ; 

 Mamecestre (Chct. Soc.), ii, 286. 



Sir Thomas de Lathom was returned as 

 holding Turton in 1346-55 ; Feud. Aids, 

 iii, 89. 



11 See the account of Tarbock, V.C.H. 

 Lanes, iii. There is no record of the manner 

 in which they became possessed of Tur- 

 ton, but as early as 1246 Henry de Tor- 

 bock was a defendant to a claim for the 

 third part of a mill in Turton put forward 

 by William de Bradshaw ; Assize R. 404, 

 m. 2. A grant of free warren was obtained 

 in 1256-7. Henry de Lathom of Tarbock 

 and Ellen his wife were lords of the vill 

 in 1280 and in 1284, when, with others, 

 they were charged with having disseised 



273 



Ellis son of Gamel of his common of 

 pasture in 200 acres of moor in Turton ; 

 De Banco R. 36, m. 93 ; Assize R. 1268, 

 m. ii d. ; R. 1271, m. 12. It may be 

 added that there was in 1292 a dispute 

 between William and Alexander, sons of 

 Ellis Gamelson, respecting a rent of \\d. 

 arising out of a tenement in Turton ; 

 Assize R. 408, m. 61. Also between 

 Alexander and his father ; ibid. m. 6 d. 



Ellen widow of Henry de Lathom in 

 1301 recovered two messuages and 10 acres, 

 in Turton against Ralph de Radcliffe ; De 

 Banco R. 135, m. 131 d. 



Adam son of Adam de Olleden claimed! 

 two messuages, 40 acres of land, &c., in, 

 Turton, against Richard de Torbock in. 

 1324-5$ and against Ellen widow of Henry 

 de Lathom and Richard her son in 1331 

 Ellen, however, produced a quitclaim by 

 Adam ; Assize R. 426, m. 9 ; R. 1404, 

 m. i8d. 



A more important plea occurs in De- 

 cember 1355, when Sir William Carles 



35 



