A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



1 8th century, and before 1800 Unitarianism was 

 ' boldly preached.' "« 



Roman Catholics"" have All Saints' Church, 

 Barton; the mission was founded in 1798, having 

 before been served from TrafFord Park, and the 

 present church was erected in 1868 ;"' also St. 

 Mary's school chapel at Eccles, opened in 1879, '"'^ 

 St. Theresa's, Irlam, which became a separate mission 

 in 1900. An iron church, St. Anthony's, was 

 opened at TrafFord Park in 1904. In 1827 the old 

 chapel at the Park was pulled down and rebuilt in 

 Dumplington ; but it does not appear to have re- 

 mained long in use. 



WORSLEY 



Werkesleia, 1195 ; Wyrkedele, 1212 ; Whurkede- 

 leye, c. 1220 ; Worketley, 1254; Worcotesley, 

 Workedesle, 1276; Wrkesley, Wrkedeley, Workede- 

 ley, 1292 ; Wyrkeslegh, Workesley, 1301 ; Worsley, 

 1 444 ; ' Workdisley aftas Workesley alias Worseley,' 

 1581. 



The ancient township of Worsley measures 4J miles 

 from east to west, the breadth varying from I mile to 

 4 miles ; the area is 6,928 acres.' Land 300 ft. and 

 more in height divides it from Clifton and Kearsley ; 

 the slope in general is towards the south. Ellenbrook 

 in the west divides it from Tyldesley and Astley, 

 while another brook, rising near the boundary of 

 Clifton and flowing south to the Irwell, divides 

 Worsley proper from Swinton on the east. Swinton 

 has now grown into a small town, lying on the road 

 from Manchester to Wigan ; to the north and north- 

 cast are Newton and Hope Mill ; to the south-east 

 Deans and Lightbown Green ; to the south Moor- 

 side, Sindsley, Broad Oak, and Dales Brow ; Little 

 Hou";hton, in the same quarter, has now disappeared 

 from the maps ; Drywood and Westwood occupy the 

 south-west corner. The Worsley or western section 

 of the township has Worsley Hall almost in the 

 , centre ; to the west lie Booths Hall, part of Booths- 

 town, Ellenbrook Chapel and Parr Fold ; Walkden, 

 now a town, and Linnyshaw occupy the north-west 

 corner. Kempnough Hall, Daubhole, and Whittle 

 Brook lie to the north of Worsley Hall ; Hazelhurst, 

 Roe Green, and Wardley are in the eastern portion. 

 The southern half of this part of the township — the 

 loo-ft. level being roughly the boundary — was 

 formerly within Chat Moss, so that it has no ancient 

 houses. To the south of the Bridgewater Canal and 

 to the south-east of Hazelhurst, the Geological 

 Formation consists mainly of the Pebble Beds of the 

 New Red Sandstone. North of Boothstown and 

 Winton the Coal Measures are everywhere in evidence. 

 An intervening band of the Permian Rocks extends 

 from Monton to Astley. In 190 1 the population of 

 Worsley was 12,462, and of Swinton 18,512. 



The chief road is that from Manchester to Wigan, 

 through Swinton, Wardley, and Walkden, along or 



near the track of a Roman road. From this a road 

 branches off to go west through Worsley to Booths- 

 town and Astley, and this has southerly branches 

 from Swinton and Worsley to Eccles. There are 

 numerous cross roads, including one from Worsley to 

 Walkden. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Company's 

 railway from Manchester to Hindley runs west 

 through the northern part of the township, with three 

 stations — Swinton, Moorside and Wardley, and 

 Walkden. The London and North Western Company's 

 line from Manchester and Eccles to Wigan, begun in 

 1 86 1, has stations at Worsley and Ellenbrook ; from 

 it the Bolton line branches off at Rose Green, with a 

 station at Walkden. There is also a single-line branch 

 from Eccles to Clifton through Swinton. Down to 

 i860 passengers were taken from Worsley to Man- 

 chester by the canal. 



In 1666 the hearth-tax returns show that Wardley 

 Hall was the largest residence, having nineteen 

 hearths ; Worsley Hall and Booths had seventeen 

 each. The total number of hearths in the township 

 was 276, of which Worsley proper had 191.' j 



A century ago the collieries and the Duke of ' 

 Bridgewater's canal were the notable features of the 

 township, but the spinning and manufacture of cotton 

 were also actively pursued. The same industries 

 continue, the latter advancing. The south-west 

 portion is agricultural. 



In 1826 an archery society was established at 

 Worsley. 



Queen Victoria visited Worsley Hall in 1 8 5 1 and 

 1857, and King Edward VII in 1869 when Prince 

 of Wales. 



At Worsley is a monument to the first Earl of 

 EUesmere, an octagonal shaft 1 3 2 ft. high. At 

 Walkden an ' Eleanor cross ' stands as a memorial to 

 his countess. The Bridgewater Estate Offices are at 

 Walkden. At Swinton is the Manchester Industrial 

 School. 



At Daubhole is a great boulder knovra as the 

 Giant's Stone, the legend being that it was thrown 

 from Rivington Pike by a giant. 



A local board for Swinton and Pendlebury was 

 formed in 1867.' The district was afterwards extended 

 to include part of Barton township.' Since 1894 it 

 has been governed by an urban district council 

 of fifteen members. The remainder of Worsley, 

 except a small part in the borough of Eccles, has also 

 an urban council of fifteen members. 



The lords of the manors have in many cases been 

 men of distinction, as will be seen by the following 

 record of them. Another ' worthy ' of the place was 

 Christopher Walton, 1809-77, of Wesleyan training, 

 but ultimately a mystic or theosopher ; his collections 

 are in Dr. Williams's Library, London.*'' 



The earliest record of WORSLEr 



MANORS is in the Pipe Roll of 1 195-6 in the 



claim of one Hugh Putrell to a fourth 



part of the fee of two knights in Barton and Worsley.' 



Worsley, as half a plough-land, was held of the king 



^' Nightingale, op. cit. v, i-io ; re- 

 ference is made to a history of the £hapel 

 by the Rev. Thomas Elford Poynting, 

 minister for thirty-one years until his 

 death in 1878. For endowment, &C., see 

 End, Char. Rep. Eccles, 1904, pp. 18-21. 



^^^ A list of recusants In the parish of 

 Eccles in 1588 is given in Hiit. MSS. 

 Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 582. 



'^' It was built by Sir Humphrey de 

 Trafford. 



^ Made up thus : Higher Worsley, 

 1,362^ acres ; Lower Worsley, 3,319^; 

 Boothstown, 1,120 — 5,802; Swinton, 

 634 J ; Little Houghton, 4914 — 1,126. 



The Census Rep, of 1901 gives the area 

 of Worsley as 5,412 acres, including 70 

 of inland water ; and Swinton, 1,346, 



including 10 of inland water. Part of 

 Pendlebury has been included with 

 Swinton. 



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



* Land. Gaz. 26 Mar. 1867. 



' 42 & 43 Vict. cap. 43. 



<a Diet. Nat. Bkg. 



' Farrer, Lanes. Pipe R. 94. 



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