| Pennington | |
|---|---|
 | |
| History | |
| • Created | Middle Ages |
| • Abolished | 1894 |
| • Succeeded by | Leigh Urban District |
| Status | Township |
Pennington, a suburb of Leigh, Greater Manchester is one of six townships in the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Leigh, [1] that with Westleigh and Bedford merged to form the town of Leigh in 1875. The township of Pennington covered most of Leigh's town centre.
Pennington derives either from the Old English meaning "a farmstead or small holding paying a penny rent" or a "settlement associated with a man named Pinna". [2] [3] Pennington has been variously recorded as Pininton in 1246, Pynynton in 1360, Penynton in 1305, Pynyngton in 1351 and 1442, and Penyngton in 1443. [2] In 1663 it was also recorded as Pinington. [4]
Historically Pennington comprised one manor surrounded by a small settlement. Land in Pennington was gifted to Cockersand Abbey by Margery de Pennington in the early 13th century. Adam Pennington who took his name from the township was Lord of the manor at the end of the 13th century. In 1312 the Bradshaws became the chief landowners and held the manor until 1703 residing at Pennington Hall. In 1579 there is a record of a water corn mill attached to the manor house, it was destroyed in a fire in 1829. Pennington Hall was rebuilt in 1748 by Samuel Hilton and sold to the Gaskells of Thornes, Wakefield in 1807.
After 1800 the township of Pennington was dominated by the textile industry which developed from handloom weaving which had developed as a cottage industry.
Historically, Pennington formed part of the Hundred of West Derby, a judicial division of southwest Lancashire. [5] It was one of six townships or vills that made up the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Leigh. [6] The townships existed before the parish. Under the terms of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 the townships formed part of the Leigh Poor Law Union which was established on 26 January 1837 comprising an area covering the whole of the parish of Leigh and part of Winwick. The workhouses in Pennington, Culcheth, Tyldesley, and Lowton, but they were replaced by Leigh Union workhouse at Atherleigh in the 1850s. [7] The Local Government Act, 1858, was adopted by the township in 1863 and Pennington Local Board of Health was established. In 1875 it became part of that of Leigh Local Board of Health. [2] By a Local Government Order in 1894 the civil parish of Pennington merged with Westleigh, Bedford and part of Atherton to form Leigh Urban District [2] [3]
The township of Pennington covered an area of 1,482 acres, much of it below 75 feet above mean sea level, but slightly higher to the north of Pennington Brook, which crosses the township from west to east, The highest point is a little over 100 feet in the south-west near Aspull Common. The township extended into what is now Leigh town centre where the parish church was on the boundary with Westleigh. The geology consists of the pebble beds of the bunter series of the new red sandstone, with an area of alluvium in the low ground by the Pennington Brook. [2]
The turnpike road from Bolton to St Helens passed through Pennington. The A580 "East Lancashire" Road passes through the south of Pennington and opened in 1934.
The Bridgewater Canal crosses the township for a short distance on the south side of Leigh town centre. [2]
A station, formerly called Bradshaw Leach Station and later renamed Pennington Station, was built on the Bolton, Leigh and Kenyon branch of the London and North Western Railway at the junction with the Tyldesley Loopline of the same railway.
A grammar school was established in Pennington, near the church.
Leigh is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, on low-lying land northwest of Chat Moss.
The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, in North West England. It is named after the main settlement of Wigan. It covers the towns of Atherton, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Golborne, Hindley, Ince-in-Makerfield, Leigh and Tyldesley. The borough also covers the villages and suburbs of Abram, Aspull, Astley, Bryn, Hindley Green, Lowton, Mosley Common, Orrell, Pemberton, Shevington, Standish, Winstanley and Worsley Mesnes. The borough is also the second-most populous district in Greater Manchester.
Atherton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England and historically a part of Lancashire. The town, including Hindsford, Howe Bridge and Hag Fold, is 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Wigan, 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Leigh, and 10 miles (16.1 km) northwest of Manchester. From the 17th century, for about 300 years, Atherton was known as Chowbent, which was frequently shortened to Bent, the town's old nickname.
Astley is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is crossed by the Bridgewater Canal and the A580 East Lancashire Road. Continuous with Tyldesley, it is equidistant from Wigan and Manchester, both 8.3 miles (13.4 km) away. Astley Mosley Common ward had a population of 11,270 at the 2011 Census.
Blackrod is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, 3.9 miles (6.3 km) northeast of Wigan and 6.6 miles (10.6 km) west of Bolton. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, it had a population of 5,001.
Tyldesley is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, 7.7 miles (12.4 km) southeast of Wigan and 8.9 miles (14.3 km) northwest of Manchester. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, the Tyldesley built-up area, excluding Shakerley, had a population of 16,142.
Harwood is a suburb to the north-northeast of Bolton, Greater Manchester, bordering Bury in North West England. Harwood is also part of the historic county of Lancashire.
The Municipal Borough of Leigh was, from 1899 to 1974, a local government district of the administrative county of Lancashire, England, consisting of the townships of Pennington, Westleigh, Bedford and part of the township of Atherton and named after the ancient ecclesiastical parish. The area contained the market town of Leigh that served as its administrative centre until its dissolution in 1974. The borough council built Leigh Town Hall which was completed in 1907.
Bradshaw is a village of the unparished area of South Turton in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It gives its name to the larger Bradshaw electoral ward, which includes Harwood. Historically a part of Lancashire, Bradshaw lies on the southern edge of the West Pennine Moors.
Turton is a historical area in the North West of England. It is divided between the ceremonial counties of Lancashire and Greater Manchester. The Turton area is located north of Bolton and south of Blackburn. The area historically formed a township in the ancient parish of Bolton le Moors. The principal village in the township is now known as Chapeltown.
The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Church of England parish church in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. It is a member of the Salford & Leigh deanery in the archdeaconry of Salford, diocese of Manchester. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.
Rumworth is an electoral ward of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 16,250. Historically it was part of the hundred of Salford in Lancashire and centre of the Parish of Deane which once covered roughly half of the present Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. St Mary's Church on which the parish was centred was in the township of Rumworth.
Tyldesley cum Shakerley Urban District and its successor Tyldesley Urban District was, from 1894 to 1974, a local government district in Lancashire, England.
Leigh was a railway station in Bedford, Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom on the London and North Western Railway. Leigh was in the historic county of Lancashire. Its station opened as Bedford Leigh in 1864, was renamed Leigh & Bedford in 1876 and Leigh in 1914. The station closed in 1969.
Westleigh, a suburb of Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, is one of three ancient townships, Westleigh, Bedford and Pennington, that merged in 1875 to form the borough of Leigh.
Tonge with Haulgh was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England.
Bedford, a suburb of Leigh, Greater Manchester is one of three ancient townships, Bedford, Pennington and Westleigh, that merged in 1875 to form the town of Leigh. Historically, Bedford was in Lancashire.
Sharples, a suburb of Bolton, was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England. It lay 2½ miles north of Bolton. It contained the smaller settlements of Banktop, Sweet-Loves, High-Houses, Gale, Folds, Belmont, Piccadilly, Water-Meetings, Old Houses and part of Astley Bridge.
Leigh Union workhouse, also known as the Leigh workhouse and after 1930, Atherleigh Hospital, was a workhouse built in 1850 by the Leigh Poor Law Union on Leigh Road, Atherton in the historic county of Lancashire.