ATHERTON
Aderton, 1212, 1242; Atherton, 1259, and common since.
This name, derived from A.S. Adre, a watercourse,and tun, a farmstead or village, aptly describes thecharacter of this well-watered township, which isbounded on the west and south by streams andtraversed by two others. Beginning on the south-west at the town of Leigh the ground rises in gentleelevations from under 100 ft. above sea-level to over250 ft. on the northern side.
The township has an area of 2,426 acres, (fn. 1) and inshape somewhat resembles a pear, the demesne ofAtherton Hall occupying the end towards the stalk atthe outskirts of Leigh. The town of Atherton, including Chowbent, the name of that part of the townwhich surrounds the parish church, stands on thehigh road from Bolton to Leigh with branches westward to Wigan and eastward to Tyldesley. It is thecentre of a district of collieries, cotton-mills, and iron-works, which cover the surface of the country withtheir inartistic buildings and surroundings, and arelinked together by the equally unlovely dwellings ofthe people. There are three railway stations—Atherton Central Station on the Manchester andWigan branch of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, which passes close to the north of the town;Atherton Station on the Bolton and Kenyon sectionof the London and North Western Railway, half amile to the west; and Howe Bridge, formerly Chowbent, Station on the Manchester, Eccles, and Wigansection of the same line, to the south-west of thetown. The township was formed into a districtchapelry in 1859 from the civil parish of Leigh, (fn. 2) and portions were assigned in 1878 to form theecclesiastical parish of Howe Bridge, (fn. 3) and in 1884the district parish of St. Anne's, Hindsford. In1894 a portion of the township was transferred toLeigh.
The Local Government Act, 1858, was adoptedby the township 22 December, 1863, (fn. 4) which wasgoverned by a local board of fifteen members, butunder the Act of 1894 is now controlled by an urbandistrict council of fifteen members, elected from fivewards—Central, North, East, South, and West. Thedistrict is supplied with gas from works belonging tothe urban council, and with water obtained partlyfrom the Bolton and partly from the Manchestercorporations.
The geological formation consists almost entirelyof the coal measures, with a trifling area of thepermian rocks and new red sandstone in the south-western angle of the township. The soil is clayey,the land mainly pasture and meadow, but some wheatand vegetables are grown.
Silk-weaving was formerly carried on extensively inthe village houses, but owing to foreign competitionhas now entirely disappeared. The first cotton-millwas erected in 1776. The manufacture of boltsand nails (fn. 5) and the spindles and flyers of spinningmachinery is also carried on here. The populationof the township, including Howe Bridge, in 1901was 16,211 persons. A cattle fair was formerly heldyearly on the last Thursday in March, but has beendiscontinued. A pleasure fair is held on the thirdMonday in September.
The cemetery, formed in 1857 and enlarged toabout nine acres in 1888, is under the control of aburial board of fifteen members. It contains twomortuary chapels. The Volunteer Hall in MealhouseLane, used for public meetings and concerts, waserected in 1883 and will seat about 1,000 persons.The Public Hall in Bolton New Road is used forratepayers' meetings and the meetings of the urbancouncil. There is a Public Free Library, containingabout 8,000 volumes; the building, erected in 1904,was the gift of Mr. Carnegie; also two politicalclubs, and a village club for the use of the colliersemployed in the Atherton collieries, containing asmall free library of about 300 volumes. AthertonParish Church-house in Tyldesley Road serves as arestaurant and club, and contains also a gymnasiumand rooms for arts and crafts work. There areathletic grounds belonging to the club in FlapperFold Lane. A technical school was erected in1893.
Saxton's map shows that there was a deer parkhere in the time of Elizabeth.
Adam Twaite of Chowbent issued a token about1664. (fn. 6)
MANOR
Dependent before the Conquest onthe chief manor of Warrington, of whichit was one of the thirty-four berewicks ordependent manors held by drengs, ATHERTON wasincluded in the Warrington fee upon the creation ofthat barony by Henry I, being held by the ancestor ofde Atherton as one plough-land by the service of onemark yearly, and by knight's service, where ten ploughlands made the fee of one knight. (fn. 7) At the takingof the Inquest of Service in 1212, Henry son ofWilliam de Atherton held the manor of William leBoteler. (fn. 8) In 1243 he was succeeded by anotherWilliam, (fn. 9) supposed to be the son of Henry, who wasliving in 1259, (fn. 10) and probably the father of anotherWilliam, who was amerced before the justices atLancaster in 1292 with his sons Alexander andHugh (fn. 11) for not appearing to answer a plea, (fn. 12) and withanother son William attested a charter of Henry, lordof Tyldesley, about the year 1300. (fn. 13) In 1298 hewas enfeoffed of the manors of Haigh and Blackrod,apparently owing to some connexion by marriagewith the Bradshagh family. (fn. 14)
William de Atherton, son and heir of William,married Agnes, before 1305, (fn. 15) and died before1315–16, when his son Henryis named lord of Atherton. (fn. 16) The latter was summoned in1324 to attend the GreatCouncil at Westminster onWednesday after AscensionDay, having been returned asholding lands of £15 yearlyvalue. (fn. 17) In 1332 he settledthe manor upon himself for lifewith remainder to his eldestand other sons successively intail male. (fn. 18) In 1342, beingvery infirm, he had exemption from knighthood. (fn. 19) Subsequently in 1352, having been returned as possessing £40 worth of land, although he averred that hehad but 40 marks' worth, he paid a fine and hadexemption. (fn. 20)
Sir William de Atherton, chr., son of Henry, hada licence for an oratory in his manors of Athertonand Garswood in Ashton in Makerfield in 1360. (fn. 21) He and his son were deponents in 1386 in theScrope and Grosvenor trial. (fn. 22) He was twice marriedand died in 1389, having been one of the knights ofthe shire in the Parliaments held in 1373, 1379, and1381. (fn. 23) By his first wife Joan, sister and coheir ofRalph de Mobberley, lord of Mobberley, Cheshire, (fn. 24) he had issue, Sir William Atherton, chr., whosucceeded him, and Sir Nicholas Atherton, knt., lordof Bickerstaffe in right of his wife Joan, daughter andheir of Adam de Bickerstath.
Sir William married Agnes, daughter and heir ofRalph Vernon of Shipbrook, Cheshire, and had liveryof her inheritance in 1397. (fn. 25) He died 29 December,1414, seised of this and other manors and lands inthe county. (fn. 26) His successor, Sir William Atherton, knt., (fn. 27) aged thirty years at his father's death, married firstElizabeth daughter of Sir John Pilkington, knt., bywhom he had issue, and secondly Eleanor, by whomhe had no issue. (fn. 28) His son Sir William Atherton, chr.,married Margaret daughter of Sir John Byron, knt.,who survived her husband and married before 1443Sir Robert Harcourt, knt., (fn. 29) and was living in 1479. (fn. 30)
Sir William died in 1440, leaving issue, William,Nicholas, and John. (fn. 31) William, his eldest son, wasunder age at the date of his marriage in 1444 toIsabella daughter of Richard Balderston, esq., (fn. 32) anddied without issue before 1461. In 1479 his feoffeesdelivered to his widow certain lands in Ashton inMakerfield to hold for her life, the reversion ofwhich belonged to John Atherton, esq., his survivingbrother and heir. (fn. 33) The latter was sheriff ofDurham in 1461, (fn. 34) married late in life, and diedin 1488, (fn. 35) leaving George his son and heir, thenaged twenty-one years and more. George Athertonmarried three times; first, to Anne daughter ofSir Richard Assheton of Middleton, knt., the motherof his heir, from whom he was divorced in 1506 onthe grounds of consanguinity, being related to her inthe third degree; (fn. 36) secondly to Eleanor, from whomhe was also divorced before 1507, she being afterwards the wife of Bartholomew Hesketh of Aughton, esq.; (fn. 37) and thirdly to Anne daughter of SirThomas Butler, of Bewsey, knt. (fn. 38) He died in1518. (fn. 39)
His son Sir John Atherton, (fn. 40) who was knighted in1544, was high sheriff in 1550, 1554, and 1560, andrepresented the county in the Parliament of 1559. (fn. 41) He was married in his father's lifetime to Elizabeth,daughter of Sir Alexander Radcliffe, knt., (fn. 42) from whomhe was divorced. He afterwards married Margaret,daughter and coheir of Thomas Catterall of LittleMitton, esq. (fn. 43) He was buried at Leigh 8 July,1573. By his will dated 18 April, 1573, he gave hismanors of Atherton, Lancashire, Slingsby, Fryton,and Hovingham, Yorkshire, (fn. 44) after his death, to hiseldest son and heir John, whom he had agreed tomarry to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Byron ofNewstead, knt. (fn. 45)
John the son, was aged sixteen at his father's death,was high sheriff in 1582, (fn. 46) and one of the Parliamentaryrepresentatives of the county in 1586, and for Lancaster in 1588–9. (fn. 47) He married secondly, Katherine,daughter and coheiress of John, Lord Conyers, ofHornby Castle, (fn. 48) Yorkshire, and was buried at Leigh23 May, 1617. By his first wife he had issue John,his heir, who was buried at Leigh, 23 July, 1628,and by his second wife another John, of Skelton, whowas heir to his mother. (fn. 49) The former was fatherof John Atherton, esq., (fn. 50) who died in 1646, havingmarried Eleanor, daughter of Sir Thomas Irelandof Bewsey, knt. This lady was eventually heir toher cousin, Dame Margaret, wife of Sir Gilbert Ireland of Bewsey and granddaughter of Sir Thomas.Surviving her husband, Dame Margaret devised herBewsey estate to Sir Richard Atherton, grandsonof her cousin Eleanor, and died two months after herhusband.
John Atherton, third but eldest surviving son ofJohn Atherton by his wife Eleanor, was a Presbyterian, a captain in the Parliamentary army, a justiceof the peace and high sheriff of the county in 1654,and at his death early in 1656. (fn. 51) His posthumous sonRichard Atherton took an active part in politics andwas knighted by Charles II at Windsor in 1684. (fn. 52) He died two years later. His only son, John, marriedElizabeth, daughter and heiress of Robert Cholmondeley of Vale Royal, and died in 1707 at the ageof 29. His son, Richard Atherton, was the lastdirect male representative of the family. By Elizabeth his wife, daughter of William Farington of ShawHall, he had issue an only daughter, Elizabeth, whomarried Robert Gwillym of Langston and Walford,Herefordshire. They had issue two sons: William,who died at Atherton in 1771, and Robert VernonAtherton, who at the age of twenty-two succeeded tothe family estates and assumed the name and arms ofAtherton. From 1774 to 1780 he represented theborough of Newton in Parliament. He died 9 July,1783, aged 42 years. In 1763 he married HenriettaMaria, eldest daughter and coheir of Peter Legh ofLyme, by whom he had, besides other children whodied young, a son, Atherton Legh Atherton, whodied in his minority and unmarried in 1789, and threedaughters, Henrietta Maria, married to ThomasPowys, second Baron Lilford; (fn. 53) Elizabeth, marriedto George Anthony Legh-Keck of Stoughton Grange,Leicestershire; and Esther, married to the Rev. JamesJohn Hornby, rector of Winwick, whose only children,two sons, died respectively in 1818 and 1857 withoutissue. Thomas Littleton Powys, who succeeded hisfather as fourth Baron Lilford in 1861, inherited in1860 the estates of George Anthony Legh-Keck atBank Hall in this county. John, second but eldestsurviving son of the fourth baron, succeeded his fatherin 1896 as fifth Baron Lilford, and is now lord ofthe manor. No courts for the manor of Athertonhave been held for many years. (fn. 54)
Chanters, now a farm house standing near thebrook of that name, formerly a fine stone-built housewith mullioned windows, was built in 1678 on thesite of an older building or incorporated with partof an older structure. The initials W.A., whichappear over the door of the porch above the date1678, are possibly those of William Atherton,younger brother of John Atherton, the Parliamentarian who died in 1646. The house is now fallingto decay owing to subsidence caused by old coalworkings.
CHOWBENT
Chollebynt, Shollebent, c. 1350. (fn. 55) In 1385 Thomas Smith, 'nayller' of Cholle, wassued for debt at the sessions at Lancaster. (fn. 56) In 1535William, George, Richard, and Gilbert Cholle wereindicted for taking part in a riot at Leigh church,caused by the unseemly arrest of three persons by theunder-sheriff in the church immediately after thecelebration of high mass. (fn. 57) Chowe's tenement, whichappears to have been held by the Cholle or Chowefamily (fn. 58) under a lease from the Athertons in thesixteenth century, was sold in 1616–17, together withthe Green Hall and Carrbank tenements, by JohnAtherton, esq., under a yearly quit-rent of £5 1s. 10d.The two latter tenements were afterwards repurchasedby the Atherton family, but Chowe's tenement remains alienated from their representatives' estates,subject to a quit-rent of £1 13s. 10d. Down to1705 it remained in the possession of the Chowefamily, but in that year it passed by mortgage andeventually by sale to Mr. Nathan Mort, son of RobertMort of Wharton Hall and cousin of Thomas Mort ofDam House, by whose descendants the estate wasdivided and sold. (fn. 59) An interesting description of thisplace, written in the year 1787 by Dorning Rasbotham,esq., is given by Baines in his History of Lancashire. (fn. 60)
Previous to the American War of Independence,indeed as far back as 1385, the manufacture of nailswas carried on to a considerable extent in this place.Subsequently a great part of the industry was transferred to Staffordshire, but did not become entirely extinct here. After the introduction of machinery into thecotton trade this place became noted for the manufacture of carding and spinning machinery, some ofthe earlier improvementst being due to the ingenuityof the mechanics of Chowbent. Improvements inthe finishing of certain kinds of cotton fabric are saidto have been accidentally discovered by a small localmanufacturer in the early part of the century. (fn. 61)
Alder House, erected by Ralph Astley, gent., in1697 upon the Alder Fold estate, which, as itexisted in the eighteenth century, included Chowe'stenement, was sold by the Astleys in 1724 in moietiesto Adam Mort, eldest son of Nathan Mort, esq.,sometime of Wharton Hall, and to Roger Rigby ofAtherton, whose executors sold this moiety to AdamMort in 1730. (fn. 62)
The principal landowners here in 1787 were A. L.Atherton, holding about one-fifth of the township,Thomas Wrightington, James Ashworth, and SamuelCharlson. (fn. 63)
CHURCH
The parochial chapel of St. John theBaptist at Chowbent was a small brickedifice erected in 1645 by John Atherton,esq., and his tenants, the one erecting the chancel,the others the body of the chapel. (fn. 64) Down to 1717it had never been consecrated, and had always beenused by the Presbyterians, who quitted the placewhen the vicar of Leigh came to officiate, leaving himthe Bible and Book of Common Prayer ready foruse. (fn. 65) In 1721 Richard Atherton, upon politicalgrounds, took it from the dissenters and offered it forconsecration in 1723, giving £200 towards the augmentation of the living. It was consecrated the sameyear by the bishop of Sodor and Man. (fn. 66) A newchapel was consecrated by the bishop of Chester in1814. The present church, the third to be erectedupon the site, was consecrated in 1879, and is nowdescribed as the parish church of St. John the Baptistin Atherton. The plate consists of a flagon, a chalice,and two patens. The flagon was given by SamuelHilton of Bedford, gent., in 1723.
The registers commence in the year 1778. Theliving is a vicarage, average tithe-rent charge £44, netyearly value £215, including 23 acres of glebe withresidence, and is in the gift of Lord Lilford.
The following have been incumbents:—
The original church of St. Anne's at Hindsfordwas a temporary building of brick, formerly a barn,but in 1901 a new church, from designs by Messrs.Austin and Paley, was erected upon a site given byLord Lilford. The register of baptisms commencesin 1871. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value£150, in the gift of the bishop of Manchester. Anon-sectarian mission church was erected in LaburnumStreet in 1904. The church of St. Michael and AllAngels at Howe Bridge is a building in the EarlyEnglish style, erected in 1877, and consisting ofchancel, nave, transepts, north porch, and a centralturret containing one bell. The register commencesin the year 1873. The living is a vicarage, grossyearly value £198, in the gift of three trustees.
There are chapels of the Wesleyan, Baptist, Independent Methodist, and Primitive Methodist denominations. The last-named was built in 1884.
The Chowbent Unitarian chapel was the earliestNonconformist one in the township, and representsthe oldest religious society therein. The chapel waserected by the Presbyterian congregation at the time(1721) when the ancient Chowbent chapel, built in1645, was transferred to the Episcopal Church. It isa curious and interesting building, enlarged in 1901,and contains high-backed dark oak pews, and a three-decker pulpit in an excellent state of preservation.The Communion table and plate came from the oldchapel. (fn. 76)
A new Congregational church at Howe Bridge wasopened in 1904.
The Roman Catholic school chapel of St. Richardwas opened in 1890, the mission having formerly beenserved from Tyldesley. (fn. 77)
A grammar school existed at Chowbent in 1655,of which Mr. Richard Jollie was master. NathanielLommax of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge,1674–5, was partly educated here under Mr. Taylor. (fn. 78) Edward Sedgwick was appointed master in 1733.
CHARITIES
Bequests yielding £26 per annumin 1900 were made between 1865and 1899 in favour of ChowbentUnitarian chapel. (fn. 79)
