Westleigh, Greater Manchester

Westleigh
Westleigh
History
• Created	Middle Ages
• Abolished	1875
• Succeeded by	Leigh Urban District,
Status	Township

Westleigh, a suburb of

Pennington

, that merged in 1875 to form the borough of Leigh.

History

Toponymy

The name Westleigh derives from the Old English and refers to the locality's relative position to Leigh. The name Leigh is derived from leah, meaning originally a "wood" then a "clearing" and finally a "meadow".^[1]^[2] It was recorded as Westeley in 1237, Westlegh in 1238 and Westlay in Legh in 1292.^[3]

Manor

The early history of Westleigh is closely involved with 'the church of Westley in Leigh', dedicated to

parish church in Leigh. The earliest recorded Lords of the Manor were the Westleigh family. They were followed by the Urmstons who held the manor for several centuries until the failure of the male line. Daughters of Richard Urmston married into the Heaton, Shuttleworth, and Bradshaw families who sold the manor to the Athertons and Hiltons.^[4]

The manor eventually came into the Marsh family who made money from the silk and textile industries. The Marshes were benefactors of the township, giving money for the original swimming baths and Marsh Gymnasium as well as bequests to the Parish Church. Westleigh Old Hall was left to Leigh Corporation, the house demolished and the grounds became Marsh playing fields.

Industry

There were

Pennington, accessed off Plank Lane, Westleigh which by 1970 employed 1,489 men who in that year produced 1,716,479 tons of coal. In 1896 the Westleigh pits of the Wigan Coal and Iron Company included Priestners which employed 387 underground and 70 on the surface, Snapes, and the Sovereign which had 180 underground and 68 on the surface.^[5] Parsonage Colliery was sunk by the Wigan Coal and Iron Company between 1913 and 1920 with shafts exceeding 1,000 yards in depth.^[6]

The cotton industry which replaced a domestic system of handloom weaving became more important with the building of Kirkhall Lane Mills (Westleigh New Mill) in 1836. Victoria Mills off Kirkhall Lane were built by James and John Hayes between 1856 and 1887 and Firs Mills were built by Tunnicliffe and Hampson.[6]

Governance

Westleigh was a township in the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Leigh in the

urban district council under the Local Government Act, 1894 and incorporated in the Municipal Borough of Leigh. The population in 1901 was 16,177.^[3]

Geography

Westleigh occupies the north west portion of Leigh, covering 1,882½ statute acres.[8] The ground rises in undulations from 75 feet above sea level in the south to 150 feet in the north and northwest. The Westleigh Brook crosses the township from north to south and joins with the Hey or Pennington Brook, flowing from the west. The geological formation consists of coal measures in the north, under the Permian rocks which outcrop from Westleigh village to Westleigh Heath and Strange Common. To the south east the formation consists of the pebble beds of the new red sandstone series.^[3] There are several small flashes, small lakes created in the 20th century by coal mining subsidence and flooding.

Transport

The Wigan and Leigh branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal crosses the south of the township from west to east, and the road from Hindley to Atherton (A577) crosses to the north of Westleigh with a branch road to Leigh running south.^[3] The Bolton and Leigh Railway line reached Westleigh in March 1830 and was extended across the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to Kenyon Junction on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Leigh Station on the Bolton and Leigh Railway at Westleigh was opened to passengers in June 1831.^[9] The line of the railway is now the route of the A579 road. The Manchester–Southport line of the London and North Western Railway crossed the northern part of Westleigh.

Religion

The foundation stone of

Leigh Parish Church, was laid in June 1846 and the church consecrated in October 1847. It is built in the decorated style and stands on land given by Lord Lilford, who also provided the stone used to build it. Westleigh St Paul's became a district chapelry in the parish of Leigh in 1881.^[3]

Westleigh St Peter was founded 1881 is on Firs Lane. It is a Grade II* listed building by Paley and Austin, built in brick with red sandstone dressings.^[10]

A growing Roman Catholic population in the area led to the building of Our Lady of the Rosary in Plank Lane in 1879, Twelve Apostles in 1879, and Sacred Heart in 1929.^[11]

References

Notes

^ Mills (1998), p. 218.
^ Mills (1998), p. xx.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Farrer, William; Brownbill, J, eds. (1907), "Westleigh", A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3, British History Online, pp. 421–426, retrieved 23 December 2009
^ ^a ^b Lewis, Samuel (1848), "Westleigh", A Topographical Dictionary of England, British History Online, pp. 517–519, retrieved 17 March 2010
^ Wigan Coal & Iron Co. Ltd., Durham Mining Museum, retrieved 7 February 2011
^ ^a ^b LeighTownTrailPart1 (PDF), Wigan.gov.uk, archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2011, retrieved 17 May 2010
^ Leigh, workhouses.org.uk, retrieved 17 May 2010
^ Westleigh Township Boundaries, genuki.org.uk, retrieved 5 May 2010
^ Westleigh Station, subbrit.org.uk, retrieved 5 May 2010
^ Historic England. "Westleigh St Peter (1068481)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
^ "Leigh". genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2010.