Bedford, Greater Manchester
Encyclopedia
Bedford, a suburb of Leigh
, Greater Manchester
is one of three ancient township
s, Bedford, Pennington
and Westleigh
, that merged in 1875 to form the town of Leigh.
and was divided before the time from which records survive. Bedford Hall never assumed the role of a manor house and was occupied by tenants of the Kighleys who were absentee landlords. In 1301 half of the manor was held by the Kighleys, a quarter by the Sales who lived at the moated Hopecarr Hall and the rest by John Waverton of Brick House. Thomas Shuttleworth lived at Sandypool which was taken from the Kighley share.
The area was largely rural and a small settlement grew at Butts where the road to Warrington branched from the Leigh to Manchester road. Several inns were situated near this junction and in 1641 there was a shop selling "cheese, gunpowder, hops, tobacco and a variety of other goods". There was a corn mill on the Breaston Brook.
weaving and small coal pits near the Astley and Tyldesley border were the chief occupations until the Bridgewater Canal
was dug promoting the development of industry and rapid increases in population during the 19th century. Bedford Brewery was founded in 1823. Corn mills powered by steam were built at Butts canal basin in 1831. Wheat was imported from the prairies of America through the Port of Liverpool
. Bickham and Pownall built a silk
mill in Duke Street in 1833 and Richard le Mare, a French Hugenot immigrant, opened a silk weaving shed in Brewery Lane in 1859. After 1845 the Bedford Foundry made agricultural machinery and fire ranges in premises near the canal.
In 1858 the Fletchers
built a private railway linking their collieries at Howe Bridge
to Bedford Basin which they built to facilitate transportation of coal. After the London and North Western Railway
line was built in the north of the township, John Speakman began sinking Bedford Colliery
where there was a disaster
in 1886.
, a judicial division of southwest Lancashire. Bedford was one of the six townships or vills that made up the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Leigh. The townships existed before the parish.
Under the terms of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
Bedford became part of the Leigh Poor Law Union
, which was established on 26 January 1837 and was responsible for an area covering the whole of the ancient parish of Leigh and part of Winwick
. The workhouse
s in Pennington, Culcheth, Tyldesley, and Lowton, but they were replaced by Leigh Union workhouse
at Atherleigh in the 1850s.
In 1875 Leigh Local Board of Health was established, covering the areas of Bedford, Pennington, and Westleigh. In 1894 the area of the Local Board, together with part of Atherton
township, became Leigh Urban District
, which was granted honorific borough status
in 1899 becoming the Municipal Borough of Leigh
.
of Bedford Hall to form the Glaze Brook
, which formed part of the south western boundary of the township. Astley and Bedford Mosses
are a surviving part of Chat Moss
where the elevation of the land is barely 50 feet above mean sea-level. It rises gently to 125 feet on the northern boundary. The township had an area of 2,826 acres, and lay partly on the new red sandstone
and to the north east on the middle coal measures
of the Manchester Coalfield
. There is alluvium in the ground crossed by the Glaze Brook and its tributaries. The soil is largely clay and the land consists of meadow and pasture.
The mile long Holden Road was built at a cost of £53,000 in 1923.
In 1952 Leigh Borough Council began building a large council housing estate with facilities for 7,000 people at Higher Folds.
to Leigh and the Bridgewater Canal
cross the township from east to west. There is a road leading south to Warrington
at Butts Bridge. The A580 "East Lancashire" road
, which opened in 1934, crosses the township south of the canal.
In 1864 the London and North Western Railway
opened the Tyldesley Loopline from Manchester
via Eccles
and Tyldesley
to Kenyon Junction
on the Liverpool to Manchester Line via Leigh and Pennington
. There was a station, originally named Bedford Leigh
to serve the town. The railway crossed the town on a viaduct which has since been largely demolished. The station and railway closed in May 1969.
they heard Mass
in secret at Hopecarr, the home of the Sales or at Hall House where the Jesuit fathers of Culcheth
and Southworth served from the late 17th century. In 1778, before the relaxation of the penal laws against recussants, a chapel was built and public worship resumed. The chapel, from which Chapel Street was named, was replaced on the same site by St. Joseph's Church designed by Joseph Hansom
which opened in 1855.
St. Thomas
's Church was built in 1840 but was replaced in the early 20th century by a new church on the old site. The church is built of Accrington brick
with Runcorn red sandstone facings, it was designed by J. S. Crowther. A mission church dedicated to All Saints was built on Manchester Road and consecrated on 29 October 1938 by the Bishop of Manchester.
Leigh, Greater Manchester
Leigh is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southeast of Wigan, and west of Manchester. Leigh is situated on low lying land to the north west of Chat Moss....
, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
is one of three ancient township
Township
The word township is used to refer to different kinds of settlements in different countries. Township is generally associated with an urban area. However there are many exceptions to this rule. In Australia, the United States, and Canada, they may be settlements too small to be considered urban...
s, Bedford, Pennington
Pennington, Greater Manchester
Pennington, a suburb of Leigh, Greater Manchester is one of three ancient townships, Pennington, Westleigh and Bedford that merged in 1875 to form the town of Leigh...
and Westleigh
Westleigh, Greater Manchester
Westleigh, a suburb of Leigh, Greater Manchester is one of three ancient townships, Westleigh, Bedford, Greater Manchester and Pennington, that merged in 1875 to form the town of Leigh.-Toponymy:...
, that merged in 1875 to form the town of Leigh.
Toponymy
Bedford means the "ford of Beda", probably across the Pennington Brook probably where Beaston Bridge on Warrington Road is now situated. It was recorded as Beneford in 1200–21 and Bedeford in 1200 and 1296.Manor
There were several large houses or halls in the Bedford township. The manor was held of the Botelers of WarringtonWarrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
and was divided before the time from which records survive. Bedford Hall never assumed the role of a manor house and was occupied by tenants of the Kighleys who were absentee landlords. In 1301 half of the manor was held by the Kighleys, a quarter by the Sales who lived at the moated Hopecarr Hall and the rest by John Waverton of Brick House. Thomas Shuttleworth lived at Sandypool which was taken from the Kighley share.
The area was largely rural and a small settlement grew at Butts where the road to Warrington branched from the Leigh to Manchester road. Several inns were situated near this junction and in 1641 there was a shop selling "cheese, gunpowder, hops, tobacco and a variety of other goods". There was a corn mill on the Breaston Brook.
Industry
Agriculture, fustianFustian
Fustian is a term for a variety of heavy woven, mostly cotton fabrics, chiefly prepared for menswear. It is also used to refer to pompous, inflated or pretentious writing or speech, from at least the time of Shakespeare...
weaving and small coal pits near the Astley and Tyldesley border were the chief occupations until the Bridgewater Canal
Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester...
was dug promoting the development of industry and rapid increases in population during the 19th century. Bedford Brewery was founded in 1823. Corn mills powered by steam were built at Butts canal basin in 1831. Wheat was imported from the prairies of America through the Port of Liverpool
Port of Liverpool
The Port of Liverpool is the name for the enclosed 7.5 mile dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of the river...
. Bickham and Pownall built a silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
mill in Duke Street in 1833 and Richard le Mare, a French Hugenot immigrant, opened a silk weaving shed in Brewery Lane in 1859. After 1845 the Bedford Foundry made agricultural machinery and fire ranges in premises near the canal.
In 1858 the Fletchers
Fletcher, Burrows and Company
Fletcher, Burrows and Company was a coal mining company that owned collieries in Atherton, Greater Manchester, England. Gibfield, Howe Bridge and Chanters collieries exploited the coal mines of the middle coal measures in the Manchester Coalfield...
built a private railway linking their collieries at Howe Bridge
Howe Bridge
Howe Bridge is a suburb of Atherton in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated to the south west of Atherton town centre on the B5215, the old turnpike road from Bolton to Leigh...
to Bedford Basin which they built to facilitate transportation of coal. After the London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
line was built in the north of the township, John Speakman began sinking Bedford Colliery
Bedford Colliery
Bedford Colliery, also known as Wood End Pit, was a coal mine on the Manchester Coalfield in Bedford, Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. The colliery was owned by John Speakman, who started sinking two shafts in about 1874 on land at Wood End Farm in the northeast part of Bedford, south of the...
where there was a disaster
Bedford Colliery Disaster
The Bedford Colliery Disaster occurred on Friday 13 August 1886 when an explosion of firedamp caused the death of 38 miners at Bedford Colliery No.2 pit, near Leigh in what then was Lancashire....
in 1886.
Governance
Historically, Bedford formed part of the Hundred of West DerbyWest Derby (hundred)
The hundred of West Derby was an ancient division of the historic county of Lancashire, in northern England. It was sometimes known as West Derbyshire, the name alluding to its judicial centre being the township of West Derby .It covered the southwest of Lancashire, containing the ancient...
, a judicial division of southwest Lancashire. Bedford was one of the six townships or vills that made up the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Leigh. The townships existed before the parish.
Under the terms of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, sometimes abbreviated to PLAA, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Lord Melbourne that reformed the country's poverty relief system . It was an Amendment Act that completely replaced earlier legislation based on the...
Bedford became part of the Leigh Poor Law Union
Poor Law Union
A Poor Law Union was a unit used for local government in the United Kingdom from the 19th century. The administration of the Poor Law was the responsibility of parishes, which varied wildly in their size, populations, financial resources, rateable values and requirements...
, which was established on 26 January 1837 and was responsible for an area covering the whole of the ancient parish of Leigh and part of Winwick
Winwick, Cheshire
Winwick is a village and civil parish in the borough of Warrington in Cheshire, England. Historically within Lancashire, until 1 April 1974, Winwick was administered as part of Lancashire with the rest of north Warrington. It is situated about three miles north of Warrington town centre, near...
. The workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
s in Pennington, Culcheth, Tyldesley, and Lowton, but they were replaced by Leigh Union workhouse
Leigh Union workhouse
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.-Background:...
at Atherleigh in the 1850s.
In 1875 Leigh Local Board of Health was established, covering the areas of Bedford, Pennington, and Westleigh. In 1894 the area of the Local Board, together with part of Atherton
Atherton, Greater Manchester
Atherton is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England, historically a part of Lancashire. It is east of Wigan, north-northeast of Leigh, and northwest of Manchester...
township, became Leigh Urban District
Urban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
, which was granted honorific borough status
Borough status in the United Kingdom
Borough status in the United Kingdom is granted by royal charter to local government districts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The status is purely honorary, and does not give any additional powers to the council or inhabitants of the district...
in 1899 becoming the Municipal Borough of Leigh
Municipal Borough of Leigh
The Municipal Borough of Leigh was, from 1894 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 Parish of Leigh...
.
Geography
The township was crossed by four streams from the north, west, and east which united to the southof Bedford Hall to form the Glaze Brook
Glaze Brook
The Glaze Brook is a minor river in Greater Manchester, England.The brook drains a large area around Leigh and is formed at the outflow of Pennington Flash close to Aspull Common...
, which formed part of the south western boundary of the township. Astley and Bedford Mosses
Astley and Bedford Mosses
Astley and Bedford Mosses are areas of peat bog south of the Bridgewater Canal and north of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in Astley and Bedford, Greater Manchester, England. They are among the last remaining fragments of Chat Moss, the raised bog that once covered a large area of south...
are a surviving part of Chat Moss
Chat Moss
Chat Moss is a large area of peat bog that makes up 30 percent of the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. It is north of the River Irwell, to the west of Manchester, and occupies an area of about...
where the elevation of the land is barely 50 feet above mean sea-level. It rises gently to 125 feet on the northern boundary. The township had an area of 2,826 acres, and lay partly on the new red sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
and to the north east on the middle coal measures
Coal Measures
The Coal Measures is a lithostratigraphical term for the coal-bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. It represents the remains of fluvio-deltaic sediment, and consists mainly of clastic rocks interstratified with the beds of coal...
of the Manchester Coalfield
Manchester Coalfield
The Manchester Coalfield is part of the South East Lancashire Coalfield. Its coal seams were laid down in the Carboniferous period and some easily accessible seams were worked on a small scale from the Middle Ages and extensively from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th...
. There is alluvium in the ground crossed by the Glaze Brook and its tributaries. The soil is largely clay and the land consists of meadow and pasture.
The mile long Holden Road was built at a cost of £53,000 in 1923.
In 1952 Leigh Borough Council began building a large council housing estate with facilities for 7,000 people at Higher Folds.
Transport
The main road from ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
to Leigh and the Bridgewater Canal
Bridgewater Canal
The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester...
cross the township from east to west. There is a road leading south to Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
at Butts Bridge. The A580 "East Lancashire" road
A580 road
The A580 is a primary A road in England that connects Walton, near Liverpool and Salford, near Manchester and known officially as Liverpool-East Lancashire Road. Locally, the road is shortened to the "East Lancs". The road was designed and built to provide better access to the Port of Liverpool for...
, which opened in 1934, crosses the township south of the canal.
In 1864 the London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
opened the Tyldesley Loopline from Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
via Eccles
Eccles, Greater Manchester
Eccles is a town in the City of Salford, a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England, west of Salford and west of Manchester city centre...
and Tyldesley
Tyldesley
Tyldesley is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It occupies an area north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, east-southeast of Wigan and west-northwest of the city of Manchester...
to Kenyon Junction
Kenyon Junction railway station
Kenyon Junction was a junction railway station at Kenyon on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and the Bolton and Leigh Railway near Culcheth in Warrington, England. It was situated within the historic county of Lancashire. The station opened in 1831 and closed to passengers on 2 January 1961...
on the Liverpool to Manchester Line via Leigh and Pennington
Pennington railway station
Pennington Station was a railway station at Pennington, Leigh, Greater Manchester, England on the Bolton and Leigh Railway. It was situated within the historic county of Lancashire....
. There was a station, originally named Bedford Leigh
Leigh (Greater Manchester) railway station
Leigh railway station, originally named Bedford Leigh and later Leigh and Bedford, is a closed railway station located in Bedford, Leigh, Greater Manchester...
to serve the town. The railway crossed the town on a viaduct which has since been largely demolished. The station and railway closed in May 1969.
Religion
There were recussants in Leigh who adhered to the Church of Rome. After the ReformationReformation
- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...
they heard Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
in secret at Hopecarr, the home of the Sales or at Hall House where the Jesuit fathers of Culcheth
Culcheth
Culcheth is a large village approximately 6 miles north-east of Warrington, England. It is the principal settlement in Culcheth and Glazebury civil parish. The village has many amenities which make it a popular place to live. These include a library, a village hall, sports facilities, two...
and Southworth served from the late 17th century. In 1778, before the relaxation of the penal laws against recussants, a chapel was built and public worship resumed. The chapel, from which Chapel Street was named, was replaced on the same site by St. Joseph's Church designed by Joseph Hansom
Joseph Hansom
Joseph Aloysius Hansom was a prolific English architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style, who invented the Hansom cab and was one of the founders of the eminent architectural journal, The Builder, in 1843....
which opened in 1855.
St. Thomas
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
's Church was built in 1840 but was replaced in the early 20th century by a new church on the old site. The church is built of Accrington brick
Accrington brick
Accrington bricks, or NORIs were a type of iron hard engineering brick, produced in Huncoat, Accrington, Lancashire, England from 1887 to 2008...
with Runcorn red sandstone facings, it was designed by J. S. Crowther. A mission church dedicated to All Saints was built on Manchester Road and consecrated on 29 October 1938 by the Bishop of Manchester.