Little Lever
Encyclopedia
Little Lever is a large village within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton
in Greater Manchester
, England. Historically
a part of Lancashire
, it is 2.4 miles (3.9 km) southeast of Bolton
, 1.9 miles (3.1 km) west of Radcliffe
, and 4 miles (6.4 km) west-southwest of Bury
.
During the 19th century the population was employed in cotton-mills, paper-mills, bleach-works, terra-cotta works, a rope-walk, and in numerous collieries.
of Little Lever was part of the barony of Manchester and during the Middle Ages
was governed by the manorial
land holder, the Baron of Manchester. Records show that in the time of Henry II
, a parcel of land within the manor, consisting of one moiety
was rented to Alexander son of Uvieth for a ½ mark and a hawk (12d).
In 1212, the village was assessed as four oxgang
s of land and was held in moieties, but the name of the tenant is not listed. In 1227 Adam de Radcliffe was called upon by Robert Grelley, the Baron of Manchester to perform suit every two weeks at his court of Manchester regarding the village of Little Lever. In 1246 the Lord of the manor was recorded as Leising de Lever.
During the next hundred years the de Lever family took control of the moieties. In around 1320, the manor was jointly controlled in homage by William de Ratcliffe and William de Lever. This homage each year amounted to 4d and a fee of 6s 8d and 12d for provision of puture for the serjeant and foresters, a total of 8s. Several cases were brought before courts by family members trying to take control of the manor. A settlement in 1331, found in favour of Adam, son of Ellis de Lever and the family line was settled. There are no records about the ownership until 1448, when Henry Lever the elder owed rent of 25s on the village.
In 1623 the Bubonic Plague
killed a third of the village population.
By 1666, the village had sixty hearth
s liable to tax. Records show the land used for agriculture and the main landowner was John Andrews, who had the only large house in the village which contained 9 hearths. The manor house, Little Lever Hall, built of wood and plaster was destroyed in the 18th century. It was a seat of the Levers in 1567 and after that the Andrews who inherited the Lever's estate in Rivington
.
mills in Little Lever before 1559. The holding of Adam Byrom of Salford who died in 1559 was described as "an estate of eight messuage
s, a moiety of two fulling-mills etc., in Little Lever", his three year old grandson Ralph, was his heir. Adam's greatgrandson Ralph Byrom, died in 1599 without issue, leaving his fourteen year old brother Adam as heir to twelve messuages, half a water-mill and fulling-mill in Little Lever (or possibly Darcy Lever).
In the 1800s the coal mining industry was spread throughout the area including Kearsley, Outwood, Radcliffe
and Little Lever. In 1880 there were ten working pits listed for Little Lever: Bally, Harpurfold, Middle Bents and Stopes, owned by Thomas Fletcher and Sons, Ladyshore, Owl Hole and Victoria owned by John Fletcher and Dingle, Farnworth Bridge and New Rivin, owned by Andrew Knowles and Sons.
The Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal
passed alongside the village, where two basins were used to load coal from the Ladyshore Colliery
(originally named, Back o'th Barn, opened 1830). The pit closed in 1949 and the colliery offices (now a house) and the stables survive.
Bricks and tiles were made along Stopes Road. The industry today is much smaller but Tarmac Topblock
still run Crowthers Brickworks. Originally the site of a much larger traditional clay brick works, it is currently used for the production of building materials and produces lightweight blocks for the construction industry. The manufacture of terracotta in the north of England was pioneered by Colonel John Fletcher at his Ladyshore Terracotta works. The Ladyshore Coal and Terracotta Company supplied the terracotta used in the building in St Stephen and All Martyrs' Church, Lever Bridge
.
There were several paper mills situated in the area, two located in Little Lever. Creams Mill, founded by James Crompton 1677 and Grundy's Mill, founded by James Grundy in 1760. The name Creams was given by Adam Crompton II who said it described the paper being made.
The three arms of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal meet at Nob End which is approximately 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi), south west of the village, making Little Lever a convenient place for lodging and refreshment in the days when the canal was in operation. The proximity of the canal and the coal industry led to the establishment of a small boat-building industry for coal transportation. In part 2 of his book, Waterson (the last of 5 generations of boat builders) describes working on the canal.
There was a small chemical works on the outskirts of the village and major chemical works along the canal at Nob End, Farnworth. Bridson, Thomas Ridgeway & Sons, operated the Lever Bank Bleach Works
, (later becoming Smith, J. Junior & Company). Wilson Edward & Company operated the Prestolee Alkali Works between 1875 and 1884. The largest and longest lasting chemical works in Little Lever was in Church Street, located on land between the canal and Lever Hall farm. It was established in 1868 by F.W. Graham, but failed and was rescued by a partnership of Crompton and Potter. Edmund Peel Potter became the sole owner and expanded the business, manufacturing acid and alkali for the cloth bleaching industry. However, it was the production of sodium and potassium bichromate that made Potters a world leader and by about 1900 the firm had become a limited company. In 1951 Potters amalgamated with the Eaglescliffe Chemical Company. The company closed in 1969 when it was owned by Albright & Wilson. Until closure Potter family members remained in senior management positions. Edmund Peel Potter was prominent in the local community and endowed a hospital on Chorley New Road Bolton in pre-NHS years. His son Colonel Colin Kynaston Potter served with distinction in the Boer and First World Wars.(Ref.Papers in Little Lever library reference section)
, bounded on three sides, by the water courses, the River Irwell
, the River Croal
and Blackbrook. In 1901 it covered 808 acres (3.3 km²) including 37 of inland waterway. In the 2001 Census it is listed as having 481 hectare
s (1188 acres).
a part of the hundred of Salford
in the county of Lancashire
, until the 19th century, Little Lever was a township
and chapelry
in the ecclesiastical parish of Deane
, in Lancashire.
The Bolton Poor Law Union
was established in 1837 under the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834
and was administered a the Board of Guardians. It took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law
in Little Lever and neighbouring townships and chapelries. The Guardians made use of the workhouse
s at Fletcher Street in Great Bolton
and Goose Cote Hill in Turton
until in 1861, when a purpose built union workhouse was opened at Fishpool in Farnworth
.
In 1872, the village was governed by a local board until 1894 when an Urban District Council was formed. The council consisted of twelve members elected from the four wards, Church, Ladyshore, Stopes and West.
In 1974, local government reorganisation made Little Lever a part of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, and is represented on the borough council by three councillors as part of a ward which also covers Darcy Lever
.
It is represented in the United Kingdom Parliament
as part of the Bolton South East constituency and at the European Parliament
as part of the North West England
constituency. In 2008, the Member of Parliament for the Ward is Dr Brian Iddon (Labour Party
). The Councillors for the ward were in 2008, Councillor Anthony Connell (Labour), Councillor Sean Colin Hornby (Labour) and Councillor Mrs Mary Woodward (Conservative
)
The population has changed dramatically since the turn of the 20th Century, at that time the majority of the population was employed in the labour intensive areas of coal mining, canal working and the other mill/factory industries. Today the population is more sedentary, employed in other sectors, as Little Lever has little left in the way of industry. Many people today commute out of Little Lever to nearby Bolton, Radcliffe and Manchester to carry on employment. The main employer within the village is the wholesale/retail sector.
The 2001 census shows approximately 8000 persons have employment (the majority of the others are children or retired persons), it shows how the main areas of employment break down in terms of socio/economic grouping and employment sector (three top groups only shown).
Over the past 20 years, the population has undergone changes and now reflects a more diverse ethnic make up. The following table compiled from the 2001 Census shows the ethnic make up and how the ethnic population compares with the figures for Bolton and England.
which continued to Radcliffe (A6053) and the road to Bolton (B6209) now replaced by the (A665) as the main route out of Little Lever. Later the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal
provided direct links to Manchester, Bolton and Bury. There was a railway line from Bury to Bolton via Little Lever (with a station at Bradley Fold) though this was closed in 1970. The nearest railway stations are now Moses Gate or Radcliffe (on the GMITA Metrolink system).
The town is served by Firstbus, and Maytree Travel buses from Bolton, Farnworth and Bury.
, textile manufacture, paper making and coal mining
.
and Rawtenstall
Waterworks Companies, in 1876, the Commissioners were replaced by Bury Borough Council.
Bury and District Joint Water Board was set up in 1900 with responsibility for Bury County Borough, the Municipal Boroughs of Haslingden, Radcliffe and Rawtenstall and the Urban Districts of Kearsley
, Little Lever, Ramsbottom
and Tottington
). The name was changed in 1935 to the Irwell Valley Water Board and then in 1962, under the Bolton Water Order 1962, was replaced by Bolton Borough Council. In 1974 with the changes in local government, the whole was replaced by the North West Water Authority
.
There is one secondary school Little Lever School, which is a specialist language college
and there is one special needs school, Ladywood School.
Other facilities include pre-school playgroups, nursery schools and a library which was built in 1939.
, rounders
, bowls
and cricket
. Little Lever Cricket Club is a long established facility which includes a social club and bar. The cricket team play in the Bolton Cricket League
. There are also a number of youth organisations, a youth club, an old age pensioners' club, and a Women's Institute branch. There are several public house
s and political, sports and social clubs.
Little Lever is located on the edge of Moses Gate Country Park
, a 750 acres (3 km²) park which spans the valleys of the River Croal
and River Irwell
.
which belonged to the Manchester Classis. Kearsley and Little Lever were in the Parish of Deane
and therefore in the Bury Classis. For convenience, members of the congregation in Kearsley and Little Lever attended Ringley Chapel. At a meeting at Ringley on July 12, 1649, it was agreed that parishioners who wished to join the Ringley congregation should be allowed to do so and should be released from the Bury Classis accordingly. The religion at that time was Puritan
and there was one well known nonconformist divine by the name of Oliver Heywood who preached to the wealthy families of the area such as Captain Peter Seddon. In 1667, he wrote and distributed copies of his book 'Heart treasure'.
The first church built in Little Lever was St Matthew's
in 1791. The Congregational Church in Market Street was founded in 1857,. In 1972, the Congregational Church closed, when it joined the Presbyterian Church to become the United Reformed Church.
There are several other churches representing different denominations in Little Lever:
King's Centre Christian Fellowship (non denominational) in Market Street was founded in 1982, Christ Church joint Methodist
and United Reformed Church
in Mytham Road formed in 2000 (from constituent chapels founded before 1892), St Teresa Roman Catholic Church in Redcar Road, opened in 1975, and the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses
, Mytham Road
There are graveyards at the parish church of St Matthew, the King's Centre and Christ Church. The closed Congregational Church had a graveyard.
Metropolitan Borough of Bolton
The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Bolton, but covers a far larger area which includes Blackrod, Farnworth, Horwich, Kearsley and Westhoughton, and a suburban and rural element from the West Pennine...
in 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...
, England. Historically
Historic counties of England
The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...
a part of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, it is 2.4 miles (3.9 km) southeast of Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, 1.9 miles (3.1 km) west of Radcliffe
Radcliffe, Greater Manchester
Radcliffe is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on undulating ground in the Irwell Valley, along the course of the River Irwell, south-west of Bury and north-northwest of Manchester. Radcliffe is contiguous with the town of Whitefield to the...
, and 4 miles (6.4 km) west-southwest of Bury
Bury
Bury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...
.
During the 19th century the population was employed in cotton-mills, paper-mills, bleach-works, terra-cotta works, a rope-walk, and in numerous collieries.
Toponymy
Lever is derived from the Old English laefre, which means place where the rushes grow. It was recorded as Parua Lefre in 1212, from the Latin, parva meaning little. The name was recorded in several ways. Whilst the spellings differ the pronunciation was similar to 'lever' – Lethre 1221; Leuere 1278; Leuir 1282; Leuer 1291 and Leyver 1550. In 1370 it was listed as a mining village near Bolton.Manor
The manorManorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Little Lever was part of the barony of Manchester and during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
was governed by the manorial
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
land holder, the Baron of Manchester. Records show that in the time of Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, a parcel of land within the manor, consisting of one moiety
Moiety title
Moiety title is legal term describing a portion other than a whole of ownership of property. The word derives from Old French moitié meaning "half" , from Latin medietas "middle", from medius....
was rented to Alexander son of Uvieth for a ½ mark and a hawk (12d).
In 1212, the village was assessed as four oxgang
Oxgang
An oxgang or bovate is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, and so could be as low as 15.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:...
s of land and was held in moieties, but the name of the tenant is not listed. In 1227 Adam de Radcliffe was called upon by Robert Grelley, the Baron of Manchester to perform suit every two weeks at his court of Manchester regarding the village of Little Lever. In 1246 the Lord of the manor was recorded as Leising de Lever.
During the next hundred years the de Lever family took control of the moieties. In around 1320, the manor was jointly controlled in homage by William de Ratcliffe and William de Lever. This homage each year amounted to 4d and a fee of 6s 8d and 12d for provision of puture for the serjeant and foresters, a total of 8s. Several cases were brought before courts by family members trying to take control of the manor. A settlement in 1331, found in favour of Adam, son of Ellis de Lever and the family line was settled. There are no records about the ownership until 1448, when Henry Lever the elder owed rent of 25s on the village.
In 1623 the Bubonic Plague
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
killed a third of the village population.
By 1666, the village had sixty hearth
Hearth
In common historic and modern usage, a hearth is a brick- or stone-lined fireplace or oven often used for cooking and/or heating. For centuries, the hearth was considered an integral part of a home, often its central or most important feature...
s liable to tax. Records show the land used for agriculture and the main landowner was John Andrews, who had the only large house in the village which contained 9 hearths. The manor house, Little Lever Hall, built of wood and plaster was destroyed in the 18th century. It was a seat of the Levers in 1567 and after that the Andrews who inherited the Lever's estate in Rivington
Rivington
Rivington is a small village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, occupying . It is about southeast of Chorley and about northwest of Bolton. Rivington is situated on the fringe of the West Pennine Moors, at the foot of Rivington Pike...
.
Industrial Revolution
Records show there were fulling-millsFulling
Fulling or tucking or walking is a step in woolen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker...
mills in Little Lever before 1559. The holding of Adam Byrom of Salford who died in 1559 was described as "an estate of eight messuage
Messuage
In law, the term messuage equates to a dwelling-house and includes outbuildings, orchard, curtilage or court-yard and garden. At one time messuage supposedly had a more extensive meaning than that conveyed by the words house or site, but such distinction no longer survives.A capital messuage is the...
s, a moiety of two fulling-mills etc., in Little Lever", his three year old grandson Ralph, was his heir. Adam's greatgrandson Ralph Byrom, died in 1599 without issue, leaving his fourteen year old brother Adam as heir to twelve messuages, half a water-mill and fulling-mill in Little Lever (or possibly Darcy Lever).
In the 1800s the coal mining industry was spread throughout the area including Kearsley, Outwood, Radcliffe
Radcliffe, Greater Manchester
Radcliffe is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on undulating ground in the Irwell Valley, along the course of the River Irwell, south-west of Bury and north-northwest of Manchester. Radcliffe is contiguous with the town of Whitefield to the...
and Little Lever. In 1880 there were ten working pits listed for Little Lever: Bally, Harpurfold, Middle Bents and Stopes, owned by Thomas Fletcher and Sons, Ladyshore, Owl Hole and Victoria owned by John Fletcher and Dingle, Farnworth Bridge and New Rivin, owned by Andrew Knowles and Sons.
The Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal
Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal
The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal is a disused canal in Greater Manchester, England, built to link Bolton and Bury with Manchester. The canal, when fully opened, was 15 miles 1 furlong long. It was accessed via a junction with the River Irwell in Salford...
passed alongside the village, where two basins were used to load coal from the Ladyshore Colliery
Ladyshore Colliery
Ladyshore Colliery, originally named Back o' th Barn, was situated on the Irwell Valley fault on the Manchester Coalfield in Little Lever, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. Founded by Thomas Fletcher Senior, the colliery opened in the 1830s and mined several types of coal...
(originally named, Back o'th Barn, opened 1830). The pit closed in 1949 and the colliery offices (now a house) and the stables survive.
Bricks and tiles were made along Stopes Road. The industry today is much smaller but Tarmac Topblock
Tarmac (company)
Tarmac is a company that is based in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom and operates internationally. The company produces aggregates and road-surfacing materials, including tarmacadam, from which the company's name is derived...
still run Crowthers Brickworks. Originally the site of a much larger traditional clay brick works, it is currently used for the production of building materials and produces lightweight blocks for the construction industry. The manufacture of terracotta in the north of England was pioneered by Colonel John Fletcher at his Ladyshore Terracotta works. The Ladyshore Coal and Terracotta Company supplied the terracotta used in the building in St Stephen and All Martyrs' Church, Lever Bridge
St Stephen and All Martyrs' Church, Lever Bridge
St Stephen and All Martyrs' Church, Lever Bridge, is in Little Lever, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Walmsley, the archdeaconry of Bolton, and the diocese of Manchester...
.
There were several paper mills situated in the area, two located in Little Lever. Creams Mill, founded by James Crompton 1677 and Grundy's Mill, founded by James Grundy in 1760. The name Creams was given by Adam Crompton II who said it described the paper being made.
The three arms of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal meet at Nob End which is approximately 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi), south west of the village, making Little Lever a convenient place for lodging and refreshment in the days when the canal was in operation. The proximity of the canal and the coal industry led to the establishment of a small boat-building industry for coal transportation. In part 2 of his book, Waterson (the last of 5 generations of boat builders) describes working on the canal.
There was a small chemical works on the outskirts of the village and major chemical works along the canal at Nob End, Farnworth. Bridson, Thomas Ridgeway & Sons, operated the Lever Bank Bleach Works
Lever Bank Bleach Works
Lever Bank Bleach Works was a Bleach Works at Ladyshore, near Little Lever, Bolton. The works was owned by Thomas Ridgway & Sons. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would appear to be a direct descendent of this family.-Location:...
, (later becoming Smith, J. Junior & Company). Wilson Edward & Company operated the Prestolee Alkali Works between 1875 and 1884. The largest and longest lasting chemical works in Little Lever was in Church Street, located on land between the canal and Lever Hall farm. It was established in 1868 by F.W. Graham, but failed and was rescued by a partnership of Crompton and Potter. Edmund Peel Potter became the sole owner and expanded the business, manufacturing acid and alkali for the cloth bleaching industry. However, it was the production of sodium and potassium bichromate that made Potters a world leader and by about 1900 the firm had become a limited company. In 1951 Potters amalgamated with the Eaglescliffe Chemical Company. The company closed in 1969 when it was owned by Albright & Wilson. Until closure Potter family members remained in senior management positions. Edmund Peel Potter was prominent in the local community and endowed a hospital on Chorley New Road Bolton in pre-NHS years. His son Colonel Colin Kynaston Potter served with distinction in the Boer and First World Wars.(Ref.Papers in Little Lever library reference section)
Geography
Little Lever was a hamletHamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
, bounded on three sides, by the water courses, the River Irwell
River Irwell
The River Irwell is a long river which flows through the Irwell Valley in the counties of Lancashire and Greater Manchester in North West England. The river's source is at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup, in the parish of Cliviger, Lancashire...
, the River Croal
River Croal
The River Croal is a river located in Greater Manchester, England. It is a tributary of the River Irwell.Rising at the confluence of Middle Brook and Deane Church Brook, it flows eastwards through Bolton, collecting Gilnow Brook and the larger River Tonge at Darcy Lever...
and Blackbrook. In 1901 it covered 808 acres (3.3 km²) including 37 of inland waterway. In the 2001 Census it is listed as having 481 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s (1188 acres).
Governance
HistoricallyHistoric counties of England
The historic counties of England are subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and shires...
a part of the hundred of Salford
Salford (hundred)
The hundred of Salford was an ancient division of the historic county of Lancashire, in Northern England. It was sometimes known as Salfordshire, the name alluding to its judicial centre being the township of Salford...
in the county of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, until the 19th century, Little Lever was a township
Township (England)
In England, a township is a local division or district of a large parish containing a village or small town usually having its own church...
and chapelry
Chapelry
A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England, and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel which acted as a subsidiary place of worship to the main parish church...
in the ecclesiastical parish of Deane
Deane, Greater Manchester
Deane is an area of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is about south west of Bolton and northwest of the city of Manchester.Historically a part of Lancashire, the Parish of Deane was once one of four parishes within the hundred of Salford and covered roughly half of the present...
, in Lancashire.
The Bolton 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...
was established in 1837 under 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...
and was administered a the Board of Guardians. It took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law
Poor Law
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
in Little Lever and neighbouring townships and chapelries. The Guardians made use of 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 at Fletcher Street in Great Bolton
Great Bolton
Great Bolton was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England. Despite its name, Great Bolton had a smaller acreage than its northern neighbour Little Bolton from which it was separated by the River...
and Goose Cote Hill in Turton
Turton
-As a surname:See also Turton Baronets for Turton Baronetcies*John Turton , the doctor of King George III of Great Britain; treated that monarch during bouts of his madness*William Turton , British naturalist...
until in 1861, when a purpose built union workhouse was opened at Fishpool in Farnworth
Farnworth
Farnworth is within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is located southeast of Bolton, 6 miles south-west of Bury , and northwest of Manchester....
.
In 1872, the village was governed by a local board until 1894 when an Urban District Council was formed. The council consisted of twelve members elected from the four wards, Church, Ladyshore, Stopes and West.
In 1974, local government reorganisation made Little Lever a part of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, and is represented on the borough council by three councillors as part of a ward which also covers Darcy Lever
Darcy Lever
Darcy Lever is a township within the Metropoliton Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, the village lies on the B6209 , between Bolton and Little Lever...
.
It is represented in the United Kingdom Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
as part of the Bolton South East constituency and at the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
as part of the North West England
North West England (European Parliament constituency)
North West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For the 2009 elections it elects 8 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.-Boundaries:...
constituency. In 2008, the Member of Parliament for the Ward is Dr Brian Iddon (Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
). The Councillors for the ward were in 2008, Councillor Anthony Connell (Labour), Councillor Sean Colin Hornby (Labour) and Councillor Mrs Mary Woodward (Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
)
Demography
The last UK Census in 2001, gives the population as 11505, with a population density of 25 persons per hectare. This figure is significantly higher than Bolton (18.7 per hectare) and is almost six times the average population density of England and Wales (3.5 per hectare). The Census also shows that the population has a population split of almost equal numbers of males and females which is uncommon in the area.The population has changed dramatically since the turn of the 20th Century, at that time the majority of the population was employed in the labour intensive areas of coal mining, canal working and the other mill/factory industries. Today the population is more sedentary, employed in other sectors, as Little Lever has little left in the way of industry. Many people today commute out of Little Lever to nearby Bolton, Radcliffe and Manchester to carry on employment. The main employer within the village is the wholesale/retail sector.
The 2001 census shows approximately 8000 persons have employment (the majority of the others are children or retired persons), it shows how the main areas of employment break down in terms of socio/economic grouping and employment sector (three top groups only shown).
| Classification | Number |
|---|---|
| Workplace Social Population - Code UV50 | |
| Managerial/administrative (Classes AB & C1) | 4200 |
| Skilled manual workers (Class C2) | 1900 |
| Semi skilled/unskilled manual (Class C2) | 1900 |
| Employment groups - Code UV34 | |
| Manufacturing | 1300 |
| Wholesale or retail trades | 1200 |
| Health and social work | 600 |
Over the past 20 years, the population has undergone changes and now reflects a more diverse ethnic make up. The following table compiled from the 2001 Census shows the ethnic make up and how the ethnic population compares with the figures for Bolton and England.
| Ethnic Classification | Number | % Little Lever | % Bolton | % England |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnic Breakdown - Code UV09 | ||||
| White | 11250 | 98.2 | 88.4 | 91.6 |
| African/Caribbean descent | 38 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 2.3 |
| Asian descent | 149 | 1.3 | 9 | 5.1 |
| Chinese and other ethnic groups | 20 | 0.2 | 2 | 1 |
Transport
The village lay at the junction of three roads, the road between Farnworth and the adjoining hamlet of Nob EndNob End
Nob End is the site of a former waste tip, and now a Site of Special Scientific Interest near Kearsley, Bolton, England.Standing at the confluence of the River Irwell and River Croal it was used around 1850-70 as a tip for alkaline waste from the production of sodium carbonate by the Leblanc...
which continued to Radcliffe (A6053) and the road to Bolton (B6209) now replaced by the (A665) as the main route out of Little Lever. Later the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal
Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal
The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal is a disused canal in Greater Manchester, England, built to link Bolton and Bury with Manchester. The canal, when fully opened, was 15 miles 1 furlong long. It was accessed via a junction with the River Irwell in Salford...
provided direct links to Manchester, Bolton and Bury. There was a railway line from Bury to Bolton via Little Lever (with a station at Bradley Fold) though this was closed in 1970. The nearest railway stations are now Moses Gate or Radcliffe (on the GMITA Metrolink system).
The town is served by Firstbus, and Maytree Travel buses from Bolton, Farnworth and Bury.
Economy
Little Lever's past is marked by cotton spinningSpinning (textiles)
Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...
, textile manufacture, paper making and coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
.
Infrastructure
In the early days, water was obtained from local sources and some shallow wells driven into the underlying sandstone. As the industry took a hold, more water and from a reliable source was required. In 1872, the Bury Improvement Act allowed the Bury Improvement Commissioners to take over Bury, Radcliffe, (who supplied Little Lever), HaslingdenHaslingden
Haslingden is a small town in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. It is north of Manchester. The name means 'valley of the hazels', though the town is in fact set on a high and windy hill. In the early 20th century Haslingden had the status of a municipal borough, but following local government...
and Rawtenstall
Rawtenstall
Rawtenstall is a town at the centre of the Rossendale Valley, in Lancashire, England. It is the seat for the Borough of Rossendale, in which it is located. The town lies 18 miles north of Manchester, 22 miles east of the county town of Preston and 45 miles south east of Lancaster...
Waterworks Companies, in 1876, the Commissioners were replaced by Bury Borough Council.
Bury and District Joint Water Board was set up in 1900 with responsibility for Bury County Borough, the Municipal Boroughs of Haslingden, Radcliffe and Rawtenstall and the Urban Districts of Kearsley
Kearsley
Kearsley is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically within Lancashire, it lies about 7½ miles northwest of Manchester,5.5 miles south-west of Bury, and about 3¾ miles south of Bolton.It is bounded on the west by Walkden, the east by...
, Little Lever, Ramsbottom
Ramsbottom
Ramsbottom is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on the course of the River Irwell, in the West Pennine Moors. Historically within Lancashire, it is located north-northwest of Bury, and north-northwest of Manchester...
and Tottington
Tottington, Greater Manchester
Tottington is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, in Greater Manchester, England.Historically a part of Lancashire, Tottington's early history is marked by its status as an important Medieval fee, a type of Royal Manor which encompassed several townships...
). The name was changed in 1935 to the Irwell Valley Water Board and then in 1962, under the Bolton Water Order 1962, was replaced by Bolton Borough Council. In 1974 with the changes in local government, the whole was replaced by the North West Water Authority
North West Water
North West Water was a water supply company serving north west England. It was originally the North West Water Authority, one of ten regional authorities created by the Water Act 1973. In 1989 it became North West Water plc, and was privatised...
.
Education
There are seven schools in Little Lever, controlled by Bolton Metropolitan Borough education department: There are five primary schools, Bowness Community Primary, Masefield Community Primary, Mytham Community Primary, St Matthew's C of E Primary and St Teresa's RC Primary.There is one secondary school Little Lever School, which is a specialist language college
Specialist school
The specialist schools programme was a UK government initiative which encouraged secondary schools in England to specialise in certain areas of the curriculum to boost achievement. The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust was responsible for the delivery of the programme...
and there is one special needs school, Ladywood School.
Other facilities include pre-school playgroups, nursery schools and a library which was built in 1939.
Sports and leisure
There is a purpose built leisure centre adjacent to Little Lever School with sports hall, gymnasium, squash courts, all-weather pitch and extensive playing fields. There are also facilities around the village for footballFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, rounders
Rounders
Rounders is a game played between two teams of either gender. The game originated in England where it was played in Tudor times. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a round wooden, plastic or metal bat. The players score by...
, bowls
Bowls
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...
and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
. Little Lever Cricket Club is a long established facility which includes a social club and bar. The cricket team play in the Bolton Cricket League
Bolton Cricket League
The Bolton Cricket League is a cricket league comprising fourteen teams in and around Bolton, Greater Manchester in North West England. The league runs competitions at First Team, Second Team, Under 18, Under 15, Under 13 and Under 11 levels.-Teams:...
. There are also a number of youth organisations, a youth club, an old age pensioners' club, and a Women's Institute branch. There are several public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s and political, sports and social clubs.
Little Lever is located on the edge of Moses Gate Country Park
Moses Gate Country Park
Moses Gate Country Park also known as Crompton Lodges is a 300 hectare site situated at Moses Gate in the Croal Irwell Valley 5 km south of Bolton town centre on the A6053 road which connects Farnworth to Little Lever.-Description:The park runs from the A6053 to Nob End along the banks of...
, a 750 acres (3 km²) park which spans the valleys of the River Croal
River Croal
The River Croal is a river located in Greater Manchester, England. It is a tributary of the River Irwell.Rising at the confluence of Middle Brook and Deane Church Brook, it flows eastwards through Bolton, collecting Gilnow Brook and the larger River Tonge at Darcy Lever...
and River Irwell
River Irwell
The River Irwell is a long river which flows through the Irwell Valley in the counties of Lancashire and Greater Manchester in North West England. The river's source is at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup, in the parish of Cliviger, Lancashire...
.
Religion
Ringley Chapel was built in Outwood in the Parish Of PrestwichPrestwich
Prestwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies close to the River Irwell, north of Manchester city centre, north of Salford and south of Bury....
which belonged to the Manchester Classis. Kearsley and Little Lever were in the Parish of Deane
Deane, Greater Manchester
Deane is an area of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is about south west of Bolton and northwest of the city of Manchester.Historically a part of Lancashire, the Parish of Deane was once one of four parishes within the hundred of Salford and covered roughly half of the present...
and therefore in the Bury Classis. For convenience, members of the congregation in Kearsley and Little Lever attended Ringley Chapel. At a meeting at Ringley on July 12, 1649, it was agreed that parishioners who wished to join the Ringley congregation should be allowed to do so and should be released from the Bury Classis accordingly. The religion at that time was Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
and there was one well known nonconformist divine by the name of Oliver Heywood who preached to the wealthy families of the area such as Captain Peter Seddon. In 1667, he wrote and distributed copies of his book 'Heart treasure'.
The first church built in Little Lever was St Matthew's
St Matthew's Church, Little Lever
St Matthew's Church, Little Lever, is in the village of Little Lever, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Bolton, the archdeaconry of Bolton, and the diocese of Manchester...
in 1791. The Congregational Church in Market Street was founded in 1857,. In 1972, the Congregational Church closed, when it joined the Presbyterian Church to become the United Reformed Church.
There are several other churches representing different denominations in Little Lever:
King's Centre Christian Fellowship (non denominational) in Market Street was founded in 1982, Christ Church joint Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
and United Reformed Church
United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church is a Christian church in the United Kingdom. It has approximately 68,000 members in 1,500 congregations with some 700 ministers.-Origins and history:...
in Mytham Road formed in 2000 (from constituent chapels founded before 1892), St Teresa Roman Catholic Church in Redcar Road, opened in 1975, and the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
, Mytham Road
There are graveyards at the parish church of St Matthew, the King's Centre and Christ Church. The closed Congregational Church had a graveyard.
External links
- Little Lever Forum, Little Lever's Community Forum
- Photos and information about Little Lever, bolton.org.uk
- GENUKI: Little Lever
- St Matthew's Parish Church, (Diocese of Manchester)
- King's Church, (non demonational)
- Revolution, a youth club at King's Church, Little Lever