Rivington
Encyclopedia
Rivington is a small village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley
, Lancashire
, England, occupying 2538 acres (10.3 km²). It is about 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Chorley
and about 8.5 miles (13.7 km) northwest of Bolton. Rivington is situated on the fringe of the West Pennine Moors
, at the foot of Rivington Pike
. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001
it had a population of 144.
Life in the Middle Ages
centred on the families who owned the manor in what was then an isolated rural community. Agriculture, hand loom weaving, quarrying and mining occupied the few inhabitants until the middle of the 19th century. A chapel built before 1541 was replaced by the present church in 1666 and by 1703 Nonconformism
led to the building of a Presbyterian church, now a Unitarian Chapel. A grammar school was founded by charter of Queen Elizabeth I
in 1556.
Construction of reservoir
s for Liverpool Corporation in the mid-19th century led to a decrease in the population when parts of the village were demolished and farmland in the valley flooded. William Lever
bought the Rivington Hall estate at the turn of the 20th century and used his wealth to renovate the old barns and create a public park that is central to the village economy today.
plants or from the Old English word hreof meaning rough. The second element -ing- usually referred to a place belonging to a person, but in the case of Rivington the element seems to have crept in over the years. The last element comes from the Old English word tun
meaning a farmstead or settlement. Together the name Rivington may mean "a settlement in the rowans" or "a rough farmstead".
Rivington has been recorded in many ways in earlier centuries, Rowinton, Rawinton, and Revington were used in 1202; Ruhwinton in 1212, Riuiton in 1226, Rowynton and Rouynton in 1278, Roynton in 1332, Rouyngton in 1400, Revyngton although rare, and Rovington and Ryvington from the 16th century.
. Arrowhead
s, a flint
knife, scrapers and the remains of cremations were excavated from a Bronze Age cairn at Noon Hill in 1958 and 1963–64. It is possible that the name Coblowe on the eastern bank of the Lower Rivington Reservoir derives from the Old English hlaw, a hill, which denoted an ancient barrow
or burial place. Evidence for the existence of a settlement here in Anglo-Saxon
times is found in the Rivington and Coblowe names.
s of land in thanage
, the majority of land in the Manor of Rivington
, and in 1290 it became home to a junior branch of the Pilkington
family. Robert Pilkington extended the original Rivington Hall
in the 15th century. Rivington Hall Barn
is variously dated from Saxon times to the 16th century. Robert's son, Richard, rebuilt the chapel. Richard’s son James Pilkington, Bishop of Durham from 1560–1575, founded Rivington Grammar School.
After the death of George Pilkington (1516–1597), the estate passed to his son, Robert, but it was by then in decline. Robert died in 1605. In 1611, the Pilkingtons sold Rivington Hall estate to Robert Lever and Thomas Breres.
A quarter of the manor was owned by the Lathoms and an eighth by the Shaws. In the 18th century the Shaws sold their land to Lord Willoughby of Parham. On the death of Hugh Willoughby the 15th baron in 1765 the Shaws and Roscoes inherited his estates.
In 1729 John Andrews of Little Lever
bought the Breres' share of the manor and was responsible for building the Pike Tower in 1733. His descendant, Robert Andrews, partially rebuilt Rivington Hall in red brick in the Georgian
style in 1774. After Andrew's death the property passed to his sister Hannah Maria Andrews, who had married Robert Fletcher of Liverpool. Their daughter, Lucy, married Woodhouse Crompton in 1834 and their descendants remained resident at the hall until 1910. In 1900 the Cromptons sold their interest in the manor and estate of 2100 acres (8.5 km²) to William Hesketh Lever. The Rivington Hall estate was acquired by compulsory purchase by Liverpool Corporation
in 1902 as part of the reservoir scheme. William Lever created a 360 acres (1.5 km²)park to the north of the reservoir, Lever Park. He donated the park to the town of Bolton and after his death the park was owned by Liverpool Corporation. The land is owned by United Utilities
.
was shown on the 1848 first edition Ordnance Survey
map.
Until the 19th century Rivington was a rural
village built around what is now the village green
. Its inhabitants were employed in agriculture on scattered local farms, hand loom weaving
in their own homes, working in the local quarries
, or the small coal
mines on Winter Hill. Wilderswood Colliery, owned by Nicholas Fish, appeared in the 1869 Mines List. Coal mining was on a very small scale; in 1896 the Rivington Moor Colliery employed two workers mining coal from the Mountain coal seam for own or local use.
At Tiger's Clough, in the valley of the River Douglas
, close to the boundary with Horwich, the Knoll Bleach
works and a calico-printing works were operating before 1800. They were demolished by Liverpool Corporation as part of the reservoir scheme in the 1860s.
, Upper Rivington
, Lower Rivington
and Yarrow
reservoirs which were built to provide Liverpool
with a safe, clean water supply. Nine properties in the valley were demolished before construction work began. The Rivington Pike Scheme, still in use today, was undertaken by Thomas Hawksley
between 1850 and 1857. The scheme was to construct five reservoirs and a water treatment works at the south end of Lower Rivington with a 17 miles (27.4 km) pipeline to storage reservoirs at Prescot
. Water from two higher level reservoirs, Rake Brook and Lower Ruddlesworth, was carried south in The Goit, a man-made channel connecting them to the lower reservoirs. The scheme was expanded in 1856, to include High Bullough Reservoir, built in 1850 by J. F. Bateman to supply water to Chorley. The scheme was further expanded by the construction of the Upper Roddlesworth Reservoir in 1867–75 by Thomas Duncan and Joseph Jackson. Yarrow Reservoir, on which work began in 1867, was designed by Thomas Duncan, the Liverpool Borough Engineer.
In 1900 Liverpool Corporation attempted to acquire the entire area to safeguard its water supply, and proposed to demolish the entire village. Some buildings were protected and others left vulnerable in an Act of Parliament known as the Liverpool Corporation Act 1902. This allowed the corporation to acquire by compulsory purchase properties in the west of the village, including the Black-a-Moors Head public house and the New Hall, which were demolished between 1902 and 1905. The result was the small settlement that has remained largely unchanged since then.
, in the Salford hundred
in Lancashire. It became part of the Chorley Poor Law Union
, formed in 1837, and took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law
in that area. In 1866 Rivington became a civil parish. It became part of the Chorley
Rural Sanitary District
from 1875 to 1894, and part of the Chorley Rural District
from 1894 to 1974.
Since 1974 Rivington has been a civil parish of the Borough of Chorley
, which comprises 47 councillors each elected for 4-year terms to represent wards in the borough. In May 2010 the constitution of the Chorley council was Conservatives
had 27 seats, Labour
15 seats, Liberal Democrats 3 seats and Independents 2 seats. Rivington is part of the Heath Charnock
and Rivington ward and in 2010 elected a Conservative councillor, Pat Case, CBE, who is deputy leader of the council. Chorley is part of the Lancashire County Council
created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888
and reconstituted under the Local Government Act 1972
. Rivington is part of the Chorley Rural East ward.
Rivington is part of the Chorley
parliamentary constituency, which elected Lindsay Hoyle
as Member of Parliament for the Labour party at the 2010 General Election.
fringe between the high unenclosed moorland of the West Pennine Moors and the fields below. The landscape is characterised by marginal pastures with isolated farmsteads, reservoirs, and disused mines and quarries scattered across the hillsides. There is an extensive network of footpaths providing public access. The reservoir valleys are dominated by expanses of water and the Victorian gothic architecture of the dams and embankments surrounded by woodland.
To the east of Rivington is Rivington Pike and to the west the flatter land of the Lancashire Plain. Rivington is north of Horwich and Bolton and to the south of Anglezarke Moor and Yarrow Reservoir. To the west of the village is the wide shallow valley containing the Anglezarke, Upper and Lower Rivington reservoirs. The village is accessed from the west by a road on top of the 876 feet (267 m) long Horrobin Embankment, a dam that separates the Upper and Lower Rivington reservoirs. The River Douglas has its source on Winter Hill, and flows in a southwest direction forming part of the southern boundary. The River Yarrow
has its source on Anglezarke Moor and forms the northern boundary. The area of the township is 2768 acres (11.2 km²), the reservoirs and filter beds occupy 275 acres (1.1 km²).
The underlying geology is Millstone Grit
overlaid with coal measures
. Gritstone was quarried for building stone in the area. Around Rivington are chalybeate
springs and in Dean Wood is a waterfall with a descent of 32 feet (9.8 m).
, which connects the M6
and Preston to the north with the M60
and the Greater Manchester
conurbation to the south. The nearest access is at Junction 6. The village is accessed by minor roads from Horwich to the south and Adlington to the west. A winding road to the north passes through Anglezarke and a road over the moors to the east leads to Belmont. The nearest places with regular bus services are Horwich to the south and Adlington to the west, which are served by buses between Bolton and Chorley or Preston.
The arrival of the Manchester and Bolton Railway
's extension to Preston
and opening of Blackrod railway station
in 1841 brought visitors to the area. The line remains open with stations at Blackrod and Horwich Parkway
giving access to Bolton, Manchester, Chorley and Preston.
was granted to James Pilkington by Queen Elizabeth I in 1566. The school opened in 1575 and was rebuilt in 1714. Blackrod Grammar School was founded in 1568 and the schools merged in 1875. In 1882 Rivington & Blackrod Grammar School opened on its present site at the south of the township, close to the boundary with Horwich. The school is now Rivington and Blackrod High School
, a Specialist
Technology College
, focusing on design and technology, mathematics and science. Year Seven
students occupy the former Horwich County Secondary School. The old grammar school building is now occupied by Rivington Foundation Primary School.
in the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors
until it became a parish in its own right in 1856. Rivington Church
is built on a hill known as Chapel Croft. An earlier chapel on this site was named in a deed by Margaret Pilkington and her son Robert in 1476. The parochial chapelry covered Rivington and the surrounding areas of Anglezarke, Hemshaws and Foulds. In 1628 a chapel was built "upon a little toft and quillet of land" by the local population and where divine service was celebrated "for many years of antiquity". The early 16th-century chapel was rebuilt in 1666 and altered and restored during the late 19th century. It is a small plain building built in sandstone
with a bell turret. It is an Anglican
church and is unusual in that it is not dedicated to any saint or martyr, referred to simply as Rivington Church.
Rivington Unitarian Chapel
was built with a bellcote of local stone in 1703. Originally founded as a Presbyterian
church and became Unitarian
in the late 18th century. The chapel, which retains its box pews, was restored in 1990. Both churches are listed buildings and active places of worship.
There are eight listed properties in the Rivington conservation area, almost half of the houses in the village. Listed buildings include the former vicarage, the Manse House and a row of cottages, one of which was the post office, two rows of cottages at Mill Hill and Pilkingtons Farmhouse all of which are private residences. Rivington Church and the Unitarian Chapel are active places of worship; the former grammar school
is now a primary school.
Outside the village centre, the Georgian Rivington Hall, the adjacent Hall Barn
and Great House Barn
, which is possibly a tithe barn
, are all listed buildings. Great House Farm now houses an information centre.
It is of national importance and historical significance but has been neglected and has deteriorated.
Situated on the east bank of the Lower Rivington reservoir, the park is named after William Lever, Lord Leverhulme, who bought the estate in 1899 and donated 360 acres (1.5 km²) of land to the people of his native Bolton as a public park. Under the terms of a compulsory purchase order, William Lever was allowed to continue with plans to lay out Lever Park at his own expense, and he maintained it during his lifetime. The park opened in 1904 and contained a boating lake, a zoo, tree-lined avenues and a network of footpaths. A folly
, Rivington Castle, was built as a scale replica of Liverpool Castle
at Coblowe Hillock near the Lower Rivington Reservoir. Lodges were built at the entrances to the estate, including Stone House Lodge at the main driveway.
Roynton Cottage, originally a single-storey wooden bungalow, and its extensive gardens were the private property of William Lever, which he used for weekend visits and entertaining, high on the hillside below Rivington Pike. The bungalow was destroyed in an arson
attack by suffragette
, Edith Rigby
, on 8 July 1913. Its replacement was built of stone. Thomas Mawson
designed the 45 acres (182,108.7 m²) gardens between 1905 and 1922. The private gardens contained terraces and a pool, a Japanese lake and pagoda
, Italian-style gardens, a seven-arched bridge and the Pigeon Tower with Lady Leverhulme's sewing room on the top floor.
After Lever's death Roynton Cottage was acquired by the Bolton brewer, John Magee. During the Second World War the bungalow was requisitioned to be used as a billet for troops, and nissen hut
s were erected in the grounds. After the war the site was acquired by Liverpool Corporation, who decided to demolish the building.
In 1974 the park and gardens passed to the North West Water
Authority from Liverpool Corporation, and to United Utilities on privatisation, and are maintained as a public country park for the people of Bolton, protected by rights afforded by the Liverpool Corporation Act 1902 ensuring “Free and uninterrupted enjoyment by the public”. The listed historic landscape of Lever Park now forms part of Rivington County Park and is used for recreation.
since 1892. The fell race
originally started from the Horwich railway works
, but since 1930 from the park entrance at Lever Park Avenue. It now attracts around 400 runners. The course is 3.25 miles (5.2 km) and there is a 700 feet (213 m) ascent.
The area around Rivington and Anglezarke was the location for the 2002 Commonwealth Games
mountain biking
competition. The area is well used by hikers and hillwalkers. The Holcombe Hunt meets each year at Rivington Hall Barn.
Chorley (borough)
Chorley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Chorley.-Creation:...
, 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...
, England, occupying 2538 acres (10.3 km²). It is about 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Chorley
Chorley
Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry...
and about 8.5 miles (13.7 km) northwest of Bolton. Rivington is situated on the fringe of the West Pennine Moors
West Pennine Moors
The West Pennine Moors cover an area of approximately of moorland and reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England.The West Pennine Moors are separated from the main Pennine range by the Irwell Valley. The moorland includes Withnell, Anglezarke and Rivington Moors in the extreme west,...
, at the foot of Rivington Pike
Rivington Pike
Rivington Pike is a hill summit on Winter Hill, part of the West Pennine Moors, overlooking the village of Rivington in Lancashire, England. The nearest towns are Chorley and Horwich. The Pike is a prominent local landmark which derives its name from the Old English hreof plus ing meaning the rough...
. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
it had a population of 144.
Life in 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...
centred on the families who owned the manor in what was then an isolated rural community. Agriculture, hand loom weaving, quarrying and mining occupied the few inhabitants until the middle of the 19th century. A chapel built before 1541 was replaced by the present church in 1666 and by 1703 Nonconformism
Nonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
led to the building of a Presbyterian church, now a Unitarian Chapel. A grammar school was founded by charter of Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
in 1556.
Construction of reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
s for Liverpool Corporation in the mid-19th century led to a decrease in the population when parts of the village were demolished and farmland in the valley flooded. William Lever
William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme
William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician....
bought the Rivington Hall estate at the turn of the 20th century and used his wealth to renovate the old barns and create a public park that is central to the village economy today.
Toponymy
The origin of the name Rivington is unclear, but is made up of three elements. The first element Riv- comes from either the rowanRowan
The rowans or mountain-ashes are shrubs or small trees in genus Sorbus of family Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the mountains of western China and the Himalaya, where numerous apomictic microspecies...
plants or from the Old English word hreof meaning rough. The second element -ing- usually referred to a place belonging to a person, but in the case of Rivington the element seems to have crept in over the years. The last element comes from the Old English word tun
Tun
- Science and technology :* TUN/TAP, a computer network device driver* TUN , a Danish product standard for building materials* Tun , a part of the Mayan long count calendar system* A unit of time in the Mayan Long Count calendar...
meaning a farmstead or settlement. Together the name Rivington may mean "a settlement in the rowans" or "a rough farmstead".
Rivington has been recorded in many ways in earlier centuries, Rowinton, Rawinton, and Revington were used in 1202; Ruhwinton in 1212, Riuiton in 1226, Rowynton and Rouynton in 1278, Roynton in 1332, Rouyngton in 1400, Revyngton although rare, and Rovington and Ryvington from the 16th century.
Early history
It is possible that settlements have existed in the area around Rivington since the Bronze AgeBronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
. Arrowhead
Arrowhead
An arrowhead is a tip, usually sharpened, added to an arrow to make it more deadly or to fulfill some special purpose. Historically arrowheads were made of stone and of organic materials; as human civilization progressed other materials were used...
s, a flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
knife, scrapers and the remains of cremations were excavated from a Bronze Age cairn at Noon Hill in 1958 and 1963–64. It is possible that the name Coblowe on the eastern bank of the Lower Rivington Reservoir derives from the Old English hlaw, a hill, which denoted an ancient barrow
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
or burial place. Evidence for the existence of a settlement here in Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
times is found in the Rivington and Coblowe names.
Manor
In 1212 Alexander de Pilkington held six oxgangOxgang
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 in thanage
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
, the majority of land in the Manor of Rivington
Manor of Rivington
The Manor of Rivington was a medieval manor estate in Rivington, Lancashire, England. Before 1212 the Pilkington family owned six oxgangs of land. Over time it became separated in moieties and by the 16th century the Pilkingtons of Rivington Hall owned a 5/8 share. In 1605 the Lathoms of Irlam...
, and in 1290 it became home to a junior branch of the Pilkington
Pilkington of Lancashire
The Pilkington family has its origins in the ancient township of Pilkington in the historic county of Lancashire, England. After about 1405 the family seat was Stand Old Hall which was built to replace Old Hall in Pilkington. The new hall was built on high land overlooking Pilkington's medieval...
family. Robert Pilkington extended the original Rivington Hall
Rivington Hall
Rivington Hall is a Grade II* Listed building located in Rivington, Lancashire, England. It was the manor house for the Lords of the Manor of Rivington. The hall is of various builds as successor to a fifteenth-century timber-framed courtyard house that was built near to the present building of...
in the 15th century. Rivington Hall Barn
Rivington Hall Barn
Rivington Hall Barn adjoins Rivington Hall in Rivington near Chorley, England. The barn may date from between the 9th and 13th centuries, but more likely the 16th century, and was restored, altered and enlarged in 1905 by Jonathan Simpson for Lord Leverhulme...
is variously dated from Saxon times to the 16th century. Robert's son, Richard, rebuilt the chapel. Richard’s son James Pilkington, Bishop of Durham from 1560–1575, founded Rivington Grammar School.
After the death of George Pilkington (1516–1597), the estate passed to his son, Robert, but it was by then in decline. Robert died in 1605. In 1611, the Pilkingtons sold Rivington Hall estate to Robert Lever and Thomas Breres.
A quarter of the manor was owned by the Lathoms and an eighth by the Shaws. In the 18th century the Shaws sold their land to Lord Willoughby of Parham. On the death of Hugh Willoughby the 15th baron in 1765 the Shaws and Roscoes inherited his estates.
In 1729 John Andrews of Little Lever
Little Lever
Little Lever is a large village within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it is southeast of Bolton, west of Radcliffe, and west-southwest of Bury....
bought the Breres' share of the manor and was responsible for building the Pike Tower in 1733. His descendant, Robert Andrews, partially rebuilt Rivington Hall in red brick in the Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
style in 1774. After Andrew's death the property passed to his sister Hannah Maria Andrews, who had married Robert Fletcher of Liverpool. Their daughter, Lucy, married Woodhouse Crompton in 1834 and their descendants remained resident at the hall until 1910. In 1900 the Cromptons sold their interest in the manor and estate of 2100 acres (8.5 km²) to William Hesketh Lever. The Rivington Hall estate was acquired by compulsory purchase by Liverpool Corporation
Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Joe Anderson.-Domain:...
in 1902 as part of the reservoir scheme. William Lever created a 360 acres (1.5 km²)park to the north of the reservoir, Lever Park. He donated the park to the town of Bolton and after his death the park was owned by Liverpool Corporation. The land is owned by United Utilities
United Utilities
United Utilities Group PLC is the UK's largest listed water business. The Group owns and manages the regulated water and waste water network in the north west England, through it subsidiary United Utilities Water PLC , which is responsible for the vast majority of the group's assets and...
.
Industries
Foundations of a building that was perhaps a water mill or the manor corn mill are to be found opposite Mill Hill Cottages next to where a possible mill pondMill pond
A mill pond is any body of water used as a reservoir for a water-powered mill. Mill ponds were often created through the construction of a mill dam across a waterway. In many places, the common proper name Mill Pond name has remained even though the mill has long since gone...
was shown on the 1848 first edition Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
map.
Until the 19th century Rivington was a rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
village built around what is now the village green
Village green
A village green is a common open area which is a part of a settlement. Traditionally, such an area was often common grass land at the centre of a small agricultural settlement, used for grazing and sometimes for community events...
. Its inhabitants were employed in agriculture on scattered local farms, hand loom weaving
Putting-Out system
The putting-out system was a means of subcontracting work. It was also known as the workshop system. In putting-out, work was contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who completed the work in their own facilities, usually their own homes....
in their own homes, working in the local quarries
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
, or the small coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
mines on Winter Hill. Wilderswood Colliery, owned by Nicholas Fish, appeared in the 1869 Mines List. Coal mining was on a very small scale; in 1896 the Rivington Moor Colliery employed two workers mining coal from the Mountain coal seam for own or local use.
At Tiger's Clough, in the valley of the River Douglas
River Douglas
The River Douglas, also known as the River Asland or Astland, is a river that flows through Lancashire and Greater Manchester in the north-west of England...
, close to the boundary with Horwich, the Knoll Bleach
Bleach
Bleach refers to a number of chemicals that remove color, whiten, or disinfect, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include household chlorine bleach , lye, oxygen bleach , and bleaching powder...
works and a calico-printing works were operating before 1800. They were demolished by Liverpool Corporation as part of the reservoir scheme in the 1860s.
Reservoirs
Rivington was dramatically changed by the construction of the AnglezarkeAnglezarke Reservoir
Anglezarke Reservoir is the largest reservoir in the Rivington chain to the west of Anglezarke in Lancashire, England. Anglezarke Reservoir has three embankments, the longest, the Charnock Embankment is 777 metres long and 9.45 metres high, the Knowsley Embankment is 219.5 metres long and 14...
, Upper Rivington
Upper Rivington Reservoir
Upper Rivington Reservoir is situated centrally in the Rivington chain of reservoirs, on the West Pennine Moors in Lancashire, England between Rivington and Anglezarke. The engineer for the Rivington reservoirs was Thomas Hawksley and construction took place between 1852 and 1857...
, Lower Rivington
Lower Rivington Reservoir
Lower Rivington Reservoir is at the end of the Rivington chain of reservoirs, with Upper Rivington Reservoir to the north, and Rivington Water Treatment Works to the south....
and Yarrow
Yarrow Reservoir
Yarrow Reservoir - named after the River Yarrow - is a reservoir in the Rivington chain in Anglezarke, Lancashire, England, and has a storage capacity second to Anglezarke Reservoir...
reservoirs which were built to provide Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
with a safe, clean water supply. Nine properties in the valley were demolished before construction work began. The Rivington Pike Scheme, still in use today, was undertaken by Thomas Hawksley
Thomas Hawksley
Thomas Hawksley was an English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with water and gas engineering projects.The son of John Hawksley and Mary Whittle, and born in Arnold, near Nottingham on , Hawksley was largely self-taught from the age of 15 onwards, having at that point...
between 1850 and 1857. The scheme was to construct five reservoirs and a water treatment works at the south end of Lower Rivington with a 17 miles (27.4 km) pipeline to storage reservoirs at Prescot
Prescot
Prescot is a town and civil parish, within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It is 8 miles to the east of Liverpool city centre and lies within the historic boundaries of Lancashire. At the 2001 Census, the population was 11,184 .Prescot marks the beginning of the...
. Water from two higher level reservoirs, Rake Brook and Lower Ruddlesworth, was carried south in The Goit, a man-made channel connecting them to the lower reservoirs. The scheme was expanded in 1856, to include High Bullough Reservoir, built in 1850 by J. F. Bateman to supply water to Chorley. The scheme was further expanded by the construction of the Upper Roddlesworth Reservoir in 1867–75 by Thomas Duncan and Joseph Jackson. Yarrow Reservoir, on which work began in 1867, was designed by Thomas Duncan, the Liverpool Borough Engineer.
In 1900 Liverpool Corporation attempted to acquire the entire area to safeguard its water supply, and proposed to demolish the entire village. Some buildings were protected and others left vulnerable in an Act of Parliament known as the Liverpool Corporation Act 1902. This allowed the corporation to acquire by compulsory purchase properties in the west of the village, including the Black-a-Moors Head public house and the New Hall, which were demolished between 1902 and 1905. The result was the small settlement that has remained largely unchanged since then.
Governance
Rivington was a township in the ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le MoorsBolton le Moors
Bolton le Moors was a civil parish and ecclesiastical parish of the hundred of Salford in the historic county of Lancashire, England...
, in the Salford hundred
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 Lancashire. It became part of the Chorley 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...
, formed in 1837, and 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 that area. In 1866 Rivington became a civil parish. It became part of the Chorley
Chorley
Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry...
Rural Sanitary District
Sanitary district
Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1875 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures:*Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies...
from 1875 to 1894, and part of the Chorley Rural District
Rural district
Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the administrative counties.-England and Wales:In England...
from 1894 to 1974.
Since 1974 Rivington has been a civil parish of the Borough of Chorley
Chorley (borough)
Chorley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Chorley.-Creation:...
, which comprises 47 councillors each elected for 4-year terms to represent wards in the borough. In May 2010 the constitution of the Chorley council was Conservatives
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...
had 27 seats, Labour
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...
15 seats, Liberal Democrats 3 seats and Independents 2 seats. Rivington is part of the Heath Charnock
Heath Charnock
Heath Charnock is a small village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England. It is adjacent to Adlington and Anderton. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001 it has a population of 2,065.-History:...
and Rivington ward and in 2010 elected a Conservative councillor, Pat Case, CBE, who is deputy leader of the council. Chorley is part of the Lancashire County Council
Lancashire County Council
Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It currently consists of 84 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, who won control of the council in the local council elections in June 2009, ending 28 years of...
created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888
Local Government Act 1888
The Local Government Act 1888 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales...
and reconstituted under the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
. Rivington is part of the Chorley Rural East ward.
Rivington is part of the Chorley
Chorley (UK Parliament constituency)
Chorley is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
parliamentary constituency, which elected Lindsay Hoyle
Lindsay Hoyle
The Honourable Lindsay Harvey Hoyle is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Chorley since 1997. He is the son of Lord Hoyle, a former Labour MP for Warrington North....
as Member of Parliament for the Labour party at the 2010 General Election.
Geography
Rivington is situated on the moorlandMoorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
fringe between the high unenclosed moorland of the West Pennine Moors and the fields below. The landscape is characterised by marginal pastures with isolated farmsteads, reservoirs, and disused mines and quarries scattered across the hillsides. There is an extensive network of footpaths providing public access. The reservoir valleys are dominated by expanses of water and the Victorian gothic architecture of the dams and embankments surrounded by woodland.
To the east of Rivington is Rivington Pike and to the west the flatter land of the Lancashire Plain. Rivington is north of Horwich and Bolton and to the south of Anglezarke Moor and Yarrow Reservoir. To the west of the village is the wide shallow valley containing the Anglezarke, Upper and Lower Rivington reservoirs. The village is accessed from the west by a road on top of the 876 feet (267 m) long Horrobin Embankment, a dam that separates the Upper and Lower Rivington reservoirs. The River Douglas has its source on Winter Hill, and flows in a southwest direction forming part of the southern boundary. The River Yarrow
River Yarrow (Lancashire)
The River Yarrow is in Lancashire, with its source at an area called Will Narr at Hordern Stoops, along Spitlers Edge - the Chorley/Blackburn boundary - on the West Pennine Moors. The river feeds the Yarrow Reservoir, which in turn feeds the Anglezarke and Upper and Lower Rivington Reservoirs...
has its source on Anglezarke Moor and forms the northern boundary. The area of the township is 2768 acres (11.2 km²), the reservoirs and filter beds occupy 275 acres (1.1 km²).
The underlying geology is Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit
Millstone Grit is the name given to any of a number of coarse-grained sandstones of Carboniferous age which occur in the Northern England. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills...
overlaid with 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...
. Gritstone was quarried for building stone in the area. Around Rivington are chalybeate
Chalybeate
Chalybeate waters, also known as ferruginous waters, are mineral spring waters containing salts of iron.-Name:The word "chalybeate" is derived from the Latin word for steel, "chalybs", which follows from the Greek word "khalups"...
springs and in Dean Wood is a waterfall with a descent of 32 feet (9.8 m).
Demography
In 2001, 144 people lived in Rivington, 63 males and 81 females. There were 48 households of which 34 lived in detached houses and 14 in terraced or semi-detached properties. Most households, 60%, were owner-occupied; the remainder were privately rented. The mean age of the population was 53.4 years. In 2001 most of those employed, 47, worked in the service industries. Ten worked in extractive and manufacturing industries, and three males were unemployed. The average distance travelled to work by employed persons was 20.5 km.Economy
In the 19th century farming became less economic when construction of the reservoirs reduced the amount of agricultural land in the village. The weaving industry was mechanised, small mines closed and the population declined further when properties in the village were demolished in the early 20th century. Agriculture, mainly sheep farming, continues although on a small scale. Tourism at Rivington began in Victorian times and after the reservoirs were filled in the 1860s was known as the Little Lake District. Rivington became a popular destination when Lever Park opened in 1904. From the late Victorian period until the mid-20th century tourists from Bolton travelled on day trips by tram along Chorley New Road and then on to Rivington on foot, many more visitors arrived by train. Today thousands of visitors are attracted to the village, Rivington Pike and Lever Park every year, making tourism the most significant source of income in the area.Transport
Rivington is to the east to the M61 motorwayM61 motorway
The M61 motorway is a motorway in North West England. It runs from the M60 motorway northwest of Manchester and heads northwest past Bolton and Chorley to join the M6 just north of the junction between the M6 and M65 motorways to the south of Preston....
, which connects the M6
M6 motorway
The M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby via Birmingham then heads north, passing Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and terminating at the Gretna junction . Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74 which continues to...
and Preston to the north with the M60
M60 motorway
The M60 motorway, or Manchester Orbital, is an orbital motorway circling Greater Manchester, a metropolitan county in North West England. It passes through all Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs except for Wigan and Bolton...
and the 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...
conurbation to the south. The nearest access is at Junction 6. The village is accessed by minor roads from Horwich to the south and Adlington to the west. A winding road to the north passes through Anglezarke and a road over the moors to the east leads to Belmont. The nearest places with regular bus services are Horwich to the south and Adlington to the west, which are served by buses between Bolton and Chorley or Preston.
The arrival of the Manchester and Bolton Railway
Manchester and Bolton Railway
The Manchester and Bolton Railway was a railway in the historic county of Lancashire, England, connecting Salford to Bolton. It was built by the proprietors of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Navigation and Railway Company who had in 1831 converted from a canal company...
's extension to Preston
Preston railway station
Preston railway station serves the city of Preston in Lancashire, England and is a major station on the West Coast Main Line.It is served by Northern Rail, Virgin Trains, and TransPennine Express services, plus First ScotRail overnight sleeper services between London and Scotland.-Station layout...
and opening of Blackrod railway station
Blackrod railway station
Blackrod railway station serves the village of Blackrod, 6.5 miles north west of Bolton railway station, 1.5 miles from the town centre of Horwich - closer indeed than station....
in 1841 brought visitors to the area. The line remains open with stations at Blackrod and Horwich Parkway
Horwich Parkway railway station
Horwich Parkway is a railway station serving the town of Horwich and Middlebrook near Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically located within Lancashire, the station is 16¼ miles north west of Manchester Piccadilly on the Manchester to Preston commuter line...
giving access to Bolton, Manchester, Chorley and Preston.
Education
The charter of foundation for Rivington Grammar SchoolGrammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
was granted to James Pilkington by Queen Elizabeth I in 1566. The school opened in 1575 and was rebuilt in 1714. Blackrod Grammar School was founded in 1568 and the schools merged in 1875. In 1882 Rivington & Blackrod Grammar School opened on its present site at the south of the township, close to the boundary with Horwich. The school is now Rivington and Blackrod High School
Rivington and Blackrod High School
Rivington and Blackrod High School is a Church of England, voluntary aided comprehensive and sixth form school in the North West region of England...
, a Specialist
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...
Technology College
Technology College
Technology College is a term used in the United Kingdom for a secondary specialist school that focuses on design and technology, mathematics and science. These were the first type of specialist schools, beginning in 1994. In 2008 there were 598 Technology Colleges in England, of which 12 also...
, focusing on design and technology, mathematics and science. Year Seven
Year Seven
Year Seven is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the seventh year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between eleven and thirteen.-Australia:...
students occupy the former Horwich County Secondary School. The old grammar school building is now occupied by Rivington Foundation Primary School.
Religion
Rivington was a chapelryChapelry
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 ancient ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors
Bolton le Moors
Bolton le Moors was a civil parish and ecclesiastical parish of the hundred of Salford in the historic county of Lancashire, England...
until it became a parish in its own right in 1856. Rivington Church
Rivington Church
Rivington Church is an active Church of England parish church in Rivington, Lancashire, England. The Church has been designated as a Grade II Listed building. The Church has no patron saint and is not named after a saint or martyr. It has been variously called St. Lawrence, St. George, Holy...
is built on a hill known as Chapel Croft. An earlier chapel on this site was named in a deed by Margaret Pilkington and her son Robert in 1476. The parochial chapelry covered Rivington and the surrounding areas of Anglezarke, Hemshaws and Foulds. In 1628 a chapel was built "upon a little toft and quillet of land" by the local population and where divine service was celebrated "for many years of antiquity". The early 16th-century chapel was rebuilt in 1666 and altered and restored during the late 19th century. It is a small plain building built in 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,...
with a bell turret. It is an Anglican
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
church and is unusual in that it is not dedicated to any saint or martyr, referred to simply as Rivington Church.
Rivington Unitarian Chapel
Rivington Unitarian Chapel
Rivington Unitarian Chapel is a place of Unitarian worship in Rivington, Lancashire, England. It was founded in 1703 and its motto is "Here let no man a stranger be". The chapel is a Grade II* listed building, and its restoration in 1990 was aided by English Heritage...
was built with a bellcote of local stone in 1703. Originally founded as a Presbyterian
English Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism in England is distinct from Continental and Scottish forms of Presbyterianism. Whereas in Scotland, church government is based on a meeting of delegates, in England the individual congregation is the primary body of government...
church and became Unitarian
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
in the late 18th century. The chapel, which retains its box pews, was restored in 1990. Both churches are listed buildings and active places of worship.
Rivington conservation area
There are a number of listed buildings in Rivington, most of which have Grade II, but two have the higher Grade II* status. They are spread throughout the village and Lever Park, and include the tower on top of Rivington Pike.There are eight listed properties in the Rivington conservation area, almost half of the houses in the village. Listed buildings include the former vicarage, the Manse House and a row of cottages, one of which was the post office, two rows of cottages at Mill Hill and Pilkingtons Farmhouse all of which are private residences. Rivington Church and the Unitarian Chapel are active places of worship; the former grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
is now a primary school.
Outside the village centre, the Georgian Rivington Hall, the adjacent Hall Barn
Rivington Hall Barn
Rivington Hall Barn adjoins Rivington Hall in Rivington near Chorley, England. The barn may date from between the 9th and 13th centuries, but more likely the 16th century, and was restored, altered and enlarged in 1905 by Jonathan Simpson for Lord Leverhulme...
and Great House Barn
Great House Barn
Great House Barn is a 16th century barn and Listed building in Rivington, Lancashire, England. Built as a tithe barn it is believed to be one of the oldest of its type in the county and is now a Grade II listed building.-History:...
, which is possibly a tithe barn
Tithe barn
A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing the tithes - a tenth of the farm's produce which had to be given to the church....
, are all listed buildings. Great House Farm now houses an information centre.
Lever Park
Lever Park is a designed landscape between the open moorland and the chain reservoirs which incorporates the village and buildings of Rivington into the overall design and is "one of the largest and most impressive examples of landscape design in Edwardian England".It is of national importance and historical significance but has been neglected and has deteriorated.
Situated on the east bank of the Lower Rivington reservoir, the park is named after William Lever, Lord Leverhulme, who bought the estate in 1899 and donated 360 acres (1.5 km²) of land to the people of his native Bolton as a public park. Under the terms of a compulsory purchase order, William Lever was allowed to continue with plans to lay out Lever Park at his own expense, and he maintained it during his lifetime. The park opened in 1904 and contained a boating lake, a zoo, tree-lined avenues and a network of footpaths. A folly
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...
, Rivington Castle, was built as a scale replica of Liverpool Castle
Liverpool Castle
Liverpool Castle was a castle which was situated in Liverpool, England . It stood from the early 13th century to the early 18th century.-Construction:...
at Coblowe Hillock near the Lower Rivington Reservoir. Lodges were built at the entrances to the estate, including Stone House Lodge at the main driveway.
Roynton Cottage, originally a single-storey wooden bungalow, and its extensive gardens were the private property of William Lever, which he used for weekend visits and entertaining, high on the hillside below Rivington Pike. The bungalow was destroyed in an arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
attack by suffragette
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
, Edith Rigby
Edith Rigby
Edith Rigby was an English suffragette. She was a contemporary of Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst.-Biography:Born Edith Rayner on St Luke's Day in 1872 in Preston, Lancashire, she was one of seven children of Dr Alexander Clement Rayner and was educated at Penrhos College in North Wales. She...
, on 8 July 1913. Its replacement was built of stone. Thomas Mawson
Thomas Hayton Mawson
Thomas Hayton Mawson , better known as T. H. Mawson, was a British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner....
designed the 45 acres (182,108.7 m²) gardens between 1905 and 1922. The private gardens contained terraces and a pool, a Japanese lake and pagoda
Pagoda
A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly Buddhist,...
, Italian-style gardens, a seven-arched bridge and the Pigeon Tower with Lady Leverhulme's sewing room on the top floor.
After Lever's death Roynton Cottage was acquired by the Bolton brewer, John Magee. During the Second World War the bungalow was requisitioned to be used as a billet for troops, and nissen hut
Nissen hut
A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated steel, a variant of which was used extensively during World War II.-Description:...
s were erected in the grounds. After the war the site was acquired by Liverpool Corporation, who decided to demolish the building.
In 1974 the park and gardens passed to the North West Water
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...
Authority from Liverpool Corporation, and to United Utilities on privatisation, and are maintained as a public country park for the people of Bolton, protected by rights afforded by the Liverpool Corporation Act 1902 ensuring “Free and uninterrupted enjoyment by the public”. The listed historic landscape of Lever Park now forms part of Rivington County Park and is used for recreation.
Sport
The Rivington Pike Fell Race has been held on Easter SaturdayHoly Saturday
Holy Saturday , sometimes known as Easter Eve or Black Saturday, is the day after Good Friday. It is the day before Easter and the last day of Holy Week in which Christians prepare for Easter...
since 1892. The fell race
Fell running
Fell running, also known as mountain running and hill running, is the sport of running and racing, off road, over upland country where the gradient climbed is a significant component of the difficulty...
originally started from the Horwich railway works
Horwich Works
Horwich Works was a railway works built in 1886 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in Horwich, near Bolton, in the North West of England when the company moved from its original works at Miles Platting, Manchester.-Buildings:...
, but since 1930 from the park entrance at Lever Park Avenue. It now attracts around 400 runners. The course is 3.25 miles (5.2 km) and there is a 700 feet (213 m) ascent.
The area around Rivington and Anglezarke was the location for the 2002 Commonwealth Games
2002 Commonwealth Games
The 2002 Commonwealth Games were held in Manchester, England from 25 July to 4 August 2002. The XVII Commonwealth Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK, eclipsing London's 1948 Summer Olympics in numbers of teams and athletes participating.After the 1996 Manchester...
mountain biking
Mountain biking
Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...
competition. The area is well used by hikers and hillwalkers. The Holcombe Hunt meets each year at Rivington Hall Barn.
External links
- Rivington photographs
- Chorley Council, Rivington
- http://lanternimages.lancashire.gov.uk/index.php?a=wordsearch&s=gallery&w=rivington&search=searchRivington Lantern Images LCCLancashire County CouncilLancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It currently consists of 84 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, who won control of the council in the local council elections in June 2009, ending 28 years of...
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