Hindley, Lancashire
| Hindley | |
| Lancashire | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hindley Council Offices | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SD6204 |
| Location: | 53°32’8"N, 2°33’57"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 23,457 (2001) |
| Post town: | Wigan |
| Postcode: | WN2 |
| Dialling code: | 01942 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Wigan |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Makerfield |
Hindley is a town in souther Lancashire, standing three miles east of Wigan.
Name of the twon
The name Hindley is derived from the Old English words hind leah; "Hind clearing (or meadow)"[1] presumably from the deergrazing hereabouts. The environs of the town are somewhat less kind to wild deer today as the conurnbation has grown toward it.
The town is first recorded as Hindele in 1212 and then variously as Hindeleye [1259], Hyndeley [1285 and 1332], Hindelegh [1301], Hyndelegh [1303 and 1375]. The first recorded use of its current spelling, Hindley, was in 1479. [2]
History
Early history
Hindley was one of fifteen berewicks of the royal manor of Newton before the Norman Conquest in 1066. After the Conquest it formed part of the Barony of Makerfield.[3] The area was held by free tenants until 1330 when Robert Langton, Baron Makerfield, gave the lordship of the manor to his younger son. His descendants were lords of the manor until 1765 when it was sold to the Duke of Bridgewater.
Hindley was not large enough to ramnk as a parish on its own until mdern times, but was a chapelry, in the parish of Wigan, in the West Derby Hundred.
From the Middle Ages until the 18th century the land was a mixture of pastoral, farming and woodland and the farmers were tenants of a variety of lords.
Parish registers from the end of the 17th century reveal that residents were yeomen, independent farmers who supplemented their income by spinning and weaving. There are also references to Blacksmiths, whitesmiths, nailers and wheelwrights .Hindley was noted for its nail making between the 17th and 19th centuries.
Industrial revolution
The first recorded coal mine was opened in 1528[3] and by the end of the 19th century there were over 20 collieries in the area. Ladies Lane Colliery belonging to the Wigan Coal and Iron Company employed 282 underground and 40 surface workers in 1896.[4] At the start of the 20th century profitable coal seams were nearly exhausted and concerns were raised regarding the need to diversify industry and further develop the cotton mills. Peak production of coal was achieved just before First World War. The period between the First and Second World Wars was marked by the closure of most collieries and mills including Hindley Field and Swan Lane collieries in 1927, Hindley Green Colliery in 1928; Lowe Hall Colliery in 1931; Lowe Mill closing in 1934 and Worthington Mill was demolished. During the post war period the Hindley workings became part of the large colliery complexes developed at Bickershaw, Parsonage and Golborne.
Cotton manufacturing became important from the end of the 17th century until the middle of the 20th century. Hand-loom weaving was one of the chief industries, each cottage having a weaving shop attached and as the Industrial Revolution developed, larger mills were built. The first cotton factory was built in 1785 by Richard Battersby at Lowe Mill, a former water corn-mill. In 1822, John Pennington constructed his first power-driven mill. He was a significant employer of hand-loom weavers in the late 18th and early 19th century.
In 1790 Market Street, then known as Mill Lane, remained unmetalled and undeveloped but by 1835 John Leyland provided an insight into the growth of the town when he wrote, "Mr Pennington is extending his works, and a new mill is being built by Mr Walker. When these get completed a large increase in inhabitants must follow. In a small time it will doubtless rank as a small town."
The population of Hindley increased during the 19th century from 2,300 in 1811 to 23,000 in 1911 reflecting the transformation of the town from a country village to small, densely populated industrial town. The economic depression of the 1920s and 1930s hit Hindley hard and by the time of the Second World War the population had declined to 19,000.
The coal mining and cotton spinning have all disappeared and most residents of Hindley now work in Wigan, Bolton or commute to Manchester or Liverpool.
Churches
The first chapel was built by public subscription in 1641 on land given by George Green. It was built as a chapel of ease to Wigan Parish Church with the blessing of the Rector of Wigan, Bishop Bridgeman. The church was originally Puritan, and its first minister, Thomas Tonge, preached the Presbyterian discipline. He was succeeded by William Williamson, and James Bradshaw who was ejected for noncormformity in at the restoration of the Book of Common Prayer in 1662. The chapel was unused for six years. It was consecrated in 1698 on All Saints' Day. All Saints' Church was rebuilt in 1766 and modifications made in 1863. It remains much the same as then, with an upper gallery and wide nave. There are windows dedicated to Hindley's families and an east window depicting early English saints.
St Peter's Church was built in 1866 and contained an organ by Edmund Schulze since replaced by an electronic organ. The clock tower contains a set of bells. The war memorial, outside, was unveiled on 4 November 1922 and was built in a simple style.
Hindley has a tradition of Methodism and non-conformity. The Wesleyan Methodists acquired land in 1846, and built a chapel in 1851. The United Methodist Free Church had two chapels at Hindley Green, Brunswick Chapel, built in 1855, and another in 1866. The Primitive Methodists had a chapel at Castle Hill, built in 1856. The Independent Methodists had a church at Lowe Green, built in 1867. The Particular Baptists built Ebenezer Chapel in Mill Lane in 1854, converted to a restaurant in recent years. The Congregational church|Congregationalists made an attempt to build a church in 1794, but no church was formed until 1812; St. Paul's Chapel was built in 1815, meetings for worship having been held some years earlier in cottages. Presbyterians built a chapel in 1698, though it has since been taken over by a Unitarian congregation.
St John's Methodist Church at the top of Market Street was built in 1868.[3]
Sights of the town
Leyland Library and Museum was built in 1886 by Thomas Worthington. It is designed in a Free-Elizabethan style and given to the people of Hindley by Nathaniel Eckersley, on the instruction of John Leyland upon his death.
The Bird I'th Hand public house at the main crossroads in the town and the Lord Nelson Hotel on Bridge Street both have eighteenth century origins. The Lord Nelson is a Grade II listed building. The 'Last Orders' public house with its painted red brick, moulded brick eaves cornice and Doric doorcases dates from the nineteenth century.
No.5 Deansgate is a rare surviving example of a modest vernacular cottage dating from the eighteenth century or earlier and illustrates a type once common in Hindley.[5]
Borsdane Wood is a place of outstanding natural beauty and in 1986 was declared a Local Nature Reserve.
Sports and leisure
Hindley has thriving youth based groups including two scout troops, boys brigade, guides and brownies and Army Training Corps. Local schools also provide out of school clubs and activities. There is a range of amateur sports clubs.
- Cricket: Hindley St Peter's Cricket Club
- Rugby: Hindley Amateur Rugby League Club
- Football (junior): Hindley Junior and Hindley Town
Outside links
References
- ↑ Mills, A.D. (2003), A Dictionary of British Place-Names, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-852758-6, http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t40.e6903
- ↑ "The Place Names of Lancashire" by Eilert Ekwall
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 William Farrer and J Brownbill (editors) (1911), "Hindley", A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4, Victoria County History (British History Online): pp. 106–111, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41388, retrieved 4 September 2010
- ↑ Wigan Coal & Iron Co. Ltd., Durham Mining Museum, http://www.dmm.org.uk/company/w1002.htm, retrieved 7 February 2011
- ↑ The Hindley Town Centre Conservation Area (part two) at wigan.gov.uk