Little Lever

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Little Lever
Lancashire

St Matthew's Church, Little Lever
Location
Grid reference: SD755074
Location: 53°33’47"N, 2°22’8"W
Data
Post town: Bolton
Postcode: BL3
Dialling code: 01204
Local Government
Council: Bolton
Parliamentary
constituency: 		Bolton South East

Little Lever is a large village in Lancashire, two and a half miles southeast of Bolton, two miles west of Radcliffe and four miles west of Bury.

The village has its origins in a minor hamlet here, bounded on three sides, by water courses: the River Irwell, the River Croal and Blackbrook.

Industrialisation and coal mining transformed the hamlet. During the 19th century the population was employed in cotton mills, paper mills, bleach works, terracotta works, a rope works and in numerous collieries.

Name

The name 'Lever' is from the Old English læfre, which indicates a place where the rushes grow. The township was recorded as Parua Lefre in 1212, from the Latin, parva meaning 'little'.[1] The name was recorded in several ways, Lethre in 1221, Leuere in 1278, Leuir in 1282, Leuer in 1291 and Leyver in 1550.[2]

History

Manor

The manor 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 King 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).[2]

In 1212, the village was assessed as four oxgangs 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[3] to perform suit every two weeks at his court of Manchester regarding the village of Little Lever.[2] 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.[2] This homage each year amounted to 4d and a fee of 6s 8d and 1s for provision of puture for the sergeant 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.[4] There are no records about the ownership until 1448, when Henry Lever the elder owed rent of 25s (£1.25p) on the village.

In 1623 the Plague killed a third of the village population.[5]

By 1666, the village had sixty hearths 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.[2] 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.

Industry

There is a record of a coal pit in 1320.[5]

Records show there were fulling-mills in Little Lever before 1559. The holding of Adam Byrom of Salford who died in 1559 was described as "an estate of eight messuages, a moiety of two fulling-mills etc., in Little Lever", his three-year-old grandson Ralph, was his heir.[6] 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).[7]

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:[8][9] 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).[10] 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 Lancashire was pioneered by Colonel John Fletcher at his Ladyshore Terracotta Works.[11] The Ladyshore Coal and Terracotta Company supplied the terracotta used in the building in St Stephen and All Martyrs' Church, Lever Bridge.[12]

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.[13]

The three arms of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal meet at Nob End which is approximately half a mile 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.[14]

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).[15] Wilson Edward & Company operated the Prestolee Alkali Works between 1875 and 1884.[16] 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 Potter's a world leader and by about 1900 the firm had become a limited company. In 1951 Potter's 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 War and the First World War.

Churches

St Saviour's Church in Ringley was founded as a chapel of the Parish Of Prestwich 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 12 July 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'.[17]

The first church built in Little Lever was St Matthew's in 1791. The Congregational Church in Market Street was founded in 1857,.[18] In 1972, became part of the United Reformed Church.[19]

Churches today include:

  • Church of England: St Matthew's
  • Independent / evangelical: King's Church
  • Methodist / United Reformed Church: Christ Church
  • Roman Catholic: St Teresa

There are graveyards at the parish church of St Matthew, the King's Centre and Christ Church. The closed Congregational Church had a graveyard.

Big Society

The village has a number of youth organisations, a youth club, an old age pensioners' club, and a Women's Institute branch.

There are several public houses and political, sports and social clubs.

Sport and leisure

  • Cricket: Little Lever Cricket Club

There is a purpose built leisure centre with sports hall, gymnasium, squash courts, all-weather pitch and extensive playing fields. There are also facilities around the village for football, rounders,[20] bowls and cricket.

Little Lever is located on the edge of Moses Gate Country Park, a 750-acre park which spans the valleys of the River Croal and River Irwell.

Outside links

 ("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Little Lever)

References

  1. ↑ Mills 1998, p. 220
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 [1] A History of the County of Lancaster - Volume : {{{2}}} (Victoria County History)
  3. ↑ "Old historic families of Manchester". http://www.manchester2002-uk.com/history/old-families3a.html#Glazebrook. Retrieved 2008-01-13. 
  4. ↑ Manchester Assize Records (1331). Assize R. 423, m. 1 d. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Little and Darcy Lever". http://www.bolton.org.uk/littlelever.html. Retrieved 2007-12-18. 
  6. ↑ Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m. xi, no. 65.
  7. ↑ Duchy of Lanc. Inq. p.m.xvii, no. 39.
  8. ↑ Report of HM Inspector of Mines 1880
  9. ↑ "Mine Inspectors Reports". http://www.cmhrc.co.uk/. Retrieved 2008-01-14. 
  10. ↑ Bolton Archive and Local Studies Service, Catalogue Ref. ZLA: Ladyshore Colliery, Little Lever
  11. ↑ Swallow, P.G. (1994). "Our Architectural Ceramic Heritage". Journal: Structural Survey 12 (12,2): 20–23. SSN 0263-080X. 
  12. ↑ Bolton Archive and Local Studies Service, Catalogue Ref. ZLA: The Ladyshore Coal and TerraCotta Company.
  13. ↑ "Creams Paper Mill". http://www.mbbcanal.demon.co.uk/towing/bury/Danisco/danisco.html. Retrieved 2008-01-14. 
  14. ↑ Waterson, Alec (May 1985). On the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal. Neil Richardson. p. 82. ISBN 0-907511-79-1. 
  15. ↑ Bolton Archive and Local Studies Service, Catalogue Ref. ZLB: Lever Bank Bleachworks, Little Lever
  16. ↑ Bolton Archive and Local Studies Service, Catalogue Ref. ZLA: Prestolee Alkali Works, Little Lever
  17. ↑ "History of the Seddon Family". http://www.seddonfoldfarm.co.uk/History%201.html. Retrieved 2007-01-16. 
  18. ↑ Nicholson, Cecil R. Little Lever Congregational Church Fiftieth Anniversary 1957–1907. 
  19. ↑ "Little Lever Churches". http://lan-opc.org/Bolton-le-Moors/Little-Lever/index.html. Retrieved 2007-12-20. 
  20. ↑ "Bolton Sports Federation Ladies' Rounders League". http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robert.moffat40/sportsfed/rounders.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-14. 
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