Turton Urban District

infobox historic subdivision
Name= Turton
HQ= Turton Tower
Status= Urban district, Civil Parish
Start= 1894
End= 1974
Replace= Blackburn, Bolton


PopulationFirst= 12,355
PopulationFirstYear= 1901
PopulationLast= 21,553
PopulationLastYear= 1971
AreaFirst= convert|17335|acre|km2
AreaFirstYear= 1911
AreaLast= convert|17334|acre|km2
AreaLastYear= 1961

Turton was a township and later civil parish and local government district in Lancashire, England. Its former area is now divided, with North Turton being part of the Borough of Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire, and South Turton being part of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester.

Etymology

Turton means "Thor/Þor's village", from the Old Norse personal name "Thor/Þor" and Old English "tun" "farm, village". A record of the name as "Thirtun" in 1185 proves this.Billington, W.D. (1982). "From Affetside to Yarrow : Bolton place names and their history", Ross Anderson Publications (ISBN 0-86360-003-4).]

The Scandinavian etymology would seem to fit, considering that there are other place-names in the area of this origin.

History

Early History

Between Chapeltown and Egerton are the remains of prehistoric stone circles on moorland at Chetham Close which date back to the Bronze Age.

These stone circles show the earliest evidence for any settlers in the Turton area. One of the circles was 15 metres (51 ft) in diameter and some of the stones were several feet in height.

In the 19th Century interest was awakened to their existence, so much so that many came to visit the site. Eventually in 1871 the local farmer, a tenant of Turton Tower, took his team of carthorses and sledge hammers and broke it up. Thankfully a prominent antiquarian, Gilbert French, had made sketches, maps and plans and written a detailed description which is now in Bolton Reference Library.

To the south are the remains of the other circle, which was slightly bigger in circumference, is thought to have once been a livestock enclosure.Billington, W.D. (1982). "From Affetside to Yarrow : Bolton place names and their history", Ross Anderson Publications (ISBN 0-86360-003-4).]

Turton Tower

Turton Tower in Chapeltown was once the home of the Lords of the Manor of Turton and dates back to the 1100s. The earliest reference to the Manor of Turton is found around 1200 by which time part of the manor was in the hands of the de Lathom family (sometimes called "de Torbac"). Turton Tower was inherited in 1420 by the Orrell family.

The pele tower was rebuilt in 1420 and around 1596 the height was increased and the floors raised, creating the three spacious rooms. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the timbered farmhouse buildings on the east and north of the Tower and the Entrance Hall were added.

In 1628 the Orrell family sold Turton Tower to Humphrey Chetham, a Manchester merchant who is responsible for the creation of Chetham's Library and Chetham's School of Music. The Tower was then passed down to his descendants, the Bland, Green and Frere families who leased it to a succession of tenant farmers.

The Tower was sold in 1835 to James Kay, a local man who had made good through the harnessing of steam power to the spinning of flax, and developing the first commercially successful wet-spinning process for flax, in 1825. Kay was determined to restore the Tower to its glory. Few rooms in the main part of the Tower escaped Kay's attentions, and often his valuable work was marred by his inability to resist the temptation to 'restore' what has never been there in the first place. James Kay enjoyed living there until he sold it to two local ladies Elizabeth and Anne Appleton. The Misses leased the Tower to William Rigg, a calico manufacturer whose daughter Ellen wrote down her memories of Turton now published under the title "Victorian Children at Turton Tower".

In October 1903 the tower was bought by Sir Lees Knowles, Baronet, for £3,875, who was MP for Salford West and made his fortune in the Lancashire Coalfields. After his death in 1929, his widow, Lady Nina Knowles, presented Turton Tower to the Urban District Council in 1930, and it became the Council Chamber.

With local government re-organisation in 1974 Turton became part of the new Borough of Blackburn, and the Tower in now administered by Lancashire County Museums Service.Peter Laws, G.E. "A Guide to Turton Tower", Beric Tempest & Co. Ltd., St. Ives, Cornwall.]

Chapels of Ease

Turton had the distinction by having two Anglican Chapels of Ease in the township, both were in the ancient Parish of Bolton le Moors, in the hundred of Salford, Lancashire, England.

The first Chapel of Ease at Chapeltown was built in the year 1111 and was originally dedicated to St Bartholomew, but was changed in the early 1700s to St Anne. This building, which had always been known as the Chapel of Turton, was rebuilt a number times, firstly in 1630 and again in 1779. The present Parish Church of Turton was built between 1840 and 1841, [http://northturton.com/Chapeltown/St.Annes_01.html St. Anne's Church, Chapeltown] ] the architect was probably John Palmer. [Nikolaus Pevsner "North Lancashire" (1969) ISBN 0-300-09617-8 attribution tentative.]

The second Chapel of Ease was at Walmsley, which was the old village name for Egerton. It's not known the date that Walmsley Chapel was built, but the Diocesan Church Calendar stated that it existed in the year 1500 and the first documentary evidence appears to be in the "Inventories of Church Goods 1552". The chapel was rebuilt in 1771, but was demolished in 1839. The present Christ Church, Walmsley, Egerton, was consecrated in 1840.Billington, W.D. (1982). "From Affetside to Yarrow : Bolton place names and their history", Ross Anderson Publications (ISBN 0-86360-003-4).]

Civic History

Until the 19th century Turton was a township in the ancient Parish of Bolton le Moors, in the hundred of Salford, Lancashire.

In 1837 Turton joined with other townships (or civil parishes) in the area to form the Bolton Poor Law Union and took joint responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law in that area.

In 1873 a Local Board of Health was established for the Turton township area.

In 1894 Turton became an Urban District of the administrative county of Lancashire. Then in 1898 the civil parishes of Belmont, Bradshaw, Harwood, Longworth, Entwistle, Edgworth and Quarlton were added to the Urban District.

Under the Local Government Act 1972, Turton Urban District was abolished on the 1 April 1974 and was divided in two. The larger rural area, North Turton, became a civil parish of the Borough of Blackburn in Lancashire. The smaller urban area, South Turton, became an unparished area of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester. [http://www.gmcro.co.uk/guides/gazette/gazzt2w.htm#turton Greater Manchester Record Office - Turton] .]

Demography

port

Turton Football Club is one of the oldest clubs, if not the oldest, in Britain. The club was founded in December 1871 by men from Chapeltown in Turton. The club now plays at the Thomasson Fold Ground in Edgworth. Its old ground at Chapeltown, which is still used by the Old Boltonians team, is believed to be the oldest football pitch in the world in use today. [http://www.turtonfc.net/news.htm Turton Football Club] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/place_page.jsp?p_id=643&st=turton A vision of Turton, Lancashire]
* [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10109188 A vision of Turton Urban District]
* [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Turton/ GENUKI - Turton]
* [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Turton/ParishMap.shtml Turton Township Boundaries Map (392)]
* [http://www.bolton.org.uk/turtontower.html Turton Tower (bolton.org.uk)]
* [http://www.cottontown.org/page.cfm?pageID=1442 Turton Tower (cottontown.org)]
* [http://northturton.com/ Welcome to North Turton]
* [http://www.bolton.org.uk/southturton.html Virtual Drive around South Turton]