Lowton

infobox UK place
country = England
map_type= Greater Manchester
latitude= 53.4712
longitude= -2.5698
official_name= Lowton
metropolitan_borough= Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
metropolitan_county = Greater Manchester
region= North West England
constituency_westminster= Leigh
post_town= WARRINGTON
postcode_district = WA3
postcode_area= WA
dial_code= 01942 or 01925
os_grid_reference= SJ622973
population=

Lowton is an area in Greater Manchester, England and is a component part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. It is part of the historic county of Lancashire. It is located in the North West England region, around convert|3|mi|km from Leigh, convert|5|mi|km north of Warrington and convert|9|mi|km south of Wigan. Lowton is part of the Warrington postal area. The settlement lies across the A580 East Lancashire Road.

History

Etymology

Lowton has a doubtful etymology: it is from Old English "tun" "farm, village" with an uncertain first element. A record of the name as "Liewetune" in 1176 suggests Old English "hleowe" "lee", although this is not a certain etymology.

Early history

Lowton was one of the berewicks of the Royal Manor of Newton, later being one of the members of the Barony of Makerfield.cite web |url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=41398&strquery=lowton |title= British History Online |accessdate= 2006-12-09] Byrom Manor, later to feature the ancestral ancestral home of the poet John Byrom and was constructed during the 18th century, is recorded as early as 1212, where the family prospered for centuries. Byrom Hall at one time featured a moat. [cite web |url=http://www.freewebs.com/notwol2/buildings.htm |title= Lowton History - History and Photographs of Lowton and district (1) |accessdate= 2006-12-09]

Trials

The Hare and Hounds public house, built in the 17th Century, was once used as a place to hold trials of local criminals, including murders.Fact|date=February 2007

Railways

In 1830 Parkside, Newton le Willows, near Lowton, was the site of the world's first fatal passenger train crash, when Liverpool MP William Huskisson was killed after being hit by George Stephenson's Rocket locomotive during the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. [citeweb |url=http://www.freewebs.com/notwol2/huskisson.htm |title=Lowton History - Hoskinsson |accessdate= 2006-12-09]

The former Lowton railway station was used as a resting point for the Royal Train. [cite web |url=http://www.freewebs.com/notwol2/transport.htm |title=Lowton History - Transport |accessdate= 2006-12-09]

Recent history

In 1974 as part of the local government reorganisation enacted in the Local Government Act 1972 it became part of Greater Manchester with the boundary at Newton-le-Willows marking the edge of the new county of Merseyside.

Lowton had a toffee factory, [cite web |url=http://www.freewebs.com/notwol2/employment.htm |title=Lowton History - History and Photographs of Lowton and district (2)|accessdate= 2006-12-09] along with other sites of heavy industry. In common with many parts of the United Kingdom, many of these factories have now closed and been replaced with some light industry.

Transport

Situated on the A580 East Lancashire Road, the village has direct access to the cities of Liverpool to the west and Manchester to the east. From this road, the M6 motorway runs north and south, and the M60 connects with the M62 across the Pennines. The nearest railway station is Newton-le-Willows on the Chester to Manchester Line and Liverpool to Manchester Line.

Environment

To the south of Lowton is Highfield Moss, part of which has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The convert|52.6|acre|ha|1 site was designated in 1986 for its biological interest. The interest is predominantly mire communities of which it is the best example in Greater Manchester. [cite web | title=Highfield Moss citation sheet | work=Natural England | accessdate=2007-07-02 | url=http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1002768.pdf]

Community

chools

* [http://www.lowtonhs.wigan.sch.uk/ Lowton Community Sports College]
* [http://www.lowtonprimary.wigan.sch.uk/ Lowton Primary School]
* [http://www.lowtonsaintmarys.wigan.sch.uk/ Lowton St. Marys Primary School (Church of England)]
* [http://www.lowtonwest.wigan.sch.uk/ Lowton West Primary School]
* [http://www.lowtonsaintcatherines.wigan.sch.uk/ St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Primary School]
* [http://www.saintlukes.wigan.sch.uk/ St. Lukes Church of England Primary School]

Religion

Lowton has SIX churches:
*St Mary's (Anglican)
*St Luke's (Anglican)
*St Catherine's (Roman Catholic)
*Lane Head (Methodist)
*Lowton Independent Methodist
*Lowton Christian Fellowship

The churches organise certain activities jointly, including ecumenical services. Their joint charity work included the Lowton Churches Romania Appeal, formed after the collapse of the Communist regime in Romania during 1990. It initially supported an orphanage in Lugoj but its remit has expanded to include several ongoing projects in Romania.

Media

Lowton falls inside the circulation areas of these newspapers:
*Leigh Reporter
*Leigh, Tyldesley and Atherton Journal
*Liverpool Echo
*Manchester Evening News
*Bolton Evening News

Notable residents

*Richard Mather who became an American Congregational clergyman.
*John Byrom was an English poet who at times lived in Byrom Hall.
*Peter Kane born in Heywood, Lancashire, was a flyweight world boxing champion in the 1930s. Although not a resident, he maintained a job as a blacksmith in Lowton even when he was at his fighting peak.
*Warrington Wolves hooker Jon Clarke grew up and schooled in Lowton before making his name with Wigan Warriors, for whom he made his debut in 1997. He left Wigan for London Broncos in 2000 but joined Warrington a year later.
* Jim Pennington ex Manchester City player 4 years and Grimsby County.
* Geoff Pullar Lancashire cricketer, had a chip shop here in the 1970s
* Dave (Danny) Leatherbarrow former St. Helens rugby league player still resides in the village to this day.

Geographic description

Lowton’s location, on the borough border of Warrington (Cheshire), Wigan (Greater Manchester) and St Helens (Merseyside), has caused some confusion in its geographic description.

This is exacerbated by the villages Warrington postcode, but membership of Wigan Borough. It is also traditionally Lancashire, but has in the past, been part of a Merseyside Parliamentary Constituency. It is therefore variously described as: Leigh, Warrington, Cheshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Wigan and even Merseyside.

References

*cite book |last= Worsley |first= Bert|title= Pictoral History of Old Lowton |year= 1993 |publisher= H.Worsley |location= |id= ISBN 0951110225

External links

* [http://www.freewebs.com/notwol2/ A Piece of Lowton History]
* [http://www.leighlife.com Community forum]
* [http://www.freewebs.com/notwol Community info]
* [http://www.lowtonwebsites.co.uk Links to many Lowton interest websites]