Kearsley Urban District

Nearby Places Quiz

Kearsley was, from 1865 to 1974, a local government district centred on the town of Kearsley in the administrative county of Lancashire, England.

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Stoneclough

Stoneclough is a suburban area of Kearsley in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is located 3.7 miles (6 km) south-east of Bolton, 4 miles (6 km) south-west of Bury and 7.9 miles (13 km) north-west of Manchester. It is located on the banks of the River Irwell to the southeast of Bolton. Historically part of Lancashire, there are a number of listed buildings and recognised ancient monuments in the villages including Ringley Old Bridge, the village stocks, Kearsley Mill, St Saviour's Church and clock tower and the large stone railway bridge on the Manchester to Bolton railway line. The disused Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal also passes through this area. Stoneclough is mostly residential, housing has replaced most of the old industry. These industrial sites included the Kearsley Paper Works owned by Robert Fletcher and Sons and Kearsley Power Station located on Hulme Road. These have been demolished.

Prestolee

Prestolee is a small village in Kearsley, within the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell and is one of a cluster of villages between Bolton and Kearsley, which includes Stoneclough and Ringley. It is dubbed the "Island Village" as it is surrounded on all sides by water. Historically part of Lancashire, during the Middle Ages, Prestolee was a chapelry within the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham. In Wilson's 1870–1872 Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales it is described as having a population of about 1,600. Prestolee is surrounded almost completely by water and is effectively an island, with the River Irwell to the north, west and south and the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal to the northeast. There is one road (Bridge Street) that provides vehicle access over the River Irwell. Prestolee Road also allows access to the village via a small canal bridge but the road is not metalled and not practical for most vehicles. Pedestrian access from the north is facilitated by using Prestolee Aqueduct, a grade II listed structure which carries the canal over the river, or the nearby Pack Horse Bridge. Prestolee Locks were on the Bury branch of the canal, which has been disused since a breach in 1936. The area around Prestolee forms part of various countryside walks with particular focus upon the industrial heritage of this region. Not long ago the area was severely damaged by pollution but with the coming of the Clean Air Act and the demise of the cotton mills the river has once again regained its fish and other wildlife and wildflowers abound. It has a grade II listed parish church (Holy Trinity). This was used by TV show Coronation Street as a venue for many weddings and known to fans as All Saints' Church, Weatherfield. It also has a primary school. Another other major landmark is the grade II listed Kearsley Mill, a cotton spinning mill in its previous guise, now home to several industrial uses. It is described by English Heritage as "A near-complete example of an early C20 spinning mill designed specifically to be powered by electricity generated on site, by steam turbine generators." At one time there were also two other mills on the banks of the Irwell to the right of the road bridge from Stoneclough, though these mills were demolished in the 1970s to make way for housing. Prestolee has various shops in or just outside the village, including a greengrocer's, a chip shop (now a takeaway) and a sweet shop later becoming a butcher's before ending as a village community centre. There is a pub, the Grapes Hotel, to the Stoneclough end of the bridge and several others in the near vicinity. Prestolee has a small primary school. The book The Idiot Teacher by Gerard Holmes tells the history of the school, run for very many years by Edward "Teddy" O'Neill (1890-1975), who believed children should be self-directed in their education. Prestolee Wood is a small woodland (3 ha (7.4 acres)) owned by the Woodland Trust, beside the A667 road to the east of the village, north of the river and the canal.

Ringley Old Bridge

Ringley Old Bridge is an ancient stone bridge in Kearsley, a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It crosses the River Irwell, linking Ringley with Stoneclough. The bridge has two large semi-circular arches and a third, smaller arch for the tow path. It is a Grade II* listed building, designated on 19 August 1986, and is also a scheduled monument. The bridge was built in 1677 at a cost of £500. It replaced a wooden bridge that had been swept away by a flood in 1673.

St Saviour's Church, Ringley

St Saviour's Church is in Ringley, Kearsley, near Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Bolton, the archdeaconry of Bolton and the diocese of Manchester. Its benefice is united with those of St Peter's, Farnworth, St John the Evangelist, Farnworth and Holy Trinity, Prestolee. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.