Astley Bridge is predominantly a residential district of

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. It is north of Bolton town centre, south of

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

, and northwest of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

History

Astley Bridge is quite a modern place name and only came into general use during the second half of the 19th century. It now refers to the large district in the modern Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, but prior to then it simply meant the bridge over

Astley Brook Astley Brook is a river in Greater Manchester, England. Rising at the confluence of Dean Brook and Raveden Brook near Halliwell in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, it travels eastward to "Meeting of the Waters", where it meets Eagley Brook ...

which ran through the lower end of the

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

of Sharples. Astley Bridge was formerly a

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...

in the parish of

Bolton-le-Moors Bolton le Moors (also known as Bolton le Moors St Peter) was a large civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in hundred of Salford in the historic county of Lancashire, England. It was administered from St Peter's Church, Bolton in the township ...

. A

Local Board of Health A local board of health (or simply a ''local board'') was a local authority in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulat ...

for Astley Bridge was constituted in 1864. The District comprised the higher (or detached) portion of

Little Bolton Little Bolton was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England, and later a separate civil parish. Besides the main part of Little Bolton, it had three detached parts which ...

and the lower portion of Sharples. After the

Public Health Act 1875 The Public Health Act 1875 ( 38 & 39 Vict. c. 55) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, one of the Public Health Acts, and a significant step in the advancement of public health in England. Its purpose was to codify previous me ...

was passed by

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in that year, Astley Bridge Local Board of Health assumed extra duties as an

urban sanitary district Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

, although the Local Board's title did not change. Following the implementation of the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

, Astley Bridge Local Board was replaced by an elected

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

council in January 1895. In 1894 Astley Bridge became a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, being formed from the part of the parish of Sharples in Astley Bridge Urban District, on 30 September 1898 the parish was abolished and merged with Bolton. The urban district was dissolved in 1898 under the ''Bolton, Turton and Westhoughton Extension Act'' and its powers vested in Bolton County Borough Council.

Governance

Since 1974, Astley Bridge has been part of the

Metropolitan Borough of Bolton The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton ( ) is a metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England, named after its largest town, Bolton, but covering a larger area which includes Blackrod, Farnworth, Horwich, Kearsley, Westhoughton, and part of ...

and gives its name to one of Bolton Council's electoral wards, the Astley Bridge ward which includes the Sharples, Bank Top, Eagley Bank, and

Horrocks Fold Horrocks Fold is a hamlet in Bolton, Lancashire, England. It is northwest of Bolton town centre and southeast of Belmont. Horrocks Fold lies on the southern slopes of the West Pennine Moors. Originally a farm and collection of barns and out ...

areas. It is represented in

Bolton Town Hall Bolton Town Hall in Victoria Square, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, was built between 1866 and 1873 for the County Borough of Bolton to designs by William Hill of Leeds and George Woodhouse of Bolton. The town hall was extended in the ...

by three

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s. The ward is also part of the

Bolton North East Bolton North East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Kirith Entwistle, a Labour Party MP. Constituency profile The seat covers parts of Bolton town centre and extends into the West Pennine ...

constituency which has been represented in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

by the Conservative Party MP Mark Logan since

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Education

There are five schools in Astley Bridge: St Paul's C.E. Primary School for pupils aged 2–11, Holy Infant and St Anthony RC Primary School, The Oaks Primary School and High Lawn Primary School, for pupils aged 5–11, and

Thornleigh Salesian College Thornleigh Salesian College is a Roman Catholic secondary school in the Astley Bridge area of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. History Thornleigh College was originally a boys school founded in 1925 by the Salesians of Don Bosco at the ...

for pupils aged 11–18.

Religion sites

Astley Bridge has a number of religious places of worship: * St Paul's Church ( CE), Holland Street, Astley Bridge. * Holy Infant and St Anthony Church ( RC), Baxendale Street, Astley Bridge. * Astley Bridge Baptist Church, Eden Street, Astley Bridge. * Astley Bridge Methodist, Seymour Road, Astley Bridge. * Bank Top

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...

, Ashworth Lane, Astley Bridge. * Gospel Hall, Maxwell Street, Astley Bridge. * Lee Clough Mission, Old Road, Astley Bridge.

References

External links

Photos and information about Astley Bridge
* {{Areas of Bolton Areas of Bolton Former civil parishes in Greater Manchester