Breightmet is a neighbourhood 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. The population at the 2011 census was 13,584. Historically a

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 the civil and

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Bolton le Moors in the

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

hundred of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, it lies north-east of Bolton and north-west of Bury.

History

Toponymy

The name is from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''breorht'' (bright) and ''maed'' (meadow). It was recorded variously as Brihtmede (1257), Brightemete (1277), Breghmete and Breghtmed (1292), Brithmete (1302), Brightmede (1510) and Breightmet (1574).

Manor

The manor originated as part of the Marsey

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contrad ...

and one ploughland was held by Augustin de Breightmet in the 12th century. By marriage, one part descended to the Southworths of

Samlesbury Samlesbury ( ''or locally'' ) is a village and civil parish in South Ribble, Lancashire, England. Samlesbury Hall, a historic house, is in the village, as is Samlesbury Aerodrome and a large modern brewery owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev. The pop ...

, who held it until the 16th century. This portion was later owned by Gerards, Ainsworths, Banastres, Baguley and Parker families. The other part was held by the Hollands until they forfeited it in 1461, when it was granted to Lord Stanley and his son, Lord Strange, the Earls of Derby.

Industry

In the township there was a

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

and several

collieries Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...

, including one accessing a seam of coal thick. There were

handloom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...

weavers producing

quilt A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of padding, batting or w ...

s and counterpanes. Two

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Although some were driven ...

s and a

bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color from (i.e. to whiten) fabric or fiber (in a process called bleaching) or to disinfect after cleaning. It often refers specifically t ...

works were built.

Governance

In 1837 Breightmet became part of the Bolton

Poor Law Union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

, which took responsibility for funding the

Poor Law In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

in that area. Breightmet was formerly a

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 ...

, in 1866 Breightmet became a separate

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 ...

, on 30 September 1898 the parish was abolished and merged with Bolton and Breightmet became part of the County Borough of Bolton. In 1891 the parish had a population of 1720. Following the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, the County Borough of Bolton was abolished and Breightmet became 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 ...

in 1974. It is represented by three councillors on Bolton Council and is part of the Bolton North-East Westminster constituency.

Geography

The Breightmet township, which covered acres of hilly land was two miles north east of Bolton on Bury road. It was separated from Tonge with Haulgh by the Bradshaw Brook. Breightmet Hill, the highest point, rises to about . There is a local nature reserve at Seven Acres Country Park. The park separates the west side of Breightmet from neighbouring Tonge Moor.

Religion

There are several places of worship in Breightmet including two

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

churches, St James and St John the Evangelist, St Osmund's

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church, Red Lane

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 ...

and the independent Kings Church Bolton, Unit 1, Millfield Rd, Boundary Industrial Estate. St James'

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

designed by John Edgar Gregan was consecrated in 1855. Canon James Slade, Vicar of Bolton from 1817 to 1856, and founder of the Bolton Church Institute is buried in the churchyard.

Sport and leisure

Bolton St Catherine's Academy has a community leisure and sports centre. Leverhulme Park, the largest park area within Bolton has a community and children's centre with therapy suites, gymnasium, indoor athletics hall and outdoor athletics stadium, which hosts the town's school athletics competitions. The park has football pitches, 5-a-side football pitches, bowling greens and an athletics stadium as well as nature walks and picnic areas. The park is also home to the Bolton Parkrun.

Education

Bolton St Catherine's Academy caters for children from three to 19. It is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

school incorporating the former Withins School, a

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

and Top o'th Brow Primary School. Four other

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

s serve Breightmet. These are Red Lane County Primary School, Leverhulme Community Primary School, Blackshaw County Primary School, and St. Osmund and Andrew Roman Catholic County Primary School.

Notable residents

Badly Drawn Boy Damon Michael Gough (born 2 October 1969), known by the stage name Badly Drawn Boy, is an English indie singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Gough chose his stage name from a character in the show '' The Magic Ball'', which he saw on TV ...

(real name Damon Gough), indie singer-songwriter, grew up in Breightmet

Notable events

Rock and roll singer Johnny Kidd died at age 30 in a car collision on the A58, Bury New Road, in Breightmet, around 2 a.m. on 8 October 1966.

References

External links

Photos and information about Breightmet

St James parish church
{{Areas of Bolton Areas of Bolton Former civil parishes in Greater Manchester