Edgworth is a small village in the

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 ...

of North Turton, in the borough of

Blackburn with Darwen Blackburn with Darwen is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, North West England. The borough includes the towns of Blackburn and Darwen plus a wider rural area which includes the villages 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 ...

, England. It is between Broadhead Brook on the west (expanded artificially to form the

Wayoh Reservoir Wayoh Reservoir is a water reservoir in the town of Edgworth, Lancashire, England. It was completed on 28 April 1876 to supply water to Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West P ...

) and Quarlton Brook in the south east. The ground ranges from to above sea level. The village population at the 2011 census was 2,321. Edgworth is part of the Rossendale and Darwen constituency. Andy MacNae has been the Member of Parliament for Rossendale and Darwen since 2024.

History

Edgworth is of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

origin, denoting a village in the hills and has had many spellings, from 'Eggwrthe' in 1212, Egewurth in 1221, and in 1277 Eggeswrth and Edgeword and Eggeworth in the year 1292. In the 19th century the preferred spelling was "Edgeworth", although "Edgworth", as used by the Post Office, is now the standard spelling. The village is especially rich in the number of "Folds" formed in the 17th century. The title usually indicates the enclosure of a farmstead and associated cottages. Isherwood Fold, off Blackburn Road is a good example. Other examples are Horrocks Fold, Thomasson Fold and Brandwood Fold. In 1795, an Act of Parliament was passed for

enclosing Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

Edgworth Moor "in the whole about 400 acres". It covered an area from Wall Leach Fold in the south, roughly following the old Blackburn to Manchester Road to Hob Lane with the western boundary bordering on Hill Top, Neville Fold (Moorside) and Orrells Farms, as far north as Pasture Gate Farm and with the eastern boundary following the high ground past Crowthorn, Wheatsheaf Hill and Hazelclough Farms down to Wickenlow and Hey Head. Five small

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

also make up the area of the village – Quarlton, Turton Bottoms at the south-east point, with Entwistle, Round Barn and Whittlestone Head to the west. Although the character of Edgworth has always been rural, during the 19th century a number of textile mills were built around the village. Most industry has now left the area and since the 1970s a number of suburban housing developments have expanded the core of the village. Edgeworth was formerly 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 ...

in the parish 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 ...

, in 1866 Edgeworth became a separate civil parish, on 1 April 1925 the parish was abolished and merged with Turton. In 1921 the parish had a population of 2557.

Barlow family

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Barlow family showed great generosity to the village. The

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

James Barlow (1821–87) funded the new

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Church, opened in 1863, and the children's home at Crowthorn. The Edgworth Home, opened in 1872, was the first

National Children's Home Action for Children (formerly National Children's Home) is a UK children's charity created to help vulnerable children and young people and their families in the UK. The charity has 7,000 staff and volunteers who operate over 475 services in ...

and closed in 2002. James Barlow was proprietor of textile manufacturers Barlow & Jones Ltd and was also Mayor of Bolton (1867–69). His son, Sir Thomas Barlow, was physician to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

and

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

. He was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1902. The Barlow Institute was built in 1909 and then consisted of a

village hall A village hall is a public building in a rural or suburban community which functions as a community centre without a religious affiliation. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is a building which is owned by a local gover ...

coffee bar A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargile ...

, library and recreation grounds. The Barlows' family home, ''Greenthorne'', was used as a conference venue during

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

's visit to Lancashire in September 1931. File:Methodist Church at Edgworth, Lancashire.jpg, Edgworth Methodist Church. File:James Barlow Memorial.JPG, Memorial to James Barlow in Edgworth Methodist Church. File:Thomas Barlow birth place.jpg, Plaque at Brandwood Fold, the Barlow family home before the building of Greenthorne. File:Barlow_Institute_Edgworth_Lancashire.jpg, The Barlow Institute and Millennium Cross, Bolton Road, Edgworth. File:Edgworth_Bowling_Green.jpg, The bowling green at the Barlow Institute.

Economy

Edgworth is renowned to walkers as it is very picturesque. Two large reservoirs, the

, and the

Turton and Entwistle Reservoir Turton and Entwistle Reservoir is a water reservoir in the village of Edgworth, Lancashire, England. The reservoir's existence is due to the Entwistle Dam. When constructed in 1832 the Entwistle Dam was the highest in Britain; it rises 108 feet ...

, are located north-east of the village, and the Jumbles Reservoir is near Turton Bottoms. They supply water to the

area. The village has many fine pubs/restaurants and Bed and Breakfast establishments. File:Wayoh_Reservoir.JPG, The Wayoh Reservoir looking toward the Entwistle Viaduct.

Sports

Edgworth has a cricket team, Edgworth Cricket and Recreation Club, in the Greater Manchester Cricket League. Formed in 1902, they now play continuously in the season on the Recreational Ground adjacent to the Barlow. Another successful recreational club competing in two leagues is of course the Edgworth Village Bowling Club. Founded in 1900, they play crown green bowls on the green adjacent to the Barlow. Edgworth is also home to the oldest club in Lancashire Turton FC who currently play in the West Lancs League for open age and the Bolton and Bury Junior District Football League (BBDJFL) for its junior teams. The club has recently been awarded the prestigious Charter Status from the Lancs FA as the new Committee continue their task to turn the club's fortunes around after nearly folding in 2010

Transport

As of 2024, there are only school buses and two limited bus services, the TA01 operating from

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

to Harwood via Edgworth and the TA02 operating from

Bury, Greater Manchester Bury (, ) is a market town on the River Irwell in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. which had a population of 81,101 in 2021 while the wider borough had a population of 193,846. The town was originally part of the ...

via Edgworth. The village is half an hour walk away from Entwistle railway station. The village used to be served regularly with the 537 connecting it to Bolton but this was withdrawn by Arriva in 2013.

References

External links

Welcome to Edgworth

Edgworth Township Boundaries (394)
a 19th-century map
Edgworth Children's Home

{{Authority control Villages in Lancashire Former civil parishes in Lancashire Geography of Blackburn with Darwen West Pennine Moors