Kearsley ( ) is a town in 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 ...

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 14,212. Within the Historic County 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 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 ...

, southwest of Bury and south 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 ...

. It is bounded to the west by

Walkden Walkden is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, northwest of central Salford, and of Manchester. Walkden has been designated as one of seven main town centres in the City of Salford, and now largely functions as a r ...

, the east by Whitefield, the north by

Farnworth Farnworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southeast of Bolton, 4 miles south-west of Bury (7 km), and northwest of Manchester. Within the historic county of Lancashire, Farnworth lies on ...

and the south by Clifton. Kearsley was 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 ancient

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 Deane, in the Hundred of Salford. Kearsley Urban District was a local government authority from 1894 until 1974. In 1933, part of Clifton was added to Kearsley Urban District. Part of Outwood, Radcliffe became part of Kearsley in line with the 1933 Lancashire Review.

History

Kearsley lay within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire and was industrialised by 1752 when

James Brindley James Brindley (1716 – 27 September 1772) was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th Century. Born in the Peak ...

solved drainage problems at the Wet Earth Colliery on the borders of Kearsley and Clifton. In 1780, a mill was built at the point where the

River Croal The River Croal is a river located in Greater Manchester, England. It is a tributary of the River Irwell. Rising at the confluence of Middle Brook and Deane Church Brook, it flows eastwards through Bolton, collecting ''Gilnow Brook'' and th ...

meets the

River Irwell The River Irwell ( ) is a tributary of the River Mersey in north-west England. It rises at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately north of Bacup and flows southwards for to meet the Mersey near Irlam Locks. The Irwell marks the bound ...

In 1830(1830) The New Lancashire Gazetteer or Topographical Dictionary it was described as: "Kersley, a township in the parish of Deane, Hundred of Salford, 7 miles N.W. from Manchester. Inhabitants 1,833. In this township is Kearsley Moor, an extensive common, under the surface of which there are many valuable coalmines". In the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

a papermill,

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, chemical works, an iron foundry, a quarry and 15 coal mines operated within its boundaries. In the mid-19th century, the area was a busy coal mining area. Several street names such as Moss Colliery Road (in nearby Clifton) bear testimony to this. The largest coal mine was the Unity Brook Colliery. On 12 March 1878, an explosion in the mine killed 43 men and boys and 19 of the dead were buried at the parish church. By 1900 the coal mining industry had all but disappeared. In the late 1920s, the coal-fired Kearsley Power Station was built. It used water for cooling from the River Irwell. The power station closed, and was demolished, on 12 May 1985. The power station had a railway connection, which has been removed and is now a pedestrian trail.

Economy

Today Kearsley has little industry; the one remaining mill is now a multi occupancy building housing retail and light engineering. There are three small industrial estates concerned mainly with the transport industry. These are the Europa Industrial Estate and the Fishbrook Industrial Estate on Stoneclough Road, plus the Lion Industrial Estate on Moss Road. There is a small shopping precinct and some isolated shops along Manchester Road ( A666).

Transport

The A666 from Manchester to Bolton passes through Kearsley. Today it lies on the A666 at a point where the Kearsley Roundabout connects it and Farnworth to the

M61 motorway The M61 is a motorway in North West England between Manchester and Preston, Lancashire, Preston, linking the M60 motorway, M60 Manchester orbital motorway with the M6 motorway, M6 motorway. It runs from the A580 near Wardley, Greater Manchester ...

via the Kearsley Spur link road.

Kearsley railway station Kearsley railway station serves the town of Kearsley and the outlying villages of Stoneclough, Prestolee and Ringley in Greater Manchester, England. It was originally named Stoneclough. It lies on the Manchester-Preston Line north of , th ...

is on Stoneclough Road, from where there is a service northbound to

and southbound to

. In 1878, the mineral railway line to Kearsley was opened, at a cost of £100. Kearsley is on a bus route from

. In earlier days, it was a tram route. On 3 June 1881, trams ran the full length of the system: Town Hall Square, Bolton to Farnworth and Kearsley. The bus routes through Kearsley are the numbers 8 (to Shudehill, Manchester), 2 (to the

Trafford Centre The Trafford Centre is a large indoor shopping centre and entertainment complex in Trafford Park, Greater Manchester, England. It opened in 1998 and is third largest in the United Kingdom by retail space. Originally developed by the Peel Grou ...

), 512/513 (to Bury) and 557 (to

) The 22 route was a former route from Bolton to Stockport. It is now replaced by the 2 (Bolton to Trafford Centre) and 23 (Trafford Centre to Stockport

Religion

St Stephen's Church, Kearsley Moor, the parish churchGenuki Churches
/ref> is on Manchester Road. The

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 ...

church was the vision of Harrison BlairSt Stephen's official web site
who owned the chemical works at Moss Lane. The church has a graveyard which holds the remains of 19 miners killed in the Unity Brook Colliery disaster. The church was founded in 1870, erected in 1870–71 by the family of the Harrison Blair who died before it was finished. It cost £3,600 and has seating for 538 parishioners. The Bishop of Manchester, Dr Fraser consecrated the church on 1 July 1871. A United Reformed church was founded before 1890. It is now closed. The New Jerusalem Church on Bolton Road (founded in 1836) has a disused graveyard. St John Fisher Roman Catholic Church was founded in 1969 on Manchester Road. Kearsley Mount Methodist Church was founded in 1836 and a Wesleyan Sunday School was built overlooking the Irwell Valley opposite the parish church. The first chapel was built in 1870. In 1914 it was demolished due to mining subsidence and the present building was opened in 1916. A Wesleyan day school was built next to the church in 1879 and was extended in 1890. The school was demolished in 2009 and replaced by a block of flats by St Vincent's Housing Association. After two years planning and ten months building, the Schoenstatt Shrine was dedicated on 1 October 2000 by Bishop Terence Brain the

Bishop of Salford The Bishop of Salford is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford, Catholic Diocese of Salford in the Province of Liverpool, England. With the gradual abolition of the legal restrictions on the activities o ...

. The opening was attended by visitors from Mexico, Australia and South America and Schoenstatt members from Ireland, Scotland and Germany. In February 2022 the local Thai Buddhist Temple was given permission to expand its site.

Education

Schools in Kearsley are under the control of Bolton Education Department. The area originally had two nursery schools, Rompers, a private nursery that took 33 children, and Spindle Point School. In 2009, Rompers Nursery was demolished for a housing development project. On Sunday 3 January 2010, the luxury flat site was on fire for several hours.Firefighters tackle large apartment blaze in Kearsley
/ref> There are four primary schools, all under the direction of Bolton Education: Kearsley West Primary School (pupils 249

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

Id 105/105186,

Dfes The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) was a United Kingdom government department between 2001 and 2007, responsible for the education system (including higher education and adult learning) as well as children's services in England. ...

Number 2061), St John's Church of England Primary School (pupils 176

Id 105/105241,

Number 3355), Spindle Point School (pupils 247

Id 105/105196,

Number 2075) and the church attached St Stephen's Church of England Primary School (pupils 222, Ofsted Id 105/105240, Dfes Number: 3354). There is one secondary school in Kearsley, Kearsley Academy formerly known as George Tomlinson School, after George Tomlinson, Secretary for Education at the time of its construction, on Springfield Road. (Pupils 541, Ofsted Id 105/105268, Dfes Number: 5402). Its original age range was 11–16 years of age, but with the introduction of a sixth form in 2012, it now serves pupils up to 18 years of age and allows both male and female pupils.

Political

Kearsley falls under the Kearsley electoral ward of Bolton Borough Council and the parliamentary constituency of Bolton South and Walkden.

Gallery

File:Kearsley North.jpg, Kearsley looking north, taken from St Stephen's Church tower File:Kearsley West.jpg, Kearsley looking west, taken from St Stephen's Church tower File:Kearsley South.jpg, Kearsley looking south, taken from St Stephen's Church tower File:Kearsley East.jpg, Kearsley looking east, taken from St Stephen's Church tower File:New Jerusalem Church - geograph.org.uk - 91158.jpg, New Jerusalem church

References

External links

Kearsley Mount ChurchSt Stephens ChurchBolton MBC Official web site
{{authority control Towns in Greater Manchester Unparished areas in Greater Manchester Former civil parishes in Greater Manchester Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton