Prestolee

Prestolee is a small village in

Kearsley Kearsley ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 14,212. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies northwest of Manchester, southwest of Bury and south of Bol ...

, within the

Metropolitan Borough of Bolton '')'' , image_skyline =Bolton Town Hall.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Bolton Town Hall, the seat of Bolton Council , image_blank_emblem = Coat of arms of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council.png , blank_emblem_type = Coat of Arms o ...

, in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tamesid ...

, England. It lies on 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. The Irwell marks the boundary b ...

and is one of a cluster of villages between

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ce ...

and Kearsley, which includes

Stoneclough Stoneclough is a suburban area of Kearsley in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It is located south-east of Bolton, south-west of Bury and north-west of Manchester. It is located on the banks of the River Irwel ...

and

Ringley Ringley is near Kearsley in Greater Manchester, England, on the east bank of the River Irwell. Its Anglican church is St Saviour's. Ringley is linked by road to Stoneclough by the A667 road which crosses the River Irwell on Ringley road bridge wh ...

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

part of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

, during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, Prestolee was 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 It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the com ...

within the ancient ecclesiastical parish of

Prestwich-cum-Oldham Prestwich-cum-Oldham (also known as Prestwich with Oldham) was an ancient ecclesiastical parish of the hundred of Salford, within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire, England. With the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Prestwich as ...

. Prestolee is surrounded almost completely by water and is effectively an island, with the

to the north, west and south and the Manchester, Bolton & 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 Prestolee Aqueduct is a stone-built aqueduct in Prestolee, Kearsley in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The four-arch structure was constructed in 1793 to carry the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal across the Ri ...

, or the nearby Pack Horse Bridge. Many countryside walks radiate from Prestolee 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 wild flowers abound. It has a church (Holy Trinity) that was used by TV show ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based ...

'' as a venue for many weddings and known to fans as All Saints' Church,

Weatherfield Weatherfield is a fictional town based on Salford, Greater Manchester, which has been the setting for the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' since its inception in 1960. Much of Weatherfield has been seen by viewers throughout the y ...

. It also has a

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

. As well as the church, its other major landmark is

Kearsley Mill Kearsley Mill is a , late period cotton mill located in the small village of Prestolee in Kearsley, Greater Manchester, part of the historic county of Lancashire. A near complete example of Edwardian mill architecture, the building now functions ...

, a cotton spinning mill in its previous guise, now home to several industrial uses. At one time there were also two other mills located 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. Villages in Greater Manchester Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton {{GreaterManchester-geo-stub