Westleigh, Greater Manchester
| Westleigh | |
|---|---|
 |
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| History | |
| • Created | Middle Ages |
| • Abolished | 1875 |
| • Succeeded by | Leigh Urban District, |
| Status | Township |
Westleigh, a suburb of Leigh, Greater Manchester is one of three ancient townships, Westleigh, Bedford and Pennington, that merged in 1875 to form the town of Leigh.
The name Westleigh derives from the Old English and refers to the locality's relative position to Leigh. The name Leigh is derived from leah, meaning originally a "wood" then a "clearing" and finally a "meadow". It was recorded as Westeley in 1237, Westlegh in 1238 and Westlay in Legh in 1292.
The early history of Westleigh is closely involved with 'the church of Westley in Leigh', dedicated to St Peter on the Westleigh-Pennington boundary. This church was the centre of a large ecclesiastical parish, and after the Reformation dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, and is now the parish church in Leigh. The earliest recorded Lords of the Manor were the Westleigh family. They were followed by the Urmstons who held the manor for several centuries until the failure of the male line. Daughters of Richard Urmston married into the Heaton, Shuttleworth, and Bradshaw families who sold the manor to the Athertons and Hiltons. The manor eventually came into the Marsh family who made money from the silk and textile industries. The Marshes were benefactors of the township, giving money for the original swimming baths and Marsh Gymnasium as well as bequests to the Parish Church. Westleigh Old Hall was left to Leigh Corporation, the house demolished and the grounds became Marsh playing fields.
There were drift mines in Westleigh as early as the 12th century and in Leigh by 1851 there were 17 pits mainly in Westleigh each employing less than 10 colliers. The coal industry developed rapidly after 1870 with the onset of deep mines. In 1872 Ackers and Whitley began to develop the Bickershaw Colliery at Plank Lane, Westleigh which by 1970 employed 1,489 men who in that year produced 1,716,479 tons of coal. In 1896 the Westleigh pits of the Wigan Coal and Iron Company included Priestners which employed 387 underground and 70 on the surface, Snapes, and the Sovereign which had 180 underground and 68 on the surface.Parsonage Colliery was sunk by the Wigan Coal and Iron Company between 1913 and 1920 with shafts exceeding 1,000 yards in depth.
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