LITTLE HEATON
1853
Little Heaton township,
situated north of Heaton Park, contains 707 inhabitants according to the census
of 1851; and the number of statute acres in the township is 500, of the annual
value of £1,680, rateable value £1,369. 7s. 9½d. The Old Hall, which has been
twice rebuilt during the last and present century, is said to have been formerly
occupied by the owners of the Heaton estates. Mr. Henry Royle is the present
occupier of the Hall and land attached, containing about 90 acres, which is the
largest farm in the township. Simister lane School, erected by the Countess of
Wilton in 1852, at a cost of £300, and in which 120 scholars are
instructed in reading, writing, grammar, and accounts, is situated in
this township. This school, the benefits of which are highly appreciated by the
inhabitants of the village, who are chiefly hand-loom silk weavers, is also
supported by Lord Grey, eldest son of the Earl of Wilton, and other members of
the family, who pay for the education of several children; and the curates of
Prestwich Church, the Revds. Messrs. Wakefield and Booker, pay for the education
of about thirty scholars. The school, which is under the superintendence of Mr.
Thomas Wroe, has also been opened as a Sunday School in connexion with St.
Margaret’s Church, Prestwich, which is about a mile distant.
Bowlee, a village containing nineteen houses and 93 inhabitants, is situated about two miles from Heywood, between Little Heaton and Middleton. The houses were built about forty years ago, and neither the owners nor the occupiers pay poor rates. They have never paid any rates, it not being determined in which township their hamlet is situated.
(1) Whellan & Co. Directory 1853