1853
TOTTINGTON LOWER END
Tottington Lower End, is a chapelry
also in the parish of Bury, from which town it is distant 2½ miles N.W. by W.,
and contains 6,330 acres, and a population in 1801 of 4,314, which in 1841 had
increased to 9,929, and in 1851 to 10,685 souls. The manor of Tottington was
divided in the 17th century for local purposes, into two townships as
at present constituted. The royal manor of Tottington was in the successive
possession of the houses of Lincoln and Lancaster, and was given to General
Monk, Duke of Albemarle, by Charles II., as a portion of his reward for the
great services rendered by him in the restoration of the house of Stewart to the
throne of England. The Albermarle possessions rested in the Duches of Buccleugh,
from whom Tottington lineally descended to Lord Montague. Emanuel Church,
Holcombe, is a handsome edifice, built in 1852 at an expense of £3,000 of which
sum £500 was bequeathed by Mrs. Sanderford, of Bolton, £100 given by the church
building society, and the remainder raised by subscription. The living attached
to this church is a perpetual curacy to which the rector of Bury presents, and
the Rev. George Nightingale, M.A., is the incumbent. Here are extensive calico
printing works; and a National School, in which the children of the operatives
are instructed. This school erected 1715, was endowed with £12 a year, together
with the interest of £200.
RAMSBOTTOM
Ramsbottom, a populous village in the
township of Tottington Lower End, 4 miles N. from Bury, and 14 N. from
Manchester. Forty years ago Ramsbottom was a place of little note, but of late
years, however, it has become of some consequence, and many improvements have
been effected, chiefly through the munificence of Mr. Grant, an eminent cotton
spinner of the place. This gentleman erected a place of worship here in
connexion with the church of Scotland, the first stone of which was laid in May,
1832, and the building was completed in 1834. It is a beautiful structure of
stone, ornamented with buttresses and a tower of elegant proportions, surmounted
by pinnacles. The Rev. Andrew Maclean, is the officiating minister. Saint Paul’s
Church, is a neat edifice consecrated in 1850, and built at a cost of £3,500.
The Rev. James H. Butcher is the incumbent. A post office was established in the
village in 1818, and the extensive premises formerly in the occupation of Mr.
Yates, of the firm of Peel, Yates & Co., have been converted into a commodious
and excellent Inn. The Messrs. Ashton, cotton spinners of this place, have
erected a school, at a cost of £700 for the accommodation of about 500 children.
There is a Mechanics Institute and News room in this township, of which the Rev.
A. Maclean is president. An Odd Fellow’s Hall was also erected in 1852, by the
society at a cost of about £800.
(1) Whellan & Co.'s Directory 1853