Walmersley & Shuttleworth
WALMERSLEY
Walmersley, a township and village in the parish of Bury, from which it is distant 2½ miles north, contains an area of 4998 acres, and a population in 1851 of 4802 inhabitants. The Manufactures here are of the same nature as those of Bury. It contains an Episcopal chapel, of which the Rev. Arthur Hyde Hulton is the incumbent; a Wesleyan Methodist chapel, and a chapel for the Independents. This township exhibits the remains of a beacon, supposed to have been erected in the reign of Elizabeth, under the influence of the threatened invasion from the Spanish Armada, when a rate was imposed for keeping those watch towers and flaming messengers of danger, in proper order. The National School here was built from funds arising from the Charitable bequest of William Grant, Esq., of Springside, upon land given by Mr. James Chadwick. Saint John’s National and Infant Schools, situate at Rose Hill, form a neat building of stone erected in 1848 at a cost of £1200, of which sum £150 was contributed by the National Society, and the remainder by subscription.
SHUTTLEWORTH
Shuttleworth formerly a hamlet in the
township of Walmersley, is now an independent parish, created under 6th
and 7th Victoria, Chap. 37, and situate in the Poor Law Union of
Bury, from which town it is distant 3½ miles north. This new parish intersected
by the East Lancashire Railway, comprises an area of 2,689 statute acres, and a
population in 1851 of 2,711 inhabitants. It is bounded on the west by the river
Irwell, and on the east by eminences which contain several coal pits whence the
factories, bleach works, and paper mills in the neighbourhood are supplied.
Whittle Pike, situated in this parish and one of the most lofty hills in the
county, is 1,614 feet above the level of the sea. The church dedicated to “Saint
John in the Wilderness,” is a substantial edifice of hewn stone, built in 1847,
and consecrated on the 12th Febuary, 1848. Its style of architecture
is that which prevailed in the Fourteenth century, and the cost of its erection
was £2,100, towards which sum the Earl of Derby, who is proprietor of nearly the
whole parish, gave the site, and contributed £300; the Chester Diocesan Society
£300, the Incorporated Society £250, and the Church Commissioners £200. The
remainder, £1,050, was raised by voluntary contributions. The living is a
perpetual curacy of the net annual value of £152, in the patronage of the Crown
and Bishop of Manchester, alternately, and in the enjoyment of the Rev. H. P.
Hughes, the first incumbent. Attached to the church is a National School, with a
house for the master, erected in 1849, at a cost of £500, towards which the
committee of Privy Council on education, supplied the sum of £200, and the
National Society on education £180, the remainder was obtained by voluntary
subscriptions. The incumbent and churchwardens for the time being, are the
trustees of this institution, in which 170 children are now receiving
instruction. Mr. Jonathan Ellerbeck, is the present master.
(1) Whellan & Co.’s Directory 1853