Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAILWAY

LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAILWAY, a railway of many parts and branches in Lancashire and Yorkshire. It is an amalgamation of the Manchester and Leeds, the Manchester, Bolton, and Bury, the Liverpool and Bury, the Huddersfield and Sheffield, the Wakefield, Pontefract, and Goole, the West Riding Union, and the East Lancashire. It acquired its present title in 1847, but was not all amalgamated till 1859; and it has a productive aggregate extent of 395¼ miles. The Manchester and Leeds was incorporated in 1836, for a line from Manchester to Normanton junction; was subsequently extended into connexion with the Northwestern an-d the Sheffield lines at Ardwick station; was opened throughout to Normanton in 1844; and was conjoined with the Ashton and Stalybridge in the same year. The Manchester, Bolton, and Bury sprang from a canal project in 1 791; took the form of a railway, 11 miles long, in 1831; and was amalgamated with the Manchester and Leeds in 1845. The Liverpool and Bury was incorporated in 1845, for a line 315/8 miles long; and was amalgamated with the Manchester and Leeds in 1846. The Huddersfield and Sheffield was incorporated in 1845, for a line 14¾ miles long; was amalgamated with the Manchester and Leeds in 1846; and was opened in 1850. The Wakefield, Pontefract, and Goole was incorporated in 1845, for a length of 28¾ miles; and acquired powers for a further extent of 15½ miles, and for a jetty at Goole. The West Riding Union was incorporated in 1846, for a series of lines, aggregately 45½ miles long; and was amalgamated with the Manchester and Leeds near the end of the same year. The East Lancashire was originally incorporated in 1844, as the Manchester, Bury, and Rossendale, 14 miles long; became amalgamated in 1846 with the Blackburn and Preston, authorized in 1844 for a length of 9¾ miles; was extended in the same year by the incorporation of the Liverpool, Ormskirk, and Preston, 365/8 miles long; has also had other extensions: and was amalgamated, in 1859, with the Lancashire and Yorkshire. Other railways and two canals also are conjoined, by purchase, lease, or otherwise, with the Lancashire and Yorkshire. The railways are the Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Wakefield, Huddersfield, and Goole, the North Union, the Preston and Wyre, the Blackburn, and the Liverpool, Crosby, and Southford; and the two canals are the Leeds and Liverpool, and the Rochdale.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a railway of many parts and branches"   (ADL Feature Type: "railroad features")
Administrative units: Lancashire AncC

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