Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for NEWTON-IN-MACKERFIELD

NEWTON-IN-MACKERFIELD, a town, a parish, and a sub-district, in Warrington district, Lancashire. The town stands adjacent to the Liverpool and Manchester railway, in the neighbourhood of the junctions northward to Wigan and southward to Warrington, 1¾mile E N E of the magnificent railway viaduct over the Sankey valley, 5½ N by W of Warrington, and about midway between Liverpool and Manchester. It is some-times called Newton-le-Willows, or Newton-in-the-Willows; it is a borough by prescription; it sent two members to parliament from the time of Elizabeth till the passing of the reform act in 1832, and was then disfranchised; it was the scene of a defeat of the Highlanders in 1648, by a part of Cromwell's forces; it is near the spot where Huskisson was killed in 1830, at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester railway; it is a polling-place, and the place of election, for the S division of Lancashire; and it has a head post-office, ‡ designated Newton-le-Willows, a railway station with telegraph designated Newton, several inns, a constabulary station, two churches, an Independent chapel, a Roman Catholic chapel, a mechanics' institute, national schools, and charities £77. The parish church, or church of Emmanuel, is a recent stone edifice; and consists of nave, chancel, and porch, with tower and spire. St. Peter's church was recently rebuilt; and serves for a section which was madea separate charge in 1845, and had a pop. of 2, 122 in 1861. The Roman Catholic chapel was built in 1865, after designs by Mr. G. Blount, at a cost of £4,000; and is in the decorated English style. The national schools were built in 1860, at a cost of more than £2,000; are in the early decorated English style; consist of centre and wings; and have a bell-turret. A weekly market was formerly held, but has fallen into disuse; fairs, chiefly forhorses, cattle, sheep, and pigs, are held on 17 May and 12 Aug; and there are an extensive foundry, a large sugar refinery, a paper mill, a printing establishment, and extensive railway waggon-works of the Northwestern company. The parish and the town are regarded as co-extensive; but the new large village of Earlestown, adjacent. to the Warrington junction, is included. Acres, 2, 692. Real property, £17,061; of which £1, 126 are in iron-works. Pop. in 1851, 3, 719; in 1861, 5, 909. Houses, 1,048. The increase of pop. arose mainly from the extension of trade. The manor belonged to Edward the Confessor; passed to the Langtons and others; and belongs now to W. J. Legh, Esq. The head living is a rectory, and that of St. Peter is a vicarage, in the diocese of Chester. Value of the rectory, £240; * of thevicarage, £114. Patron of the former, the Earl of Derby; of the latter, W. J. Legh, Esq.—The sub-district contains also the township of Haydock, and comprises 5,054acres. Pop. in 1851, 5, 713; in 1861, 9, 524. Houses, 1, 649.


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

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a parish, and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Newton le Willows CP/Tn       Newton in Makerfield SubD       Warrington RegD/PLU       Lancashire AncC
Place: Newton le Willows

Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.