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Pilkington

PILKINGTON, a township, in the parish of Prestwich cum Oldham, union of Bury, hundred of Salford, S. division of Lancashire, 6 miles from Manchester; containing 11,186 inhabitants. The township is bounded on the north-west and south-west by the river Irwell, and is divided into the three hamlets of Unsworth, lying on the east, Outwood on the west, and Whitefield in the centre. It comprises 5238 acres. In Unsworth, the soil was chiefly of a boggy nature; but extensive drainage has been for some time in progress, and the extent of productive land is gradually increasing. In Whitefield and Outwood hamlets the soil is more light and sandy. The surface of the township is considerably varied as to elevation, and fine views are obtained of Blackstone-Edge, on the north-east, and the Welsh mountains contiguous to the Vale of Clwyd, on the south and west. Collieries in Whitefield and Outwood produce engine-coal of excellent quality, which is sent in considerable quantities by canal to Manchester, the consumption being also very great at the print and dye works, factories, &c., in the vicinity. Numerous buildings have of late years been erected in the several hamlets in connexion with the cotton-trade, which is here coeval with the earliest time of Sir Richard Arkwright: the inhabitants are also employed in hand-loom weaving. Here are the print-works of Messrs. Felkin and Company, those of Messrs. Cousil and Company, the bleach and finishing works of Messrs. Turner and Company, and the cotton and linen mill of Messrs. William Richardson and Sons. In 1846 an act was passed for the formation of a gas company. The tithes have been commuted for about £390. There are churches at Unsworth, at Stand in Whitefield, and at Ringley in Outwood; and in the two former hamlets are places of worship for various denominations of dissenters: in each of the three is an endowed school. The fee-simple of the manor of Pilkington, with few and not important exceptions, vests in the Earl of Derby.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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