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Pilsworth

PILSWORTH, a township, in the chapelry of Unsworth, parish of Middleton, union of Bury, hundred of Salford, S. division of Lancashire, 3 miles (S. E.) from Bury; containing 414 inhabitants. This township is bounded on the west by the river Roche, and comprises 1470 acres of land, wholly the property of the Earl of Wilton, whose grandfather, Thomas Egerton, the first earl, obtained the estate by marriage with one of the co-heiresses of Sir Ralph Assheton, of Middleton. The surface is undulated; the soil is a strong loam, retentive of moisture, but draining has been successfully introduced of late years, the Earl of Wilton having erected a manufactory for making tiles. Coal is obtained from a colliery lately opened; and stone also is found. There are several bleaching and printing establishments, situated on a stream tributary to the Roche; yet the population of the township shows a decrease of four persons since 1801 (when the number was 418), which is the more remarkable as various new branches of industry have sprung up in the districts around. The tithes have been commuted for £125. On the banks of the Roche is a spot called the Castle, supposed to have been the site of a "peel," or fortified house; hence the name of the township, Peelworth or Pilsworth, "the district of the fortified house."

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

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