Lowton

History

Lowton has an unclear toponymy: it is from Old English tun "farm, village" with an uncertain first element (The first element is from lhe old English for high point IE Wornoth Low near Stockport is the highest hill in the area, and Lowton is the highest point locally.) A record of the name as Liewetune in 1176 suggests Old English hleowe "lee", although this is not a certain etymology.

Lowton was one of the berewicks of the Royal Manor of Newton, later being one of the members of the Barony of Makerfield. Byrom Manor, later to feature the ancestral home of the poet John Byrom and was constructed during the 18th century, is recorded as early as 1212, where the family prospered for centuries. Byrom Hall at one time featured a moat.

The Hare and Hounds public house, built in the 17th century, was once used as a place to hold trials of local criminals, including murders.

In 1830 Parkside, Newton-le-Willows, near Lowton, was the site of the world's first fatal passenger train crash, when Liverpool MP William Huskisson was killed after being hit by George Stephenson's Rocket locomotive during the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

The former Lowton railway station was used as a resting point for the royal train. Lowton had a second station – Lowton St Mary's – which closed in 1964.

Lowton had a toffee factory, along with other sites of heavy industry. Many of these factories have now closed and have been replaced with light industry.

Lowton's Sandy Lane is reputedly haunted by the ghost of Joshua Rigby, a local farmer who died in 1883.

Governance and politics

Between 1894 and 1974, Lowton was part of the Golborne Urban District, in the administrative county of Lancashire. In 1974 as part of the local government reorganisation enacted in the Local Government Act 1972 it became part of Greater Manchester with the boundary at Newton-le-Willows marking the edge of the new county of Merseyside.

Lowton comes under the constituency of Leigh and is represented in parliament by the Labour MP Andy Burnham. At the last local elections the ward of Lowton East was won by Conservative Kath Houlton with a majority of 649.

Transport

Situated on the A580 East Lancashire Road, the village has direct access to the cities of Manchester to the east and Liverpool to the west. From this road, the M6 motorway runs north and south, and the M60 connects with the M62 across the Pennines. The nearest railway station is Newton-le-Willows on the Chester to Manchester Line and Liverpool to Manchester Line. Public transport in Lowton is co-ordinated by the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive and is served by buses to Manchester, Wigan, Leigh and Newton-le-Willows. Buses: X34 Lowton/Leigh-Manchester (First Manchester).

Environment

To the south of Lowton is Highfield Moss, part of which has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The 52.6 acres (21.3 ha) site was designated in 1986 for its biological interest. It is predominantly notable as a mire community and it is the best example in Greater Manchester.

Education

Religion

In 1635 the Puritan clergyman, Richard Mather, and his family left for New England as a result of religious intolerance.

Lowton's churches include the two Anglican churches of St Mary's and St Lukes, the Roman Catholic of St Catherine of Siena (closed 2011), Lowton Independent Methodist] (a member of the Independent Methodist Connexion) and Lowton Community Church. Lane Head Methodist church closed in 2010.Lowton Christian Fellowship. Visit the Independent Methodist website for links to other Lowton Churches

The churches in Lowton organise some joint activities including ecumenical services. Their charity work has included the Lowton Churches Romania Appeal, formed after the collapse of the Communist regime in Romania in 1990. It supported an orphanage in Lugoj but its remit has since expanded to include several projects in the country.

St Lukes

It is likely that the parish of Winwick-including Croft, Kenyon, Culcheth, Lowton, Newton, Earlestown, Ashton, Haydock and Wargrave-was formed shortly after the death of Oswald, a Christian prince of Northumbria, who had his palace in this district at the time.

A commission under the Great Seal sat at Wigan in 1650 and considered that a chapel should be built for the townships of Lowton, Golborne and Kenyon. Some eighty years later, under the "Lowton Chapel Agreement" of 1 December 1731, twenty-seven charterers and freeholders within the township of Lowton agreed to enclose eleven acres of waste and common land on Lowton Common and on Lowton Heath, near the Locking Stoops, "for the erecting of a Chapel of Ease, and of a convenient schoolhouse". With agreement was with the consent of Peter Legh Lord of the Manor of Lowton. A date of 1732 on the church door suggests that the building was completed within a year. The Chapel was consecrated on 18 October 1733, St Luke's Day, by the Bishop of Chester. The chapel and chapel yard were built on land given by Hugh Stirrup a yeoman of Lowton.

The legal arrangements for the use of the enclosed lands, to be used for the maintenance of the minister, were not yet completed. In the interim, a sum of thirty pounds a year was guaranteed by Rev. Francis Annesley, Rector of Winwick, and Joseph Byrom of Manchester, owner of Byrom Hall. In 1734 these lands were found suitable, and were valued at £400. In 1738 the value was matched by another £400 from Queen Anne's Bounty, used for the purchase of lands and buildings, including the present rectory and the fields behind it. The land was given to Curates of Lowton in perpetuity.

Although the Deed of Consecration allowed for all the regular church services and sacraments, the chapel was not yet a Parish Church and thus no burials were permitted. The parish registers were to be forwarded every year to Winwick, and no service could be held in the chapel when the Holy Sacrament was publicly administered at Winwick parish church.

Today many of the chapel pews still bear metal plates showing their the names of their original owners. The oldest, pew No. 1, has a plate for Edward Byrom dated 1732. Other plates bear the surnames Leigh, Kenyon, Green, Lowe, Worsley, Pierpoint, Mather and Tyler, names of some of those who were signatories to the 1731 chapel agreement of 1731, or the 1733 consecration deed.

Sport and organisations

Lowton is the location for Golborne Sports and Social Club which participates in local football, hockey, bowls and cricket leagues. Other nearby sports teams include Golborne Parkside RLFC, Leigh RUFC and Leigh United FC.

Media

Lowton falls inside the circulation areas of these newspapers and websites:

Notable people