Rivington

"RIVINGTON, a township and chapelry in the parish of Bolton le Moors, hundred of Salford, county Lancaster, 4 miles S.E. of Chorley, its post town. The village, which is of small extent, is situated under Rivington Pike, which is 1,345 feet in altitude, and had once a beacon. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture, and a few in the lead mines. The mineral called barytes was first found here, and coal and gritstone are also worked, the latter being in great demand for paving. The chapelry comprises the townships of Rivington and Anglezark, and is about 6 miles long by 3 broad. The land consists chiefly of moss comprising the range of hills called Rivington Q Anglezark moors. The Leeds and Liverpool canal, and the Bolton and Preston railway pass within 2 miles of the village. Swinton Moor, a small estate of little value, was some years back leased to the guardians of the poor of Manchester, for £250, for the training of about 1,000 pauper children of that parish. There are several chalybeate springs in the township, and in Dean Wood is a cascade of 32 feet fall. On the summit of a hill, about 1,500 feet above the sea: level, is a square tower 20 feet high, from which in favourable weather a prospect is obtained embracing Furness Fell, Snowdon, and the Isle of Man. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Manchester, value £90, in the patronage of inhabitants. The church was erected about 1530, by Richard Pilkington. The screen and font are supposed to have belonged to some earlier edifice. The parochial charities consist of Bishop Pilkington's free grammar school, founded in 1566, the endowment of which has increased to £310 per annum. The Unitarians have a place of worship."