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DENTON. is a township in the parish of Manchester, extending 3 to 4 miles south-west from Ashton-under-Lyne to the Cheshire border of the county, with a station on the Stockport and Stalybridge branch of the London and North Western railway, 6 miles south-east from Manchester and 4½ north-east from Stockport, in the Gorton division of the county, hundred of Salford, union and petty sessional division of Ashton-under-Lyne, county court district of Hyde (Cheshire), real deanery of Ashton-under-Lyne, archdeaconry and diocese of Manchester. By a Local Government Board Order, dated 10 April, 1884, Haughton, as a separate township, ceased to exist, and was incorporated with, that of Denton, a Local Board was formed March 24, 1867, with 3 members, and increased to 15 in 1877 on the amalgamation with Haughton. Under the Local Government Act, 1894, the township is now governed by an Urban District Council. The district is lighted with gas from works the property of the Urban Council.

This place has been from an early period the seat of the felt hat manufacture, the staple trade of the place. Coal mining is also extensively carried on. The Free Library, in Albert street, erected in 1888-9, in commemoration of the queen's jubilee, at a total cast of £2,700, is of red brick, in the Italian style and comprises on the ground floor a large reading room, library and reference room containing 2,000 volumes and residence for the librarian, and on the first floor, rooms for science and art classes; the library is managed by the Urban Council; adjoining the library are recreation grounds of about 5 acres laid out by the board at a cost of £5,000. Tho Conservative Club in Manchester road, opened by Sir William H. Houldsworth M.P. in 1892, is a structure of Accrington pressed bricks with ornamental cornices, relieved with Yorkshire stone dressings. It contains a large assembly hall, reading, billiard and other rooms, and is fitted with every modern improvement; the architect was Mr. T. D. Lindley, of Ashton-under-Lyne; the total cost was about £2,300: it has now (1894) 350 members. The Liberal Club, opened in 1894 was erected at a cost of nearly £3,000, and is a building of brick relieved with stone dressings. It contains a large public hall and ample accommodation for 400 members; the architect was Mr. Joseph Lindley, of Hyde.

The Manchester Corporation have extensive reservoirs here, covering upwards of 378 acres and capable of containing 1,800,000,000 gallons. The population of Denton township in 1871 was 5,117; in 1881, 7,660; in 1891, 8,660; estimated population of Denton (including Haughton) to June, 1894, 14,378. The acreage (including Haughton) is 2,599 acres, of which 24 are water; rateable value, £51,203; the population of Denton and Haughton Urban Council district in 1891 was 13,993.

from Kelly's directory of Lancashire, 1895