Eccles
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ECCLES, a village and a parish in Lancashire. The village stands on the river Irwell, and on the Manchester and Liverpool railway, 4 miles W of Manchester; and has a station on the railway, and a post office under. Manchester. Races are run, on an oval course of ¾ of a mile, in August; and fairs are held on the Friday before Whit-Monday and on 15 Nov. The parish contains the townships of Pendleton and Pendlebury, in the district of Salford, and the townships of Barton-upon-Irwell, Clifton, and Worsley in the district of Barton-npon-Irwell. Acres, 20,240. Real property, £180,121; of which £17,804 are in mines, £1,047 in iron-works, and £48 in railways. Pop., in 1851, 41,497; in 1861, 52,679. Houses, 9,963. The property is much subdivided. The township of Pendleton, and part of that of Pendlebury, with jointly a pop. of 21,562, are within the borough of Salford; and about 7,000 acres are in Chatmoss. Many of the inhabitants are employed in cotton and silk mills. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Manchester. Value, £900.* Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church belonged anciently to Whalley abbey; contains monuments of the Breretons and the Booths; and is in good condition. The chapelries of Ellenbrook, Pendleton, Swinton, Walkden, Worsley, Pendlebury, Hope, Weaste, Patricroft, Irlam, Barton-upon-Irwell, Paddington, and Charleston, are separate charges. There are chapels for Independents, Baptists, Presbyterians, Wesleyans, New Connexion Methodists, and Roman Catholics. An Independent chapel at Eccles village was built in 1860, at a cost of £5,500; is in the early English decorated style; and has a spire 120 feet high. Two schools have £34 from endowment; and other charities £43. Ainsworth, the lexicographer, was a native; and the Right Hon. W. Huskisson, after sustaining a deadly accident at the opening of the railway, died in the parsonage.

John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)

Archives and libraries

Local studies information is held at Salford library.

Cemeteries

Census

Details about the census records, and indexes for Eccles.

Church History

Church Records

You can also perform a more selective search for churches in the Eccles area that are recorded in the GENUKI church database. This will also help identify churches in nearby townships and/or parishes. You also have the option to see the location of the churches marked on a map.

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Civil Registration

The Register Office covering the Eccles area is Salford.

Description and Travel

You can see pictures of Eccles which are provided by:

Gazetteers

Ask for the gazetteer for a calculation of the distance from Eccles to another place.

Genealogy

ENG-LAN-ECCLES is an e-mail list for Eccles genealogy.

Historical Geography

In 1835 the parish of Eccles contained the townships of Clifton, Pendlebury, Worsley, Pendleton and Barton upon Irwell.

Information about boundaries and administrative areas is available from A Vision of Britain through time.

History

A description of Eccles in the 19th century.

Maps

View maps of Eccles and places within its boundaries.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SJ778986 (Lat/Lon: 53.483637, -2.336020), Eccles which are provided by:

Probate Records

For probate purposes prior to 1858, Eccles was in the Archdeaconry of Chester, in the Diocese of Chester. The original Lancashire wills for the Archdeaconry of Chester are held at the Lancashire Record Office.

Societies

You can also see Family History Societies covering the nearby area, plotted on a map. This facility is being developed, and is awaiting societies to enter information about the places they cover.