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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

"ECCLES, a parish and extensive suburb of Manchester, in the hundred of Salford, county palatine of Lancaster, 4 miles W. of Manchester. It is a station on the London and North-Western railway. The parish, which is very extensive, is situated near the river Irwell, and contains the townships of Barton-upon-Irwell, Clifton, Pendleton, Pendlebury, and Worsley, besides a large number of hamlets Chat Moss is partly in this parish. Coal is obtained in large quantities, and silk and cotton weaving are extensively carried on. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Manchester, value £500, in the patronage of the lord chancellor. The church is an ancient stone structure, in the early English style of architecture. It is dedicated to St. Mary, and anciently belonged to Whalley Abbey, but at the Dissolution was made parochial. It contains a brass, and monuments of the Brereton and Booth families. The register is very old. There are also district churches in the several townships. The parochial charities produce about £80 per annum, of which between £30 to £40 is for the schools. The Wesleyans, Roman Catholics, and New Connexion Methodists have each a chapel. There is a grammar school with a small endowment, also National and infant schools, besides Sunday-schools attached to each of the places of worship. This was the birthplace of Ainsworth, the lexicographer. Sir Humphrey de Trafford is lord of the manor, and owner of most of the soil. Races are held here in August."