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Newtonin-Makerfield

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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

"NEWTON-IN-MACKERFIELD, a parochial chapelry and township in the parish of Winwick, hundred of West Derby, county Lancaster, 5½ miles from Warrington, 47 S. by E. of Lancaster, and 192 N. by W. of London. It is a station on the Liverpool and Manchester section of the London and North-Western railway, which here forms a junction with the Grand Junction, Wigan, and Bolton lines. In the Saxon times the manor belonged to Edward the Confessor, and after the Conquest was given to the Langtons. In the civil war of Charles I. a party of Highlanders were defeated here in 1648 by Cromwell's troops, and hanged in an adjoining field still called Gallows Cross. The township, which is extensive, is situated on the turnpike road between Warrington and Wigan, and near the Sankey viaduct of the Liverpool and Manchester railway. It was formerly a market town and the head of a barony, and returned two members to parliament from the first year of Elizabeth until disfranchised by the Reform Act. It is now an election and polling town for the southern division of the county. The petty sessions are held monthly at the Legh Arms. Meetings are also held by the Newton Improvement Commissioners every three months. Courts leet and baron are held twice yearly, under William John Legh, Esq., who is lord of the manor. The town consists principally of one broad street. There are an ancient timbered court-house, market cross, assembly rooms, savings-bank, mechanics' institute, race-stand, and good hotel adjoining the Liverpool and Manchester railway station; also an extensive foundry, zinc and glass works, a printing-office, and sugar refinery. The London and North-Western Railway Company have extensive premises for making trucks, railway carriages, &c., giving employment to a large number of hands. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Chester, value £240. The church, dedicated to Emmanuel, is a newly erected stone edifice, with a spired tower containing one bell. There is also the district church of St. Peter, the living of which is a perpetual curacy, value £114. It is a stone structure, and has recently been rebuilt. The burial-ground has recently been increased in extent, and enclosed with a stone wall. The parochial- charities produce about £77 per annum. There is a free grammar school, held in the old court house, the master of which has a salary of £60, arising from certain enclosures of Leyland Common, and the rental of a messuage called Dean school; also National and Sunday schools. The Independents have a place of worship. The union poorhouse is situated in this township. The late Right. Hon. W. Huskisson was killed here in 1830 by a steam-carriage at the opening of the Park-side station, and a tablet to his memory has been erected near the spot. At a little distance from the town is a venerable moated timber house; and at Castle Hill, which lies about half a mile northward, are the remains of an ancient barrow, near 75 feet in diameter and 30 feet high, overgrown with venerable oaks. In 1822, whilst sinking a coal-pit, a whetstone encased in wood is said to have been found about 90 feet below the surface. The market has long been discontinued, but the cross is still standing. Fairs are held on the 17th May and 12th August, chiefly for cattle and horses. Races take place in June, on a triangular course of 11 mile."