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Westhoughton

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The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

"WESTHOUGHTON, a chapelry and township in the parish of Deane, county Lancaster, 4½ miles S.W. of Bolton-le-Moors, and 5 N.E. of Wigan. It is a station on the west section of the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway. It is situated in a populous manufacturing district. There are a silk factory, cotton mills, nail factory, and collieries. The population in 1861 was 5,156. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Manchester, value £150, in the patronage of the Vicar of Deane. The old chapel, dedicated to St. Mary, was built at the beginning of the 16th century, the district church of St. Bartholomew about 1700. The Primitive Methodists, Independents, and Society of Friends, have each a chapel. There is a mechanics' institute, established in 1856, and a school partially endowed. The local charities produce about £22 per annum, including the school endowment. Fairs are held on 27th February and 12th October for minerals, &c."