Sharples, Greater Manchester facts for kids

Sharples, a suburb of Bolton, was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England. It lay 2½ miles north of Bolton. It contained the smaller settlements of Banktop, Sweet-Loves, High-Houses, Gale, Folds, Belmont, Piccadilly, Water-Meetings, Old Houses and part of Astley Bridge.

History

Sharples was recorded in documents as Charples in 1212, Sharples and Scharples in 1292 and the manor was part of the Barony or Lordship of Manchester in the Middle ages. Sharples was the name of a local family who lived at Sharples Hall, the last was Dr John Sharples Lawson who died in 1816.

Sharples contained forty-three hearths liable to the hearth tax in 1666. During the Industrial Revolution coal was mined on a small scale and cotton mills, calico print-works, extensive bleach-works were built in Belmont and Astley Bridge.

Geography

The township, on ground rising to the north of Bolton, had an area of 3920 acres divided into two portions. Upper Sharples on the slopes of Winter Hill and Whimberry Hill contained the districts of Hordern, Belmont, and the hamlet of Bromiley and a reservoir built by Bolton Waterworks formed the boundary between Sharples and Longworth. Lower Sharples was separated from the upper portion by a detached portion of Little Bolton. Astley Bridge is in Lower Sharples. The old road over the West Pennine Moors from Bolton to Preston via Astley Bridge and Withnell, now the A675 passed through the township for five miles. Much of the land is high moorland.

Religion

St Peter's church in Belmont was built in 1850.

Education

The main secondary school serving the area is Sharples School, located on Hill Cot Road.