1.Who was James Watkins?

In Westhoughton, in which Watkins gave a public lecture, a row of four carved heads have been incorporated into the front of a building above what is now a toy shop, this building formerly belonged to the Westhoughton Industrial Co-operative Society.  The heads depict a white man with ‘mutton-chop’ whiskers, a woman wearing a small trilby hat, a young person (possibly female) painted a dark colour to represent black skin and a man also with dark skin who is reported to be James Watkins.

Watkins lived for some time with the Abbatts in Bolton, before settling in Manchester. In 1860 he published a second book entitled ‘Struggles for Freedom; or The Life of James Watkins, Formerly a Slave in Maryland US’, printed by A Heywood of Oldham Street, Manchester. An entry in the 1861 census shows Watkins to be living at 74/73 Piccadilly, Manchester, boarding with a basket manufacturer, James Skinner & family. The census shows his stated profession as ‘lecturer on slavery’ and states that he was born in the America in 1831.

By the 1880s, Watkins had returned to America and is documented in the 1880 census for Baltimore, Maryland aged 51, his occupation given as ‘keeping house’.

always been friends of the slave, received me with their usual kindness: amongst whom I must mention that benevolent gentleman Joseph Sturge, Esq.”. 

Yet- besides the newspaper advert Watkins appears to have placed in the Birmingham Gazette- further sources of evidence of Watkins’s life in Birmingham are scarce. Did Watkins exaggerate the story of his relationship with Birmingham in order to sell more copies of his narrative in the town? Adding further uncertainty to the story, we know that Watkins also published two other editions of his narrative, that show he could change his message in order to appeal to different local communities. It is quite possible that Watkins returned to America after the civil war. Nevertheless, Watkins narrative widens the debate about the role that black abolitionists played in Birmingham: 

“in closing my account of Birmingham” he tells us, “I must again say that I have found more heartiness in their sympathy- more earnestness in their desire to forward my interests, and more friendliness at their firesides than in any town I have seen.” 


Note: This image is used by kind permission of the Worcester Record Office where it is stored. 

Watkins, on the cruelties of American Slavery, at Rose Place Chapel, Liverpool, on the 18th October, 1859, Mr. David Lewis in the chair, the following resolution was unanimously adopted:–“That this meeting expresses its sympathy with Mr. Watkins, and greatly rejoices that, through the kind providence of God, he has been brought to Great Britain, the land of liberty; but further declares, that it is the duty of every British subject on the other side of the Atlantic,–aye, and on this side of the Atlantic too,–to do all in their power to hasten the time when slavery shall be banished from the face of the earth; and not to relax in their exertions until the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea. And this meeting further indulges a hope that the time is not far distant when those states where slavery now exists, will be induced, as Great Britain has done, to adopt means for washing away this great stain on their national humanity and national honour.

                         “Haste, happy day,–that time we long to see, 
                         When every son of Adam shall be free.”

DAVID LEWIS, Chairman.

2.What is the oldest currently standing building in Westhoughton?

The answer has to be qualified but probably St Bartholomew’s church because a chapel/church has been on the site, built by the monks of Cockersand Abbey who were the land owners, since about 1200. A church dedicated to St. Bartholomew existed in 1557. It was rebuilt in 1731 and replaced by a larger building in 1869 and burned down apart from the Tower in 1990. It could be argued that the administrative headquarters of the Cockersand monks, namely Brinsop Hall/Farm must have been older than the chapel and the farm still exists. Also the properties of the landowners who donated land to the monks would have predated the chapel but these farms no longer exist.

3. What is the oldest building in Market Street?

The answer is the White Lion built about 1723 and originally used as a post also as a post office. The Red Lion was older being part of a farm built in 1604 and served as a stabling and staging post but was demolished in 2014.

4. When was the Bethel built?

The answer is 1853 but originally services were held at the cottages 26-28 Leigh Road. The Sunday School building was added in 1873.

5. What is the oldest school in Westhoughton?

The answer has to be qualified as the Parochial Primary School/ St Bartholomew’s Primary School, in School Street built in 1860 but the original version of this school was located in the church grounds. The Dame School, located on Manchester Road, was built by the Hulton family in 1835 for the education of the children of coal miners.

6. Which was the first cotton mill in Westhoughton?

The answer is the Westhoughton Old Mill, located on the factory nook opposite the White Lion, built in 1804 and burned down by Luddites in 1812.

7. Why is Dog Holes Farm so named? This farm building is still standing and is located on Chorley Road, A6 near Hilton House and is dated 1592! It has been suggested that the name is a corruption of Duck Pond Farm but there is no evidence for this and no sign of a duck pond!

Many of the queries about Westhoughton’s history are about the dates of events. The calender below lists the relevant dates.

Calendar of Westhoughton Events from 1910

1914 –  1918 World War 1

1914 – Snydale water tower opened by Westhoughton Urban District Council.

1915 –  James Wigglesworth re-opened Chadwick’s silk  mill, on Church Street, as a pharmaceutical manufacturing business (the Pill Works) , and employed several hundred local people, making medicated sweets, ointments, creams, toothpaste, tonics and cough mixtures.

1915 – The Empire cinema opened on Empire Day 24^th May.

1920

1920 –  Market site established – covered and fenced in 1924.

1923 The Cenotaph was erected by Westhoughton District Council and dedicated to those Westhoughton men who were killed in WW1. The War Memorial is located on the corner of

Market Street and Church Street, and was erected in 1923.

It was erected “in thankful remembrance and in gratitude to the 197 men who lost their lives in the Great War”

The cenotaph is surrounded by a semi-circular wall in which are incorporated the names of

the 169 men from Westhoughton who “gave their lives for freedom” in the second world

war.

On Remembrance Sunday each November, townspeople attend a Service of Remembrance at the cenotaph and numerous wreaths are laid.

1924 – First electric tram ran from Bolton to Westhoughton on 19^th Dec 1924. The terminus was opposite the Cenotaph, Market Street.

1925 Royal Naval Gun Works, James Street closed. The facility was originally a boiler works owned by Musgraves of Bolton that manufactured boilers for textile mills, but was purchased by the Ministry of Defence in 1901 for the manufacture of  large guns. Some of these guns were field guns others were used on destroyers.

1930

1936 – Stott’s pit closed 14th Nov. – the last working pit in Westhoughton

!939 – 1945 World War 11

1940

!947 – Last tram ran on Sunday 5^th Nov, 1946.

1950

1950 – Major problemWesthoughton needed new sewage system but couldn’t afford one!

1951– Westhoughton included in Lancashire County Development plan.

1952 – Chequerbent railway station closed.

1957 – Salford City Council wanted to build overspill/council houses at Westhoughton, but    withdrew plans in 1957.

1958 – Westhoughton UDC resolves to participate in the housing of Manchester’s overspill population.

1960

1962: Westhoughton Town map submitted to the Minister for Housing

1962 – Plans were drawn up for a new town increasing population from 17,000 to 71,000.

1962 – New Central park opened.

July 1963: Manchester Corporation submitted a compulsory purchase order for most of Westhoughton to the Minister for Housing and Local Government.

August 1963: Westhoughton UDC resolves to withdraw from the overspill scheme.

Oct 1963: Public Inquiry into Town Map and Compulsory Purchase Order opened.

Feb 1965: Town map and CPO approved by the Minister of Housing and Local Government.

 Oct 1966: Minister of Housing and Local Government withdraws support for the scheme.

1969 – M61 motorway opened to traffic 28thNov .

1970

1972: Master Plan approved by Westhoughton U.D.C

1974 – 18th Feb last meeting of Westhoughton Urban District Council.

1974 – Urban District of Westhoughton became part of Bolton Metropolitan Borough.

April 1974 Local Government reorganisation. All planning decisions now made by Bolton.

1978: Housing development map drawn up for central region.

 1980

1985 following a long campaign by a group of residents Westhoughton Town Council was formed

1988: Draft town centre plan showing diversion of A58

1990

1990 – St Bartholomews church was burned down this year and only the tower survived.

 1993 –  Death of Sir Geoffrey Hulton. Last of the Hulton dynasty

1999 and 2000 private developers applied for planning permission to build houses and an

industrial estate outside the central region.

2000

S.W.A.N. – Save Westhoughton Act Now, was a group of Westhoughtonresidents who successfully opposed these development proposals in 2000.

2010

2010 Statue of kneeling miner erected in Ditchfield Gardens to commemorate 100 years since Pretoria disaster.

2012  Olympic flame passes through Westhoughton with huge welcome from residents

2020

2022 Peel Holdings granted planning permission, after appeal, to build over 1000 houses on Hulton Park Estate, if the Ryder Cup bid is successful.