Adlington is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, near the West Pennine Moors. It is south of Chorley. It became a separate parish in 1842 then grew into a township around the textile and coal mining industries until these closed in the 1960s. It had a population of 5,270 at the 2001 census, and risen to 6,010 at the 2011 census. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal runs through the village, where it holds White Bear Marina, the largest marina on the Canal.

History

Toponymy

The last element 'ington' indicates that Adlington was an Anglo-Saxon settlement from about A.D. 650, while the first element is either a personal name, Eadwulf, or the aetheling or prince. Recorded spellings include, in 1190 Edeluinton, in 1202 Adelventon, in 1246 Adelinton and, in 1288 Adlington.

Manor

Adlington was part of the Penwortham barony granted to Randle de Marsey and later held by the Ferrers. In 1184 Hugh Gogard granted land to Cockersand Abbey. In 1202 Walter de Adlington granted six oxgangs of land to Siward de Duxbury. In 1230, Roger de Maresheya sold the township to the Earl of Chester. The Duxbury portion was sold early in the 14th century and subdivided; several local families holding fractions.

The Eagle Street College

From the 1890s onwards, Adlington became the successive host to the Eagle Street College, an informal grouping of workers who were early enthusiasts of the American free verse poet Walt Whitman, as its founder James William Wallace moved from his home in Bolton to the cleaner air of Adlington. As a result of his connections with writers, poets, trade unionists and the Independent Labour Party, Wallace's home became a centre of radical politics and culture; he played host to numerous Irish Republican and Indian independence leaders, socialist pioneers Edward Carpenter and Keir Hardie and poets such as Richard Maurice Bucke.

The Spanish Republican Connection

During World War II, the grounds of Adlington Hall were used as an internment camp for over 200 Spanish Republican

anti-fascists. These refugees had fled to France after the Spanish Civil War, where they had fought for the democratically-elected government, and many of whom had been captured by the Nazis and forced to work as slave labourers building defence infrastructure during the German occupation of the Channel Islands. They were transferred to British custody by war's end, and local Communists, trade unionists and veterans of the International Brigades campaigned for their freedom. By their release in 1946, many of the 226 men opted to live in France, although several dozen stayed in the Adlington, Chorley and Horwich areas after marrying local women, finding work or setting up businesses.

Governance

In the Middle Ages Adlington was in the ecclesiastical parish of Standish in the Leyland Hundred of Lancashire. In 1837, Adlington joined with other townships (or civil parishes) in the area to form the Chorley Poor Law Union which took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law in that area. A local board was formed in 1872 was replaced by an urban district council of twelve members in 1894.

Geography

Adlington covers an area of 1,064 acres. Its south-east boundary is the River Douglas and Buckow Brook separates the village from Worthington to the west. The Ellerbeck is the boundary with Duxbury.

Transport

thumb|Adlington railway station

Adlington's main road is the A6 from Manchester via Blackrod to Chorley and Preston. It has a junction with the B6227 towards Rivington. The M61 motorway passes the eastern fringe of the village.

Adlington railway station is on the Manchester to Preston Line. Another station, White Bear railway station in Station Road, was on the Lancashire Union Railway between Wigan and Blackburn. It closed in 1960 (the line remained in use for goods until 1974) with the ticket office remaining as a local café. Evidence can be found throughout Adlington of the villages lost line.

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal passes through Adlington where the White Bear Marina is the largest marina on the canal.

Buses are run by Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire and Pilkingtonbus. Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire run services to Preston, Chorley, Middlebrook and Bolton. Pilkingtonbus runs services to Chorley.

Religion

The village has three active churches: St. Paul's (the Church of England parish church), St. Joseph's (a Roman Catholic church), and the United Reformed and Methodist church on Railway Road.

Christ Church, built in 1839, was used as a chapel of ease after St. Paul's Church was built in 1884; it no longer is used for worship and has been converted to a restaurant. Formerly, Adlington also held an iron mission church dedicated to St Philip and Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist, and Congregational churches. in the centre of the village and the Lower Playing Fields adjacent to the canal in lower Adlington. The King George's Field plays host to the village's amateur rugby league club Adlington Rangers and the village's football pub teams. Adlington also has a junior football club with a variety of age groups including an open age team. Meadow Road is home to Adlington Cricket Club which plays in the local Lancashire and Bolton leagues, and Jubilee Park, where Bridge Celtic FC play.

Notable people

  • Leonard Fairclough (1853–1927), a stonemason who founded Leonard Fairclough & Son, became a construction magnate and has a memorial garden in the village.
  • John Christopher Bradshaw (1876–1950), a New Zealand organist, conductor, choirmaster and university professor.
  • Rowland Southern (1882–1935), an aquatic biologist who specialised in the study of the fresh-water and marine life, particularly Annelids (segmented worms)
  • Jack Ainscough (1926–2004), footballer, who played 421 games for Fleetwood Town
  • Sir Lindsay Hoyle (born 1957), MP for Chorley since 1997, Speaker of the House of Commons since 2019; born and raised in the village

See also

  • Listed buildings in Adlington, Lancashire

References

Bibliography

  • Adlington Town Council
  • Adlington Local government