Golborne
| Golborne | |
|---|---|
 High Street, Golborne | |
| Population | 23,119 (2001 census) |
| OS grid reference | SJ606978 |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WARRINGTON |
| Postcode district | WA3 |
| Dialling code | 01925 01942 |
| Police | Greater Manchester |
| Fire | Greater Manchester |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
Golborne (go:[l]bə:n) is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south-southeast of Wigan, 6.1 miles (9.8 km) northeast of Warrington and 13.8 miles (22.2 km) to the west of the city of Manchester. It has a population of 23,119.
Historically a part of Lancashire, Golborne owes most of its growth to the mining and textile industry. There was also significant agricultural activity in the village, and many farms still belong to the families who originally owned them.
History
Toponymy
The name Golborne derives from the Old English golde and burna, and means "stream where marsh marigolds grow". The earliest settlements in the village were on banks of the Millingford Brook- hence the name of the village being taken from a water course where calendula grew.[1] Golborne has been recorded in ancient documents as Goldeburn in 1187, Goldburc in 1201, Goseburn and Goldburn in 1212 and Golburne in 1242. Golborne and Gowborne were 16th century spellings.[2]
Early history
A settlement at Golborne has existed since at least the time of the Domesday book. The manor was held in two moieties, half by the Lords of Lowton, and the half by the Golbornes up to the reign of Henry III, and later by various families including the Fleetwoods and Leghs.
The old Manor of Golborne stood to the north side of the village, giving its name to a public house on Church Street (now demolished). The manor and its lands extended as far as St Luke's Church in Lowton, and also gives its name to Manor Avenue and Manor Court.
The Venerable Bede wrote in his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum of a well near Golborne sacred to St. Oswald's memory.[3] This well had been suggested as the site where Penda, the pagan king of Mercia, slew the Christian King Oswald, later St Oswald, in the Battle of Maserfield, in 642. It is more generally accepted though that the site of that battle was some considerable distance to the southwest, near Oswestry.
Holcroft Hall, now a farm, was the home of Colonel Blood, who, during the reign of Charles II, attempted to steal the Crown Jewels. King Charles was amused by Blood's audacity and pardoned him. Blood married Maria Holcroft of Holcroft Hall at Newhurch Church against the will of her father.
In 1648 the Battle of Red Gap was fought by the old road south from Golborne (Probably the Red Bank area of Newton le Willows.) during the 2nd Civil War. The Scots on the side of Charles I had advanced into England. Oliver Cromwell, leader of the Roundhead Army intercepted the Scots at Preston and, in a series of running battles between Preston, Wigan and Warrington, of which Red Gap was one, he defeated the Scots even though his army was outnumbered by ten to one. Cromwell resolved to bring the king to trial and shortly afterwards "that man of blood" as the Roundheads called the king, was tried and finally executed on the 30 January 1649.
A local legend speaks of a knight who slayed a dragon and was granted land and a manor, supposedly Goulbourne. There is a tumulus in fields near the golf known as Castle Hill, where tradition says Alfred buried his treasure although to date it has never been found.
Recent history
The town grew from the Industrial Revolution due to the mining industry.
On 18 March 1979 there was a methane explosion at the town's colliery, caused by an electrical spark, which took the lives of 10 of the miners.[4] Of the 11 present, only one survived. The colliery closed around 10 years later in 1989. The location of the former colliery is known locally as the 'Bonk' or 'bonkin'[citation needed] (dialect for bank, as in railway embankment), and is now used as a business park. The closure of the colliery led to the loss of employment for a large proportion of Golborne's population as well as people from nearby towns such as Abram, Lowton and Ashton-in-Makerfield. These unemployment problems have been mostly eradicated in recent years with the introduction of new industries to the area which have created new jobs, for example, the creation of Stone Cross Industrial Park.
There is a campaign to reopen the town's railway station.[5] As part of Greater Manchester's Transport Initiative Fund package, a station at Golborne would be reinstated,[6] likely to be relocated on the site of the former (closed in 1961) main line station off the A573 in the centre of town. Golborne's other station was closed in 1952.
Like many places, Golborne's town centre has declined over recent years due to people preferring to travel to larger towns such as St. Helens, Warrington or Wigan and also preferring to use supermarkets instead of shopping in their own local shops. This has also meant that a once weekly market held on the town centre car park no longer takes place.
Governance
Under the Local Government Act 1972, in force from the 1 April 1974, the urban district of Golborne, established in 1894 (and expanded in 1933 by adding part of Leigh Rural District which included Kenyon), was split, with the parts of Culcheth and Newchurch becoming the civil parish of Culcheth and Glazebury in the Warrington district in Cheshire, and the rest of the district becoming part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan of Greater Manchester.
Demography
Population change
| Population growth in Golborne since 1901 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1939 | 1951 | 1961 | 2001 |
| Population | 6,789 | 6,931 | 7,183 | 7,321 | 13,845 | 16,878 | 21,310 | 20,007 |
| Source: A Vision of Britain through Time[7] | ||||||||
Landmarks
- The parish church of Golborne is St Thomas' Church, in the Deanery of Winwick, Diocese of Liverpool. Founded in 1829, the church building has a clock tower that is still in operation and is still heard chiming on every hour. There is also a graveyard surrounding the building.
- Peter Kane Square and memorial clock is situated in the town centre and is named in honour of Peter Kane.
On Sunday, 19 March 2006 the Rector of Golborne, the Rev Robert Williams, officiated at a service in Kidglove Road at what was the entrance to Golborne Colliery. The service was attended by ex-miners and their families, and was the fruition of two years of fund-raising to erect the 6 feet (2 m) by 3 feet (1 m) stone, commissioned in memory of the men and women who worked and died at Golborne Colliery between its opening in 1880 and its closure in 1989.
The memorial was conceptualised by the Golborne Ex-Miners Association, who staged a series of concerts to help towards the cost of the stone. Funding was also received from a community chest grant from Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council, Alpla (UK) Ltd of Golborne, and the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation. Former miner Dean Mitchell landscaped the memorial site.
Haydock Park Racecourse is nearby, located in Haydock, next to Golborne. The park is edged by a tall wall which forms the boundary between Haydock, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Golborne and Newton-le-Willows.
Notable people
References
- ^ Mills, A. D. (2003), A Dictionary of British Place-Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-852758-6
{{citation}}: Unknown parameter|subscription=ignored (|url-access=suggested) (help) - ^ Farrer, William; Brownbill, J, eds. (1911), "Golborne", A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4, British History Online, pp. 148–50, retrieved 28 February 2010
- ^ Golborne, Wigan Council, retrieved 21 June 2007
- ^ "18 March 1979: Three die in Golborne mine blast", On this day 1950–2005, BBC, 2008
- ^ http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/g/golborne_south/index.shtml subbrit.org.uk
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/pdf/gmpte_future_transport_map.pdf bbc.co.uk
- ^ "Census 2001 Key Statistics - Urban area results by population size of urban area", ons.gov.uk, Office for National Statistics, KS01 Usual resident population
, 22 July 2004, retrieved 22 September 2009
