Early history Pendlebury is formed from the
Celtic pen meaning hill and
burh a settlement. The township was variously recorded as Penelbiri, Pennilbure, Pennebire and Pennesbyry in the 13th century, Penilburi in 1300, Penulbury in 1332; Penhulbury in 1358, Pendulbury in 1561 and Pendlebury after 1567. In 1199
King John confirmed a gift of a
carucate of land called Peneberi to Ellis son of Robert. He had made the grant when he was
Count of Mortain (1189–99) and confirmed it when he became king in a deed signed at
Le Mans in France. Ellis was described as
Master Sergeant of
Salford and a benefactor of
Cockersand Abbey. In 1201 Pendlebury was linked to the
manor of Shoresworth to the south (described as "one
oxgang of land") before Shoreworth became part of
Pendleton. The manors of Pendlebury and Shoresworth were held of the king in
thegnage by a rent of 12
shillings in 1212. Ellis died in or about 1216, and his son Adam succeeded to his manor and
serjeanty. In 1274 Ellis, son of Roger came to a violent death, and Amabel, his widow claimed dower in various lands against Roger de Pendlebury. A short time afterwards, Amabel having received her
dower, she and Roger de Pendlebury had to defend a suit brought by Adam de Pendlebury, who satisfied the jury of his title to the manor. Ellis had a brother, William and daughters Maud, Lettice and Beatrice. Maud married Adam son of Alexander de
Pilkington of
Pilkington, and had a daughter Cecily. The manor was sold before 1300 to Adam de
Prestwich. The new lord of Pendlebury married Alice de Woolley daughter of Richard son of Henry de
Pontefract, the eventual heir was his daughter Alice, wife of Jordan de Tetlow. Her heir was her daughter, Joan, who married Richard de Langley, and the manor descended with the Langleys until the end of the 16th century. Robert Langley died 19 September 1561, leaving four daughters as co-heirs. On the division of the estates, Agecroft, and lands in Pendlebury, became the portion of Anne, who married William Dauntesey, from
Wiltshire. The manor of Pendlebury was claimed by the Daunteseys for some time, but was afterwards held with Prestwich, descending in the Coke family until about 1780, when it was sold to Peter
Drinkwater of Irwell House, Prestwich. The Langley name is remembered locally by having several streets, Langley Road, Langley Mill and
Langley housing estate in
Middleton named after the family. Agecroft Hall Estate is a recently built housing estate on Agecroft Road (A6044), named after the hall.
Industrial development in 1985 (since demolished)Pendlebury saw extensive coal extraction until the closure of
Agecroft Colliery in the 1990s.
Wheatsheaf Colliery was on Bolton Road between Carrington Street and City Walk on what is now the Wheatsheaf Industrial Estate and Newtown Colliery (on the Clifton/Newtown, Pendlebury boundary, bounded by Manchester Road/Bolton Road (A666), Billy Lane, Rake Lane and the pit lodge ('the Dam'), which later became known as "Queensmere"). Agecroft Colliery reopened in 1960 following an investment of £9,000,000 and seven years of establishment works. Agecroft stood on the site of Lumn's Colliery which had an unusual arrangement of winding gear concealed in three huge towers – the tallest of which was high and which was abandoned in 1932. After 1947 Agecroft Colliery sent much of its coal to the
CEGB's
Agecroft Power Station, via a conveyor belt system that crossed a bridge over Agecroft Road. Mining finished in 1990, and the Agecroft Colliery site is now home to the Agecroft Commerce Park. The
Kearsley, Clifton, Pendlebury and Pendleton Miners' Association was established in 1888 and became the Pendlebury Branch of the
National Union of Mineworkers in 1959. With the decline of the industry, the once popular Pendlebury Miners' Club (at the top of Temple Drive, Swinton) was demolished in the 1990s. ==Governance==