Toponymy Leigh is derived from the
Old English leah which meant a place at the wood or woodland clearing, a glade and subsequently a pasture or meadow, it was spelt Legh in 1276. Other recorded spellings include Leech, 1264; Leeche, 1268; Leghthe, 1305; Leght, 1417; Lech, 1451; Legh, 16th century. As its name denotes it was a district rich in meadow and pasture land, and the produce of its dairies, the Leigh cheese, was formerly noted for its excellence. Pennington was recorded as Pininton and Pynynton in 1246 and 1360, Penynton in 1305, Pynyngton in 1351 and 1442 and Penyngton in 1443, the ending
tun denotes an enclosure, farmstead or manor in Old English. The ford of Beda, probably through the Pennington Brook gave its name to Bedford which was recorded as Beneford from 1200 to 1221 and Bedeford in 1200 and 1296.
Early history The earliest signs of human activity in Leigh are evidenced by a Neolithic stone axe found in Pennington and a bronze spearhead from south of Gas Street. A single Roman coin was found at Butts in Bedford.
Townships In the 12th century the
ancient parish of Leigh was made up of six
townships, including Pennington, Bedford, Westleigh,
Atherton, Astley, and Tyldesley cum Shakerley. Weekly markets were held by the parish church and a cattle fair held twice-yearly. The land to the south of
Atherton includes the feudal barony of Atherleigh, created by Queen Elizabeth, and Bedford
manor, which was mentioned in documents in 1202 when it was held by Sir Henry de Kighley whose family held it until the 16th century, but never actually lived there. Another prominent Bedford family, the Sales of Hope Carr Hall, had a great deal of influence in Bedford for over 400 years, and owned more land than the Shuttleworths. The hall was converted to a museum and art gallery in 1928 but was demolished in 1963. The grounds are now Pennington Park.
Civil War Leigh was divided in its allegiance during the
English Civil War, some of the population supporting the
Royalists' cause while others supported the
Parliamentarians. A battle was fought in the town on 2 December 1642, when a group of Chowbenters, men from neighbouring Atherton, beat back and then routed Cavalier troops under the command of
James Stanley, the 7th Earl of Derby.
Sir Thomas Tyldesley of Myerscough and Morleys Hall,
Astley, was killed on 25 August 1651 at the
Battle of Wigan Lane and is buried in the Tyldesley Chapel in Leigh Parish Church. The Earl of Derby passed through Leigh again in 1651, when he spent his last night in the King's Arms, before going on to his execution outside
Ye Olde Man & Scythe Inn in
Bolton.
spinning and
weaving began to develop as a
cottage industry. Work was supplied from
Manchester by agents who brought work weekly often to an inn, and where they collected the finished cloth. At first, the work was done to supplement the income of local farmers and their families. The cloth woven in Leigh was
fustian, a sort of rough
corduroy, and by the end of the 17th-century middlemen, fustian masters, were dealing directly with weavers and selling the finished cloth in Manchester. It is a tradition in the town that a local man,
Thomas Highs, was the inventor of a
spinning jenny and the
water frame in the 1760s, the latter invention being pirated by
Richard Arkwright, who subsequently made a fortune from the
patent royalties. These 18th-century improvements to the spinning process meant that handloom weavers were in great demand. but as power looms were introduced in factories in Manchester there was less work for them and there was serious unemployment in the town. In 1827
silk weaving began in Leigh, either as the result of a dispute or a labour shortage in the
Middleton silk industry. William Walker was a middleman who opened the first silk mill in Leigh in 1828, and others quickly followed, including James Pownall and Henry Hilton, whose mill survived until 1926. Several
cotton mills were built in Leigh after the mid-1830s, and some silk mills were converted to cotton after 1870. The large multi-storey spinning mills came later, and five survive today. Mill complexes were built at Kirkhall Lane and Firs Lane in Westleigh, and in Pennington and Bedford. is a Grade II* listed building. Mather Lane Mill close to the Bridgewater Canal is a Grade II listed building. More than 6,000 people were employed in textiles in Leigh in 1911.
Parsonage Colliery, the last pit to be sunk in Leigh, was one of the deepest in the country, going down to over . The extent of mining at Parsonage Colliery increased in the 1960s with the driving of the Horizon Tunnel, which accessed previously inaccessible seams around 6 ft (2 m) high that were easy to work. The seams were wet, and a series of pumps was used to remove the water into underground canals before it was pumped into the canal at Leigh. The
winding engine at Parsonage was a steam engine, fuelled by
methane extracted from the workings, while the neighbouring
Bickershaw Colliery had a superior electric system. In 1974, the two pits were linked underground, and all coal was wound at Bickershaw, which had better facilities, while Parsonage was used for supplies. The entire
Lancashire Coalfield is closed to deep mining, although several open-cast mines are still in operation elsewhere in the county. Mining disasters in Leigh included the
explosion of
firedamp which caused the deaths of 38 miners at
Bedford Colliery on 13 August 1886. There were several accidents at Bickershaw Colliery, but the most serious was in 1932, when 19 men were drowned in the sump at the bottom of the shaft after an overwind of the cage.
Manufacturing Other notable industry included the
tractor factory of
David Brown Limited, which was in Leigh following the acquisition in 1955 of Harrison, McGregor and Guest's Albion range of farm machinery products.
Rope-manufacture was another local industry: Mansley's Rope works on Twist Lane made rope by hand, using a
rope walk. The factory burnt down in 1912. Anchor Cables had a large works close to the Bridgewater Canal. The company was bought by Callender's Cables, in 1903, later to become
British Insulated Callender's Cables (BICC), part of
Balfour Beatty. Another major 20th century employer was Sutcliffe Speakman, which made
activated carbon and brick-making equipment. == Governance ==