MIDDLETON, a parish in the hundred of SALFORD,
county palatine of LANCASTER, comprising the
market-town of Middleton, the chapelry of Ashworth,
and the townships of Ainsworth, Birtle cum Bamford,
Hopwood, Great Lever, Pilsworth, and Thornham, and
containing 12,793 inhabitants, of which number, 5809
are in the town of Middleton, 55 miles (S. E. by S.)
from Lancaster, and 1Q1 (N. N. W.) from London. The
name of this place is supposed to have originated from
its central situation with regard to some neighbouring
1 towns, whence it was called Middle town. The manor
was long held by the family of Assheton, to which belonged
Sir Richard Assheton, who signalized himself
against the Scots, in 1513, at the battle of Flodden,
whither he was accompanied by a band of archers from
Middleton. In modern times this town has chiefly been
distinguished as one of the principal seats of the' cotton
manufacture, and the weaving of silk is carried
on to some extent j in 1812, when a spirit of discontent
and insubordination prevailed among the workmen,
Middleton was, for a short time, the scene of
riot and bloodshed. It is pleasantly situated on the
road from Manchester to Rochdale, and is a considerable
thoroughfare. The inhabitants are abundantly
supplied with water from springs. Subscription concerts
have been established, and are well supported, it
being in contemplation to erect a handsome concertroom.
The cotton trade, in its various departments
of spinning, weaving, bleaching, and printing, is extensively
carried on, also the manufacture of nankeens,
ginghams, and check-handkerchiefs; there are also
a silk-manufactory and extensive dye-works, together
with coal mines in the immediate vicinity; in one of the
cotton manufactories are two steam-engines, of forty and
twenty-four horse power respectively, by which eleven
thousand spindles and five hundred power-looms are
put in motion. The Rochdale canal from Manchester
passes about one mile and a half from the town, and
communicates with other canals, affording a navigable
conveyance to Hull. To the introduction of the different
branches of manufacture Middleton is indebted for its
rapid increase of population, and its present prosperity.
A royal grant for holding a weekly market was obtained
in 1791, since which period a market-house, shambles,
and a range of warehouses for general merchandise,
have been erected, at the expense of Lord Suffield, to
whom the manor belongs. The market was appointed
to be held on Friday; and the fairs on the first Tuesday
after the llth of March, the first Tuesday after the
15th of April, and the second Thursday after the 29th
of September, all which, however, are merely nominal,
no business being transacted. Manorial courts leet and
baron are held in April and October; at the former of
these, the several constables, appointed at a vestry-meeting
of the ley-payers, are sworn in for the township.
The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese
of Chester, rated in the king's books at £36.3. ll.,
and in the patronage of Lord Suffield. The church, dedicated
to St. Leonard, is ancient, and appears to be the
work of different periods; the southern side, which is
the more modern, was built in 1524, by Sir Richard
Assheton and his wife Anne: the tower is low and supports
a superstructure of wood, the sandy foundation
not being deemed sufficiently firm to sustain an entire
erection of stone; the choir is separated from the nave
by a screen divided into seven compartments, on which
are carved the shields and armorial bearings of several
families connected by marriage with the Asshetons; in
both the north and south compartments are several
ancient and curious monuments and inscriptions; the
windows also are decorated with armorial bearings
especially that of the north aisle, on which is depicted
a group consisting of a priest and sixteen archers, in a
kneeling posture, intended as a representation of the
bowmen who accompanied Sir Richard Assheton to
Flodden field: the chancel window is decorated with
portions of stained glass, removed hither from an ancient
apartment in the rectory house, called " the Hall."
There are places of worship for the late Countess oi
Huntingdon's Connexion, Independents, Primitive and
Wesleyan Methodists, and Swedenborgians. The grammar
school was founded pursuant to royal charter, dated
August llth, 1572, by Alexander Nowell, D.D., Dean of
St. Paul's, London: the incorporated governors are the
Principal and Fellows of Brasenose College, in which the
dean, then Principal, likewise founded and endowed thirteen
scholarships for the benefit of this and other schools
in the county. It is also entitled to share with others
in two scholarships founded in the same college, by
Samuel "Radcliffe, D.D., in 1648, and endowed with an
estate in Bedfordshire. The governors elect the master,
whose salary is only £20 per annum, and the usher,
who has £ 10 j each of the boys pays for instruction.
There is a charity school in the township of Ainsworth,
endowed with a cottage for the master, and land producing
about £ 12 per annum, for which from six to eight
poor children receive instruction. In 1758, Catherine
Hopwood bequeathed £ 100, directing the interest to be
applied to the instruction of poor children, and the
school-house was erected at the expense of the inhabitants
of the township of Hopwood. Sunday schools belonging
to the various' religious communities afford instruction
to about two thousand children.