PENDLETON, a chapelry in the parish of ECCLES,
hundred of SALFORD, county palatine of LANCASTER,
2 miles (W. by N.) from Manchester, containing 5948
inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed
to the vicarage of Eccles, in the archdeaconry and diocese
of Chester, endowed with £200 royal bounty, and
£1800 parliamentary grant. The chapel, dedicated to
St. .Thomas, was built by Messrs. S. Brierly and John
Fletcher, in 1777, and was purchased by subscription
among the inhabitants shortly afterwards; it was originally
used as a place of worship for Methodists, the
celebrated John Wesley having first officiated in it. The
first stone of a new church was laid in July 1829, in
which it is intended to accommodate one thousand six
hundred persons, the commissioners for building additional
churches having granted £ 600, and the inhabitants
having subscribed £1000, towards defraying the
expense. The Independents, Wesleyans, and Methodists
of the New Connexion, have each a place of worship
here. The Liverpool and Edinburgh road, the Bolton
and Bury canal, and the Manchester and Liverpool railroad,
pass through the chapelry. There are several
cotton-mills, with dyeing, printing, and bleaching establishments,
also a flax-mill upon an improved principle,
together affording employment to about two thousand
five hundred persons, the remainder of the inhabitants
being chiefly occupied in the manufacture of silk and
cotton, in handicraft trades, and at the neighbouring
collieries. A small library of useful works was established
in 1829 at the village, adjacent to which are
many pleasant genteel villas. A school is supported by
subscription, in which about two hundred children are
instructed.