Adlington, Lancashire
Encyclopedia
Adlington is a town and civil parish in Lancashire
, England, near the West Pennine Moors
and the town of Chorley
. Six miles northwest of Bolton, it became a separate parish in 1842 then grew into a town around the textile
industry. It has a population of 5,270.
settlement from about A.D. 650, while the first element is either a personal name, Eadwulf, or the Aethling or Prince. Recorded spellings include, in 1190 Edeluinton, in 1202 Adelventon, in 1246 Adelinton and, in 1288 Adlington.
barony granted to Randle de Marsey and later held by the Ferrers. In 1184 Hugh Gogard granted land to Cockersand Abbey
. In 1202 Walter de Adlington granted six oxgang
s of land to Siward de Duxbury. In 1230 Roger de Maresheya sold the township to the Earl of Chester. In 1288 Hugh de Adlington and Adam de Duxbury each held a moiety
of the manor of William de Ferrers. The Duxbury portion was sold early in the 14th century and subdivided; several local families holding fractions. Land belonging to the St. Nicholas chantry
in Standish
Church was acquired by William Heaton, who died in 1619. John Pilkington, who had taken up arms for the king, but later took the side of Parliament in the Civil War, had his estate sequestered.
In 1307 John Adlington paid rent to Sir Gilbert Standish. In 1374 Robert le Norreys of Burton quitclaimed his share to Hugh of Standish. In 1378 Sir Nicholas de Harrington held land subsequently held by Lord Ferrers of Groby and Thomas Harrington. There was a partition as some land was held of Lord Mounteagle, the Harringtons successor.
In 1469 Hugh de Adlington gave the manor to his son, Robert who conveyed it to John Tarleton and Hugh Culcheth. Adlington fell in and out of the Adlington family ownership for over five centuries. Hugh Adlington died in 1525 holding messuage
s of Lord Mounteagle. His son Hugh died in 1556 holding the same estate which he left to his son John. Hugh Adlington died in 1640 holding the manor of Lord Morley and Mounteagle. His son Hugh was predeceased by his eldest son, John, who was killed fighting for the king at the siege of Chester in 1644. Hugh was succeeded by Peter who had no surviving children and the manor descended to John's daughter Eleanor, who married Samuel Robinson of Chester in 1664.
Before 1700 the manor was bought by Thomas Clayton, who died in 1722. The estate descended to his grandson Richard Clayton (Irish judge)
and in 1770, to his nephew, Sir Richard, who was created a baronet in 1774. Richard, consul at Nantes
, died in 1828 and was succeeded by his daughter Henrietta, wife of General Robert Browne, who assumed the Clayton name. Their son, Richard Clayton Browne Clayton, died in November 1886 His only son died at Sebastopol
and Adlington Hall passed to James Robert Browne Clayton Dawbeny. Adlington Hall, built around 1770 by Sir Richard Clayton, was a Georgian mansion of brick and stone, on high ground, replacing an ancient timber and plaster house on the same site. It was demolished in the 1960s.
s and then deeper shafts to the Arley mine (seam) at 137 feet. The Adlington Coal Company sank Ellerbeck Colliery
in 1876. The company went bankrupt in 1932. The mine was run privately during the 1930s and in 1947 was nationalised. As part of the National Coal Board
in 1958, Ellerbeck Colliery employed 411 men and woman who worked as Pit Brew Lasses, it closed in 1965. In the late 1970s and early 80s Ellerbeck was open casted and has been landscaped.
In 1891 Davies and Eckersley operated the Huyton Bleach
works and the Pin Croft Dyeing and Printing Company were bleachers and finishers. The largest mill was Adlington Mill, Thomas Gerrard and Sons spinning and weaving mill, which had 43,000 spindles and 900 looms. Springfield Mill operated by Thomas middeton & Company had 700 looms and Unsworth's Brook mill had 2,700 spindles and 96 looms.
In the Middle Ages
Adlington was a township in the ecclesiastical parish of Standish
in the Leyland Hundred
of Lancashire. In 1837, Adlington joined with other township
s (or civil parishes) in the area to form the Chorley
Poor Law Union
which took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law
in that area. A local board was formed in 1872 was replaced by an urban district
council of twelve members in 1894.
The town forms part of Chorley Borough
which has headquarters at the town hall in Chorley
. The town is represented on the Council by three Labour Party
Councillors elected for the Adlington and Anderton ward.
Adlington is part of the Chorley
parliamentary constituency, which elected Lindsay Hoyle
as Member of Parliament for the Labour party at the 2010 General Election.
and the Buckow Brook separates the township from Worthington to the west. The Ellerbeck is the boundary with Duxbury.
, Bolton
, Wigan
and Chorley. Construction company Leonard Fairclough & Son
was founded and based in the town before becoming part of the bigger AMEC
group. AMEC left Adlington in the mid naughties and the site is occupied by a call centre. Today industries are concentrated on an industrial estate. Pincroft printing works and the headquarters and main warehouse of Andrew Porter, one of the countries biggest removal and haulage firms are in the town.
Adlington's main road is the A6 from Manchester
via Blackrod
to Chorley and Preston. It has a junction with the B6227 towards Rivington
. The M61 motorway
passes the eastern fringe of the town.
Adlington railway station
is on the Manchester to Preston Line
. Another station, White Bear railway station
, was located in Station Road, on the Lancashire Union Railway between Wigan
and Blackburn. The station closed in the 1960s with the ticket office remaining as a local cafe. Evidence can be found throughout Adlington of the town's lost line.
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal
passes through Adlington where the White Bear Marina is the largest marina on the canal.
Parish Church, St.Joseph's a Roman Catholic Church and the United Reformed and Methodist Church on Railway Road.
Christ Church was built in 1839 but was used as a chapel of ease
after St. Paul's Church was built in 1884, but is no longer used for worship and has been converted to a restaurant. In the past there was an iron mission church
dedicated to St Philip and there were Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist and Congregational churches.
club Adlington Rangers and the towns Association Football pub teams. Meadow Road is home to Adlington Cricket Club who play in the local Lancashire and Bolton leagues.
. The group became interested in the writings of Walt Whitman
, America's leading poet. When Wallace died his archive was acquired by Bolton Museum which holds the largest collection of Whitman related papers outside America. Wallace was an influential figure at the time and Keir Hardie
(founder of the Labour Party
) and Edward Carpenter
(philosopher) stayed at his home.
Construction magnate Leonard Fairclough
was born and lived in Adlington and has a memorial garden dedicated to him in the town.
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England, near the West Pennine Moors
West Pennine Moors
The West Pennine Moors cover an area of approximately of moorland and reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England.The West Pennine Moors are separated from the main Pennine range by the Irwell Valley. The moorland includes Withnell, Anglezarke and Rivington Moors in the extreme west,...
and the town of Chorley
Chorley
Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry...
. Six miles northwest of Bolton, it became a separate parish in 1842 then grew into a town around the textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
industry. It has a population of 5,270.
Toponymy
The last element 'ington' indicates that Adlington was an Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
settlement from about A.D. 650, while the first element is either a personal name, Eadwulf, or the Aethling or Prince. Recorded spellings include, in 1190 Edeluinton, in 1202 Adelventon, in 1246 Adelinton and, in 1288 Adlington.
Manor
Adlington was part of the PenworthamPenwortham
-Landmarks:Penwortham Priory was built for the Rawsthorne family and redesigned by the Cumbrian architect George Webster. The priory was demolished due to the rapid expansion of the area and the need for new housing...
barony granted to Randle de Marsey and later held by the Ferrers. In 1184 Hugh Gogard granted land to Cockersand Abbey
Cockersand Abbey
Cockersand Abbey is a former abbey near Cockerham in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. It was founded before 1184 as the Hospital of St Mary on the marsh belonging to Leicester Abbey. It was refounded as a Premonstratensian priory and subsequently elevated to an abbey in 1192...
. In 1202 Walter de Adlington granted six oxgang
Oxgang
An oxgang or bovate is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, and so could be as low as 15.Skene in Celtic Scotland says:...
s of land to Siward de Duxbury. In 1230 Roger de Maresheya sold the township to the Earl of Chester. In 1288 Hugh de Adlington and Adam de Duxbury each held a moiety
Moiety title
Moiety title is legal term describing a portion other than a whole of ownership of property. The word derives from Old French moitié meaning "half" , from Latin medietas "middle", from medius....
of the manor of William de Ferrers. The Duxbury portion was sold early in the 14th century and subdivided; several local families holding fractions. Land belonging to the St. Nicholas chantry
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
in Standish
Standish, Greater Manchester
Standish is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It is located on the A49 road between the towns of Chorley and Wigan, a short distance from Junction 27 of the M6 motorway....
Church was acquired by William Heaton, who died in 1619. John Pilkington, who had taken up arms for the king, but later took the side of Parliament in the Civil War, had his estate sequestered.
In 1307 John Adlington paid rent to Sir Gilbert Standish. In 1374 Robert le Norreys of Burton quitclaimed his share to Hugh of Standish. In 1378 Sir Nicholas de Harrington held land subsequently held by Lord Ferrers of Groby and Thomas Harrington. There was a partition as some land was held of Lord Mounteagle, the Harringtons successor.
In 1469 Hugh de Adlington gave the manor to his son, Robert who conveyed it to John Tarleton and Hugh Culcheth. Adlington fell in and out of the Adlington family ownership for over five centuries. Hugh Adlington died in 1525 holding messuage
Messuage
In law, the term messuage equates to a dwelling-house and includes outbuildings, orchard, curtilage or court-yard and garden. At one time messuage supposedly had a more extensive meaning than that conveyed by the words house or site, but such distinction no longer survives.A capital messuage is the...
s of Lord Mounteagle. His son Hugh died in 1556 holding the same estate which he left to his son John. Hugh Adlington died in 1640 holding the manor of Lord Morley and Mounteagle. His son Hugh was predeceased by his eldest son, John, who was killed fighting for the king at the siege of Chester in 1644. Hugh was succeeded by Peter who had no surviving children and the manor descended to John's daughter Eleanor, who married Samuel Robinson of Chester in 1664.
Before 1700 the manor was bought by Thomas Clayton, who died in 1722. The estate descended to his grandson Richard Clayton (Irish judge)
Richard Clayton (Irish judge)
Richard Clayton was an English born politician and judge who held the office of Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas. His reputation was seriously damaged by the trial and execution of Father Nicholas Sheehy, which is still regarded as a notable miscarriage of justice.- Biography :He was the...
and in 1770, to his nephew, Sir Richard, who was created a baronet in 1774. Richard, consul at Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
, died in 1828 and was succeeded by his daughter Henrietta, wife of General Robert Browne, who assumed the Clayton name. Their son, Richard Clayton Browne Clayton, died in November 1886 His only son died at Sebastopol
Sebastopol
Sebastopol is a former spelling and frequent variant of Sevastopol, the port on the Crimean peninsula.Sebastopol may refer to the following:Places:* Sebastopol, California, USA* Sebastopol, Mississippi, USA...
and Adlington Hall passed to James Robert Browne Clayton Dawbeny. Adlington Hall, built around 1770 by Sir Richard Clayton, was a Georgian mansion of brick and stone, on high ground, replacing an ancient timber and plaster house on the same site. It was demolished in the 1960s.
Industrial revolution
Coal was mined in the area for centuries, first outcrops of coal and bell pitBell pit
A bell pit is a primitive method of mining coal, iron ore or other minerals where the coal or ore lies near the surface.. A shaft is sunk to reach the mineral which is excavated by miners transported to the surface by a winch and removed by means of a bucket, much like a well. It gets its name...
s and then deeper shafts to the Arley mine (seam) at 137 feet. The Adlington Coal Company sank Ellerbeck Colliery
Ellerbeck Colliery
Ellerbeck Colliery was a coal mine located on the border of Coppull and Adlington, within the Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England. The Hilton House and Red Moss Coal Company sank the first shaft in 1876 and it closed in 1928....
in 1876. The company went bankrupt in 1932. The mine was run privately during the 1930s and in 1947 was nationalised. As part of the National Coal Board
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
in 1958, Ellerbeck Colliery employed 411 men and woman who worked as Pit Brew Lasses, it closed in 1965. In the late 1970s and early 80s Ellerbeck was open casted and has been landscaped.
In 1891 Davies and Eckersley operated the Huyton Bleach
Bleach
Bleach refers to a number of chemicals that remove color, whiten, or disinfect, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include household chlorine bleach , lye, oxygen bleach , and bleaching powder...
works and the Pin Croft Dyeing and Printing Company were bleachers and finishers. The largest mill was Adlington Mill, Thomas Gerrard and Sons spinning and weaving mill, which had 43,000 spindles and 900 looms. Springfield Mill operated by Thomas middeton & Company had 700 looms and Unsworth's Brook mill had 2,700 spindles and 96 looms.
Governance
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Adlington was a township in the ecclesiastical parish of Standish
Standish, Greater Manchester
Standish is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It is located on the A49 road between the towns of Chorley and Wigan, a short distance from Junction 27 of the M6 motorway....
in the Leyland Hundred
Leyland (hundred)
The Leyland hundred, or Leylandshire, was a hundred of the English county of Lancashire. It covered the parishes of Brindle, Chorley, Croston, Eccleston, Hoole, Leyland, Penwortham, Rufford, Standish and Tarleton....
of Lancashire. In 1837, Adlington joined with other township
Township (England)
In England, a township is a local division or district of a large parish containing a village or small town usually having its own church...
s (or civil parishes) in the area to form the Chorley
Chorley
Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry...
Poor Law Union
Poor Law Union
A Poor Law Union was a unit used for local government in the United Kingdom from the 19th century. The administration of the Poor Law was the responsibility of parishes, which varied wildly in their size, populations, financial resources, rateable values and requirements...
which took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law
Poor Law
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
in that area. A local board was formed in 1872 was replaced by an urban district
Urban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
council of twelve members in 1894.
The town forms part of Chorley Borough
Chorley (borough)
Chorley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Chorley.-Creation:...
which has headquarters at the town hall in Chorley
Chorley
Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. It is the largest settlement in the Borough of Chorley. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry...
. The town is represented on the Council by three Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
Councillors elected for the Adlington and Anderton ward.
Adlington is part of the Chorley
Chorley (UK Parliament constituency)
Chorley is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
parliamentary constituency, which elected Lindsay Hoyle
Lindsay Hoyle
The Honourable Lindsay Harvey Hoyle is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Chorley since 1997. He is the son of Lord Hoyle, a former Labour MP for Warrington North....
as Member of Parliament for the Labour party at the 2010 General Election.
Geography
Adlington lies towards the north-east of the township, its area is 1,064 acres. Its south-east boundary is the River DouglasRiver Douglas
The River Douglas, also known as the River Asland or Astland, is a river that flows through Lancashire and Greater Manchester in the north-west of England...
and the Buckow Brook separates the township from Worthington to the west. The Ellerbeck is the boundary with Duxbury.
Economy
Adlington's economy was based on cotton mills and coal pits but the majority of these traditional industries have disappeared and the town primarily serves as a residential settlement for commuters working in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
and Chorley. Construction company Leonard Fairclough & Son
Leonard Fairclough & Son
Leonard Fairclough & Son Ltd was a construction firm based in Adlington, Lancashire, England.-History:The firm was founded by Leonard Fairclough, a stonemason in Adlington who established his business in 1883. Leonard's son, Leonard Miller Fairclough, joined the company and continued to run it...
was founded and based in the town before becoming part of the bigger AMEC
AMEC
AMEC plc is a global consultancy, engineering and project management company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is focused on the oil and gas, minerals and metals, renewable energy, environment and infrastructure sectors and has offices in 40 countries worldwide...
group. AMEC left Adlington in the mid naughties and the site is occupied by a call centre. Today industries are concentrated on an industrial estate. Pincroft printing works and the headquarters and main warehouse of Andrew Porter, one of the countries biggest removal and haulage firms are in the town.
Transport
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
via Blackrod
Blackrod
Blackrod is a settlement and civil parish of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, in Greater Manchester, England. It is north-northeast of Wigan and west of Bolton and, according to the United Kingdom Census 2001, has a population of 5,300....
to Chorley and Preston. It has a junction with the B6227 towards Rivington
Rivington
Rivington is a small village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, occupying . It is about southeast of Chorley and about northwest of Bolton. Rivington is situated on the fringe of the West Pennine Moors, at the foot of Rivington Pike...
. The M61 motorway
M61 motorway
The M61 motorway is a motorway in North West England. It runs from the M60 motorway northwest of Manchester and heads northwest past Bolton and Chorley to join the M6 just north of the junction between the M6 and M65 motorways to the south of Preston....
passes the eastern fringe of the town.
Adlington railway station
Adlington (Lancashire) railway station
Adlington railway station serves the village of Adlington, near Chorley in Lancashire, England. It is a two-platform station on the Chorley-Bolton line...
is on the Manchester to Preston Line
Manchester to Preston Line
The Manchester to Preston Line runs from the city of Manchester to Preston, Lancashire. It is largely used by commuters entering Manchester from surrounding suburbs and cities, but is also one of the main railway lines in the North West and is utilised by intercity services for Scotland and the...
. Another station, White Bear railway station
White Bear railway station
White Bear railway station, on Station Road, Adlington, Lancashire, England, was on the Lancashire Union Railway line between St Helens and Blackburn...
, was located in Station Road, on the Lancashire Union Railway between Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
and Blackburn. The station closed in the 1960s with the ticket office remaining as a local cafe. Evidence can be found throughout Adlington of the town's lost line.
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , it crosses the Pennines, and includes 91 locks on the main line...
passes through Adlington where the White Bear Marina is the largest marina on the canal.
Religion
The town has three active churches; St.Paul's which is the Church of EnglandChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
Parish Church, St.Joseph's a Roman Catholic Church and the United Reformed and Methodist Church on Railway Road.
Christ Church was built in 1839 but was used as a chapel of ease
Chapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....
after St. Paul's Church was built in 1884, but is no longer used for worship and has been converted to a restaurant. In the past there was an iron mission church
Tin tabernacle
Tin tabernacles were a type of prefabricated building made from corrugated iron developed in the mid 19th century initially in Great Britain. Corrugated iron was first used for roofing in London in 1829 by Henry Robinson Palmer and the patent sold to Richard Walker who advertised "portable...
dedicated to St Philip and there were Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist and Congregational churches.
Sports and recreation
Adlington has two large recreational areas, the King George's Field in the centre of the town and the Lower Playing Fields adjacent to the canal in lower Adlington. The King George's Field plays host to the town's amateur Rugby LeagueRugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
club Adlington Rangers and the towns Association Football pub teams. Meadow Road is home to Adlington Cricket Club who play in the local Lancashire and Bolton leagues.
Notable people
In 1889, James William Wallace moved to 40 Babylon Lane. He and a number of friends had formed a society called the Eagle Street CollegeEagle Street College
The Eagle Street College was an informal literary society established in 1885 at the home of James William Wallace in Eagle Street, Bolton, to read and discuss literary works, particularly the poetry of Walt Whitman, . The group subsequently became known as the Bolton Whitman Fellowship or...
. The group became interested in the writings of Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
, America's leading poet. When Wallace died his archive was acquired by Bolton Museum which holds the largest collection of Whitman related papers outside America. Wallace was an influential figure at the time and Keir Hardie
Keir Hardie
James Keir Hardie, Sr. , was a Scottish socialist and labour leader, and was the first Independent Labour Member of Parliament elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
(founder of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
) and Edward Carpenter
Edward Carpenter
Edward Carpenter was an English socialist poet, socialist philosopher, anthologist, and early gay activist....
(philosopher) stayed at his home.
Construction magnate Leonard Fairclough
Leonard Fairclough
Leonard Fairclough was a stonemason who founded Leonard Fairclough & Son which later merged with William Press Group to become AMEC, one of the United Kingdom's largest engineering businesses.-Career:...
was born and lived in Adlington and has a memorial garden dedicated to him in the town.