Adlington, Lancashire

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For the village in Cheshire of the same name, see Adlington, Cheshire.

Map sources for Adlington, Lancashire at grid reference SD604135

Adlington is a town in Lancashire, England near the West Pennine Moors and the larger town of Chorley. It became a separate parish in 1842 then grew into a town around the textile and coal mining industries until these closed in the 1960s.

The early history of the Adlington District is obscured by the mists of time although the title itself provides clues to its origins. The last element of the name 'ington' possibly dates it as one of the Lancashire Anglo-Saxon settlements dating from about A.D. 650, while the first element contains a reference to the one time owner of the lands, Prince Eadwulf. Therefore Adlington is derived from the fact that Prince Eadwulf chose to settle with his people in the area and the place became known as Eadwulf's Tun (settlement) or the Tun of the Aethling or Prince. Throughout the centuries the spelling of the name has changed. In 1190 it was Edeluinton, in 1202 Adelventon, in 1246 Adelinton and, finally, in 1288 Adlington.

Adlington Coat Of Arms

In 1889, a J W Wallace moved to 40 Babylon Lane from Bolton. He and a number of friends had formed a group called 'The Eagle St College'. Their aims were to meet on a regular basis and discuss literary/political issues of the day. Soon, the group became interested in the writings of Walt Whitman, America's leading poet. Wallace and a few of the group went over to America to meet him and there was a great deal of correspondence. In fact, when Wallace died most of the material was sent to Bolton Museum and it now holds the largest collection of Whitman related papers outside America. Wallace was an influential figure at the time and people like Keir Hardie (founder of the Labour Party) and Edward Carpenter (philosopher) stayed at 40 Babylon Lane on a regular basis. He was also in contact with George Bernard Shaw, the Irish writer.

It is widely believed that The League of Gentlemen's fictional setting, Royston Vasey, is based on Adlington (Steve Pemberton's home town is Chorley).

One of the largest local employers is Debt Free Direct a group of insolvency practitioners. They recently bought Fairclough House from AMEC the international petrochemical group.