Swinton, Greater Manchester

Swinton
Salford Civic Centre, in Swinton
Swinton  Swinton shown within Greater Manchester
Population	25,362 (2011)
OS grid reference	SD775015
– London	167 mi (269 km) SE
Metropolitan borough	Salford
Metropolitan county	Greater Manchester
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	MANCHESTER
Postcode district	M27
Dialling code	0161
Police	Greater Manchester
Fire	Greater Manchester
Ambulance	North West
EU Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Salford and Eccles
List of places UK England Greater Manchester

Coordinates: 53°30′44″N 2°20′28″W / 53.5122°N 2.3412°W / 53.5122; -2.3412

Swinton is a town within the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England.^[1] Historically in Lancashire, Swinton is located on the A6 road. It stands on gently sloping ground on the southwest side of the River Irwell, and within the bounds of the orbital M60 motorway. It is 3.4 miles (5.5 km) west-northwest of Salford, and 4.2 miles (6.8 km) west-northwest of Manchester. Swinton and the adjoining towns of Pendlebury and Clifton together have a population of 41,347.^[2] The results of the 2011 Census were that Swinton alone had a population of 25,362.^[3]

For centuries Swinton was a small hamlet within the township of Worsley, parish of Eccles and hundred of Salfordshire.^[4] This hamlet is thought to have centred on an ancient pig farm or market; the name Swinton is derived from the Old English "Swynton" meaning "swine town".^[4] During the High Middle Ages Swinton was broadly held by the religious orders of the Knights Hospitaller and Whalley Abbey. Farming was the main industry of this rural area during the Middle Ages, with locals supplementing their incomes by hand-loom woollen weaving in the domestic system.^[4]

Coal measures underlie the area, and a series of collieries opened during the Industrial Revolution gave rise to Swinton as an important industrial area. Locally sourced coal provided the fuel for a variety of cotton spinning and brickmaking industries. Bricks from Swinton were used for the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater's ambitious industrial projects, including the Bridgewater Canal, which passes Swinton to the south. The adoption of the factory system facilitated a process of unplanned urbanisation in the area, and by the mid-19th century Swinton had emerged as an important mill town and coal mining district at a convergence of factories, brickworks and a newly constructed road and railway network.^[5]

Following the Local Government Act 1894, Swinton was united with neighbouring Pendlebury to become an urban district of Lancashire. Swinton and Pendlebury received a charter of incorporation in 1934, giving it honorific borough status. In the same year, the United Kingdom's first purpose-built intercity highway—the major A580 road (East Lancashire Road), which terminates at Swinton and Pendlebury's southern boundary—was officially opened by King George V.^[6] Swinton and Pendlebury became part of the City of Salford in 1974. As such, Swinton has continued to grow as the seat of Salford City Council and as a commuter town, supported by its transport network and close proximity to Manchester city centre.

History

The name Swinton derives from the Old English swin, pigs and tun, an enclosure, farmstead or manor estate^[7] - an early form was Swynton.^[8]

During the Middle Ages, Swinton belonged to Whalley Abbey. Later, lands at Swinton were granted to Thurston Tyldesley, then of Wardley Hall. Documents record that certain areas belonged to the Knights Hospitaller.

In 1817 some Swinton weavers joined in the Blanketeers' demonstration and marched to London to put their grievances to the Prince Regent. In 1842 some Swinton people took part in Chartist agitations and tried to destroy a local colliery.

Sunday schools and libraries were established in Swinton at quite an early period. The Swinton Industrial School was visited by Charles Dickens. The school was created by the Manchester Poor Law Union. In contrast with other institutions for the poor around that time which were places of final resort, the Swinton Industrial School was built in response to a more enlightened attitude. The Manchester Poor Law Union saw the value in creating a place where children could be cared for and educated.^[9] The school opened in 1843 and survived until the 1920s. During demolition of the school buildings in the early 1930s, the foundations proved particularly difficult. Finally explosives were used, which resulted in a huge number of rats being disturbed. It was a number of weeks before council workers were able to remove the rats from the surrounding streets and houses. Huge nests of baby rats were carried out of the rafters of many buildings. The site was used for the present town hall.

Governance

The coat of arms of the former Swinton and Pendlebury Municipal Borough Council, granted by the College of Arms 1 October 1934.^[10]

Lying within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire since the early 12th century, Swinton anciently formed part of the hundred of Salford for civil jurisdiction. Swinton was a chapelry in the township of Worsley and ecclesiastical parish of Eccles.^[1]

Swinton's first local authority was a local board of health established in 1867.^[1] A regulatory body responsible for standards of hygiene and sanitation, it covered Swinton itself and the majority of the neighbouring township of Pendlebury. It changed its name to Swinton and Pendlebury Local Board of Health in 1869.^[1] Following the Local Government Act 1894, Swinton became a civil parish, and the area of the local board became Swinton and Pendlebury, an urban district of the administrative county of Lancashire.^[1] In 1907 there were exchanges of land with the neighbouring Worsley Urban District, and in 1933 most of Clifton and a part of Prestwich Urban District were added to Swinton and Pendlebury.^[1] Swinton and Pendlebury received its Charter of Incorporation as a municipal borough from Edward Stanley, 18th Earl of Derby at a ceremony in Victoria Park on 29 September 1934.^[1][11] In 1955 a very small part of Worsley Urban District was added to Swinton and Pendlebury.^[1]

Under the Local Government Act 1972, the Municipal Borough of Swinton of Pendlebury was abolished, and Swinton has, since 1 April 1974, formed an unparished area of the City of Salford, a metropolitan borough of the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester.^[1][12]

Geography

Neighbouring towns, districts and places.

	Kearsley	Clifton	Prestwich
	Worsley		Pendlebury
		Swinton
	Eccles	Salford	Irlams o' th' Height

Swinton lies at 53°30′44″N 2°20′28″W / 53.51222°N 2.34111°W / 53.51222; -2.34111 (53.5122°, -2.3412°), 167 miles (269 km) northwest of central London, and 4.2 miles (6.8 km) west-northwest of Manchester city centre. Topographically, Swinton occupies an area of gently sloping ground, roughly 213 feet (65 m) above sea level,^[13] and is on the south side of the River Irwell. Swinton lies in the west-central part of the Greater Manchester Urban Area,^[14] the UK's second largest conurbation. The M60 motorway passes Swinton on its northwest side.

Demography

In 1901 the population of Swinton was 18,512.^[15]

Landmarks

Salford Civic Centre opened in 1938 as the Swinton & Pendlebury Town Hall for the borough council of Swinton and Pendlebury.

St Peter's Church, Swinton

The architectural centre-piece of the town is the neo-classical Salford Civic Centre, which has a 125-foot (38 m) high clock tower.^[16] It was built as Swinton and Pendlebury Town Hall, when Swinton and Pendlebury received its Charter of Incorporation. Before its construction, council meetings were held in Victoria House in Victoria Park but the borough council required larger premises. A competition was launched to design the new town hall, the winners were architects Percy Thomas and Ernest Prestwich with a design that closely resembled Swansea Guildhall. It later won the R.I.B.A. Gold Medal.^[17]

The site of the former Swinton Industrial School on Chorley Road was purchased for £12,500 and the foundation stone of the new town hall laid on 17 October 1936. The main builders were J. Gerrard's and Son of Pendlebury. The town hall opened on 17 September 1938. Extensions were built when it became the administrative headquarters of the City of Salford in 1974.

Wardley Hall is an early medieval manor house and a Grade I listed building which is the official residence of the Roman Catholic bishops of Salford.^[18]

Transport

Swinton is served by two railways stations on the Manchester to Southport Line. Swinton railway station is near the town centre on the appropriately named Station Road (B5231). It is located just over the boundary in Pendlebury. The other station, and less busy, is Moorside railway station which is located near the top of Moorside Road, close to its junction with Chorley Road (A6). Until 1974 the station was known as 'Moorside and Wardley' railway station due to the closeness of Wardley.

Sports

Swinton RLFC has an impressive record in rugby league considering the size of the town. The club's six Championships and three Challenge Cup wins betters that of their local rivals Salford RLFC. The club was based in the town until 1992, when financial mis-management necessitated a move from the Station Road ground to play at Gigg Lane in Bury. The financial failure of main creditor and de facto owner Hugh Eaves in 2002 put the future of the club in jeopardy and it spent a short time regrouping at Moor Lane in Kersal, as tenants of Salford City F.C.. Since 2003 the Lions have played their home games in nearby Whitefield, at - Sedgley Park RUFC. In 2006, the return of the club to Swinton and Pendlebury was taken one step further when club chairman John Kidd announced on 9 August in a meeting held at the masonic hall in Pendlebury, that on 7 August the club acquired land to build a 6,000 capacity stadium with training facilities and community use in Agecroft, Pendlebury. As it stands at the moment the club are playing at yet another ground, and are tenants at Leigh Sports Village, ground sharing with Leigh Centurions,^[19] leaving the club's future of playing back in the town up in the air.

Swinton based junior association football side Deans F.C. was the starting point in the career of Ryan Giggs, who grew up in neighbouring Pendlebury and went on to become a Manchester United player, and also Dean Holden.

Notable people

Composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, presently Master of the Queen's Music, was brought up in Swinton after his family moved from Salford when he was four.^[20] In 1998, he wrote Swinton Jig, an orchestral work inspired by the sounds and traditional melodies heard in Swinton during his childhood.^[21]

The composer and pianist Roger Smalley was born in Swinton in 1943.^[22]

Musician and Songwriter Dale "DeYarmond" Grindrod also lives in Swinton.

See also

• Victoria Park, Swinton

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Cooper, Glynis (2005), Salford: An Illustrated History, The Breedon Books Publishing Company, ISBN 1-85983-455-8 
• Mills, David (1976), The Placenames of Lancashire, Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-5236-6 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swinton, Greater Manchester.

• Salford City Council's history for Swinton
• Salford City Council's local information for Swinton
• Swinton and Pendlebury dedicated website
• Queensmere Heritage trail dedicated site