In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Prestwich like this:
PRESTWICH, a small town, a township, and a sub-district, in Manchester district, and a parish partly alsoin Oldham and Bury districts, Lancashire. The town stands 1¼ mile E N E of the river Irwell, 1½ E by N of Clifton-Junction r. station, and 4 N N W of Manchester; contains numerous good residences; and has a post-office & under Manchester, two churches, two Wesleyan chapels, a Jewish cemetery, a national school, a British school, a workhouse, the Lancashire lunatic asylum, and charities £164. ...
St. Bartholomew's church is later English; consists of nave, aisles, two terminal chapels, and a chancel, with a tower 85 feethigh; and contains a fine reredos erected in 1865, and several handsome monuments. St. Margaret's church was founded in 1848, by the Duchess of Cambridge. One of the Wesleyan chapels was built in 1867 The national school was built in 1866, at a cost of about £2, 800; and is in the early English style, with high-pitched roof and brick tower. The lunatic asylum stands in the centre of extensive grounds; is a range of structures in brick, with stone facings; underwent enlargement about 1862; and has accommodation for about 1,000 patients. The workhouse is one of three for Manchester district; and, at the census of 1861, had 66 in-mates. The township comprises 1, 906 acres. Real property, £21, 725. Pop. in 1851, 4,096; in 1861, 5, 288. Houses, 973.—The sub-district contains also Great Heaton and Little Heaton townships, and comprises 3, 281acres. Pop. in 1851, 5,046; in 1861, 6, 285. Houses, 1, 168. The parish contains also the townships of Pilkington, Oldham, Chadderton, Tonge, Alkrington, Royton, and Crompton; and is ecclesiastically cut into thesections of Prestwich, Hollinwood, Ringley, Prestolee, Oldham, St. Mary, O., St. Peter, O., St. James, Chadderton, St. John, C., St. Matthew, Coldhurst, East Crompton, Glodwick, Werneth, Waterhead, Royton, Shaw, Unsworth, and Tonge-with-Alkrington. Acres, 21, 625. Pop. in 1851, 94, 470; in 1861, 117, 961. Houses, 23,039. The living of Prestwich is a rectory united with the chapelry of St. Margaret, and all the other livings are p.curacies, in the diocese of Manchester. Value of therectory, £1, 230.* Patron, the Earl of Wilton. The other livings are noticed in the articles on their own several localities.
Prestwich through time
Prestwich is now part of Bury district. Click here for graphs and data of how Bury has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Prestwich itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Prestwich, in Bury and Lancashire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/461
Date accessed: 20th April 2024
Not where you were looking for?
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Prestwich".
