In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Rawtenstall like this:
RAWTENSTALL, a town and a chapelry in Whalley parish, Lancashire. The town stands on the Manchester, Bury, and Bacup railway, 8 miles N by E of Bury; was, not long ago, a secluded village; consists now of regular and well-built streets; is a seat of petty sessions, and a polling-place; carries on cotton and woollen manufactures; and has a r. ...
station with telegraph, a post-office‡under Manchester, a hotel, a mechanics' institution, a church, four dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, and four large public schools. The church was built in 1837 at a cost of £2, 500; and has an embattled tower. The Wesleyan chapel is at Longholme; and was built in 1842, at a cost of nearly £5,000. The United Free Methodist chapel was built in 1862, at a cost of more than £6,000; and is in the Corinthian style. The Unitarian chapel was built in 1853, the Roman Catholic chapel in 1844, each at a cost of £1, 500, and are in the pointed style. The chapelry was constituted in 1841. Pop. in 1861, 7, 823. Houses, 1, 562. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Manchester. Value, £300.* Patrons, Trustees.
Rawtenstall through time
Rawtenstall is now part of Rossendale district. Click here for graphs and data of how Rossendale has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Rawtenstall itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Rawtenstall, in Rossendale and Lancashire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/818
Date accessed: 25th April 2024
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