Maps and Plans

Note:

These pages list indexes available to the public at the Bolton History Centre, the home of the Archives and Local Studies Unit.

The left hand menu lists which indexes are available, or you can view the more detailed Archives Indexes contents page

Further indexes of use to Family historians

Index lists of maps and plans relating to Bolton districts grouped as follows:

Archives of Surveyors and Estate Agents

Many of our archival holdings, particularly records of Local Authorities, Public Utilities, Families, Estates and Businesses contain large quantities of maps and plans and these are noted in the appropriate place within this ‘Guide’. The archives noted below merit special mention because of their range and quantity. The two extensive archives of Surveyors and Estate Agents are particularly important in that they contain large amounts of material which pre-date the first edition of the Ordnance Survey.

Albinson, John of Bolton, Surveyor (ZAL) 1748-1850

Maps and Plans of Bleachworks, Bridges, Building Developments, Churches, Coal Mines, Cotton Mills, Enclosure, Estates, Quarries, Railways, Turnpike Roads in Bolton and also in: Adlington, Ainsworth, Anderton, Ashton-under-Lyne, Astley, Astley, Bridge, Atherton, Belmont, Blackburn, Blackrod, Bradshaw, Breightmet, Chorley, Downholland, Dutton, Duxbury, East Ardsley, Edgworth, Elton, Entwistle, Farnworth, Garstang, Halliwell, Harwood, Haslingden, Heaton, Hindley, Ince-in-Makerfield, Little Hulton, Little Lever, Liverpool, Longworth, Lostock, Lower Darwen, Manchester, Mellor, Middle Hulton, Musbury, Over Darwen, Over Hulton, Quarlton, Radcliffe, Rivington, Rumworth, Saddleworth, Salford, Sharples, Tonge-with-Haulgh, Tottington, Turton, Tyldesley, Walmersley, Walton-le-Dale, Wardleworth, Warrington, Westhoughton, West Leigh, Whitworth, Winwick, Witton


Jackson, Joseph and Sons of Bolton, Estate Agents & Surveyors (ZJA) 1620-1950

Maps and Plans of Bleachworks, Bridges, Canals, Churches, Coal Mines, Cotton Mills, Enclosure, Engineering Works, Estates, Paper Mills, Print Works, Property Developments, Public Houses, Quarries, Railways, Roads, Schools, Waterworks in Bolton and also in: Abram, Ainsworth, Anglezarke, Astley Bridge, Atherton, Aughton, Balderstone, Bedford, Belmont, Blackrod, Bold, Bradshaw, Breightmet, Burtonwood, Cabus, Catterall, Chorley, Coppull, Crompton, Culcheth, Darcy Lever, Darwen, Eccleshill, Edgworth, Ellel, Entwistle, Farnworth, Garstang, Glazebury, Grange-over-Sands, Great Lever, Halliwell, Harwood, Heath Charnock, Heaton, Hindley, Hoddlesden, Horwich, Kearsley, Leigh, Little Hulton, Little Lever, Longworth, Lostock, Manchester, Middle Hulton, Nether Wyresdale, Oldham, Over Hulton, Pennington, Prestwich, Quarlton, Radcliffe, Rivington, Rumworth, ,St Helens, Salford, .Sharples, Smithills, Southworth-with-Croft, Spotland, Sutton, Tonge-with-Haulgh, Tottington, Turton, Tyldesley, Up Holland, Westhoughton, Whiston, Wigan, Withington, Woolston-with-Martinscroft

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Enclosure

Enclosure was the process of dividing common and waste land into separately enclosed fields. In the Bolton area, as elsewhere, a large amount of moorland and waste was enclosed by Act of Parliament during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Large-scale plans, accompanied by schedules and awards giving details of owners, occupiers and other information, were usually drawn up in connection with these enclosures. In most cases, copies of enclosure plans, awards and schedules were deposited with the Clerk of the Peace for Lancashire and these are now preserved with the Quarter Sessions records and may be consulted at the Lancashire Record Office, Preston.

Here at Bolton, we also hold copies of many of the plans and awards relating to the local area. Most of these are to be found with the archives of the Bolton surveyor John Albinson (see MAPS AND PLANS: Estate Agents and Surveyors above) and with our holdings of Local Authority records. The list below is a summary of our holdings from these various sources.

Ainsworth

Cockey Moor (ZAL)  Plans 1808-1809

Bolton

Bolton Moor (ZAL & ABZ) Plans and Award 1792-1807

Edgworth

Edgworth Moor (ZAL & AT) Plans and Award 1797

Entwistle

Aushaw Moss (ZAL & AT) Plans and Award 1825-1860
Cranberry Moss (AT) Plan and Award 1860
Tyldesley Moss (ZAL) Plan 1825

Farnworth and Kearsley

Halshaw Moor (ZJA) Plan 1798

Harwood

Harwood Common (AT) Plan and Award 1801

Horwich

Horwich Moor (AH & ZAL) Plans and Minutes 1813-1820

Radcliffe

Radcliffe Moss (ZAL) Plans 1808-1809

Rumworth

Chew Moor (ABZ) Plan and Award 1817
Rumworth Moor (ZAL & ABZ) Plans and Award 1814-1817

Saddleworth (Yorkshire)

Denshaw Moor (ZAL) Plans 1808-1810

Tonge-with-Haulgh

Tonge Moor (ZAL & ABZ) Plans 1812-1817

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Tithe Maps and Awards

Tithe maps and awards were produced as a result of the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836. They are large scale maps of each township with a schedule which gives the names of land owners and occupiers, field names, acreage and state of cultivation.

There are tithe maps for only a few of the townships in the Bolton area. A complete set of all those which were made is available at the Lancashire Record Office Preston. At Bolton we have copies of the following tithe maps and awards:

Anglezarke (PBO)

Plan, Award and Schedule 1849

Blackrod (ZZ/48)

Plan, Award and Schedule 1841

Halliwell & Horwich (ABZ/83)

Plan, Award and Schedule 1851

Lostock (PBO)   

Plan, Award and Schedule 1849

Rivington (PBO)

Plan, Award and Scedule 1850

At the Lancashire Record Office, Tithe Maps and Awards and Schedules are also available for these townships:

  • Farnworth 1845
  • Heaton 1845
  • Kearsley 1855
  • Little Bolton 1845
  • Little Hulton 1844
  • Middle Hulton 1844
  • Pilkington 1841
  • Rumworth 1844
  • Westhoughton 1850

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Ordnance Survey Maps

Our holdings include a very extensive collection of large scale Ordnance Survey maps and plans relating to Bolton and the surrounding area, including Blackrod, Farnworth, Horwich, Kearsley, Little Lever, Turton and Westhoughton. This list is not fully comprehensive, but gives a general indication of the range and extent of the collection.

The Bolton Borough Engineer’s Survey of 1882 (scale 1:1056) and Nevett’s Survey of Horwich Local Board District of 1873-1874 (Scale 1:528) have been included.

Scale Six Inches to 1 Mile (1:10560)

  • Whole of Lancashire, including Bolton and District 1844-1849
  • Bolton and District 1889-1894
  • Bolton and District 1909-1913
  • Bolton and District 1927-1931
  • Bolton and District 1937-1949
  • Bolton and District 1950-1998

Scale 25.344 Inches to 1 Mile (1:2500)

  • Bolton and District 1889-1894
  • Bolton and District 1908-1912
  • Bolton and District 1926-1932
  • Bolton and District 1936-1939
  • Bolton and District 1950-1995
  • Bolton Metropolitan Borough 1996
  • Bolton Metropolitan Borough 2002

Scale 50.688 inches to 1 Mile (1:1250)

  • Bolton and District: Urban Areas Only  1950-1994

Scale 5 Feet to 1 Mile (1:1056)

  • Borough of Bolton (Ordnance Survey) 1847
  • Borough of Bolton (Borough Engineer’s Survey) 1882

Scale 10.56 Feet to 1 Mile (1:500)

  • Borough of Bolton (Ordnance Survey) 1889-1891
  • Borough of Bolton (Ordnance Survey) 1912
  • Farnworth (Incomplete) 1889-1891
  • Horwich Local Board (Nevett’s Plan, 1:528) 1873-1874
  • Horwich (Incomplete) 1890-1891

Note: In addition to the above, we have a collection of Geological, Land Use and Soil Survey Maps (various scales, dates and editions covering the Bolton area and other parts of South Lancashire).

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