Westhoughton

Westhoughton
Westhoughton is located in Greater Manchester
Westhoughton
Westhoughton
Location within Greater Manchester
Population24,974 (2011 Census)
OS grid referenceSD6505
Civil parish
  • Westhoughton
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBolton
Postcode districtBL5
Dialling code01942
PoliceGreater Manchester
FireGreater Manchester
AmbulanceNorth West
UK Parliament
WebsiteOfficial website
List of places
UK
England
Greater Manchester
53°32′56″N 2°31′44″W / 53.549°N 2.529°W / 53.549; -2.529
Farmer cutting off the cow's head – picture in the Waggon and Horses pub

Westhoughton (/wɛstˈhɔːtən/ west-HAW-tən) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England,[1] 4 miles (6 km) southwest of Bolton, 5 miles (8 km) east of Wigan and 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Manchester.[2]

Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Westhoughton was once a centre for coal mining, cotton-spinning and textile manufacture. It had a population of 24,974 at the 2011 Census.[3][4]

Westhoughton incorporates several former villages and hamlets which have their own distinctive character, sports traditions and amenities, including Wingates, White Horse, Over Hulton, Four Gates, Chequerbent, Hunger Hill, Snydale, Hart Common, Marsh Brook, Daisy Hill and Dobb Brow.[5]

  1. ^ "Greater Manchester Gazetteer". Greater Manchester County Record Office. Place Names T to W. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
  2. ^ AA Route Planner Archived 28 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine. URL accessed 29 May 2007.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference civilparish2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference civilparish2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Westhoughton Township Boundaries, GenUKI, archived from the original on 30 July 2010, retrieved 6 January 2012