View source for Bolton

{{short description|Town in Greater Manchester, England}}
{{about|the town in Greater Manchester|other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name = Bolton
| type = Town
| country = England
| coordinates = {{Wikidatacoord|Q184579|display=inline,title}}
| metropolitan_county = [[Greater Manchester]]
| population = 184,073
| population_ref = ([[United Kingdom Census 2021|2021 Census]])<ref name="CitPop">{{cite web |title=Bolton in Greater Manchester (North West England) Built-up Area |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/northwestengland/greater_manchester/E63001109__bolton/ |publisher=City Population |access-date=4 March 2025}}</ref>
| metropolitan_borough = [[Metropolitan Borough of Bolton|Bolton]]
| region = North West England
| constituency_westminster = [[Bolton North East (UK Parliament constituency)|Bolton North East]]
| constituency_westminster1 = [[Bolton South and Walkden (UK Parliament constituency)|Bolton South and Walkden]]
| constituency_westminster2 = [[Bolton West (UK Parliament constituency)|Bolton West]]
| post_town = BOLTON
| postcode_district = BL1-BL7
| postcode_area = BL
| dial_code = 01204
| os_grid_reference = SD715095
| london_distance = 
| static_image_name = {{multiple images | border=infobox | perrow =  1/2/2/2 | total_width=270px | align = center
| image1 = Bolton Town Hall, Victoria Square (geograph 7172391).jpg
|caption1= [[Bolton Town Hall|Town Hall]]
| image2 = Market Place, Bolton - geograph.org.uk - 3138427.jpg
| caption2 = [[Bolton Market Hall|Market Hall]]
| image3 = Reebok Stadium, Bolton Wanderers FC - geograph.org.uk - 2870441.jpg
| caption3 = [[Toughsheet Community Stadium|Stadium]]
| image4 = St. Peter's, Bolton - geograph.org.uk - 2860367.jpg
| caption4 =[[St Peter's Church, Bolton|St Peter's Church]]
| image5 = Deansgate from Churchgate (geograph 6900931).jpg
| caption5 = Deansgate 
| image6 = Hall i' th' Wood Museum, Bolton - geograph.org.uk - 4592333.jpg
| caption6 = [[Hall i' th' Wood]]
}}
 |parts_type = Areas of the town
 |p1 = [[Astley Bridge]]
 |p2 = [[Barrow Bridge, Bolton|Barrow Bridge]]
 |p3 = [[Bradshaw, Greater Manchester|Bradshaw]]
 |p4 = [[Breightmet]]
 |p5 = [[Bromley Cross]]
 |p6 = [[Burnden]]
 |p7 = [[Darcy Lever]]
 |p8 = [[Deane, Greater Manchester|Deane]]
 |p9 = [[Doffcocker]]
 |p10 = [[Eagley]]
 |p11 = [[Egerton, Greater Manchester|Egerton]]
 |p12 = [[Great Lever]]
 |p13 = [[Halliwell, Greater Manchester|Halliwell]]
 |p14 = [[Harwood, Greater Manchester|Harwood]]
 |p15 = [[Heaton, Bolton|Heaton]]
 |p16 = [[Horrocks Fold]]
 |p17 = [[Longworth, Lancashire|Longworth]]
 |p18 = [[Lostock, Bolton|Lostock]]
 |p19 = [[Markland Hill]]
 |p20 = [[Moss Bank]]
 |p21 = [[Sharples, Greater Manchester|Sharples]]
 |p22 = [[Tonge, Bolton|Tonge]]
| website = {{URL|https://bolton.gov.uk}}
}}
'''Bolton''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=en-uk-Bolton.ogg|ˈ|b|oʊ|l|t|ən}} {{respell|BOHL|tən}}, locally {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|oʊ|t|ən}} {{respell|BOH|tən}}){{sfnp|Shorrocks|1999|pp=10|ps=none}} is a town in [[Greater Manchester]] in England. In the foothills of the [[West Pennine Moors]], Bolton is between [[Manchester]], [[Blackburn]], [[Wigan]], [[Bury, Greater Manchester|Bury]] and [[Salford]]. It is surrounded by several towns and villages that form the wider [[Metropolitan Borough of Bolton|borough]], of which Bolton is the [[administrative centre]]. The town is within the [[Historic counties of England|historic county]] boundaries of [[Lancashire]].

A former [[mill town]], Bolton has been a centre for textile production since the 14th century when [[Flemish people|Flemish]] weavers settled in the area, introducing a wool and cotton-weaving tradition. It was a 19th-century [[boomtown]], development largely coincided with the introduction of [[textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution]]. At its peak in 1929, its 216&nbsp;[[cotton mill]]s and 26&nbsp;bleaching and dyeing works made it one of the largest and most productive centres of [[Spinning (textiles)|cotton spinning]] in the world. The British cotton industry declined sharply after the [[First World War]] and, by the 1980s, cotton manufacture had virtually ceased in the town.

The town has a population of 184,073, whilst the wider metropolitan borough has a population of 296,169. Bolton originated as a small settlement in the moorland known as [[Bolton le Moors]]. In the [[English Civil War]], the town was a [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] outpost in 1644 in a staunchly [[Cavalier|Royalist]] region and, as a result, the Royalist [[Prince Rupert of the Rhine]] led [[Storming of Bolton|the 1644 storming of Bolton]] of 3,000&nbsp;Royalist troops, which is also referred to as ''The Bolton Massacre'', with 1,600&nbsp;residents perished and 700 were taken prisoner.

[[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]] football club now play home games at the [[Toughsheet Community Stadium]] in [[Horwich]]. Cultural interests include the [[Octagon Theatre, Bolton|Octagon Theatre]] and the [[Bolton Museum]] and Art Gallery, as well as one of the earliest public libraries established after the [[Public Libraries Act 1850]].

==History==
===Toponymy===
Bolton is a common Northern English name derived from the [[Old English]] {{lang|ang|bothl}}-{{lang|ang|tun}}, meaning a settlement with a dwelling.{{sfnp|Mills|2011|p=65|ps=none}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://halogen.le.ac.uk/kepn/kepn_elements/ |title=Alphabetical list of elements in the KEPN data |publisher=[[University of Leicester]] |mode=cs2 |access-date=12 May 2014 |archive-date=16 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116022711/https://halogen.le.ac.uk/kepn/kepn_elements/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> The first recorded use of the name, in the form ''Boelton'', dates from 1185 to describe Bolton le Moors, though this may not be in relation to a dwelling.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PdcgAAAAMAAJ&q=Boelton+bolton+1185 |page=126 |title=The Battle of Brunanburh and Its Period |last=Cockburn |first=John Henry |publisher=Sir W.C. Leng |year=1931 |mode=cs2 |access-date=15 March 2016 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528052825/https://books.google.com/books?id=PdcgAAAAMAAJ&q=Boelton+bolton+1185 |url-status=live }}</ref> It was recorded as Bothelton in 1212, Botelton in 1257, Boulton in 1288, and Bolton after 1307.<ref name=vchGB>{{citation |editor1-last=Farrer |editor1-first=William |editor2-last=Brownbill |editor2-first=J |title=Great Bolton |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53037 |work=A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5 |publisher=British History Online |pages=243–251 |year=1911 |access-date=6 December 2009 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200819/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53037 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Later forms of Botheltun were Bodeltown, Botheltun-le-Moors, Bowelton, Boltune, Bolton-super-Moras, Bolton-in-ye-Moors, Bolton-le-Moors.<ref name=EB1911>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Bolton |volume=4 |pages=180–181 }}</ref>

The town's motto of {{lang|la|Supera Moras}} means "overcome difficulties" (or "delays"), and is a pun on the Bolton-super-Moras version of the name meaning literally, "Bolton on the moors".<ref name="Civ" /> The name itself is referred to in the [[Badge (heraldry)|badge]] of the Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council using a form of visual pun, a [[rebus]], in combining motifs of arrow for 'bolt' and heraldic crown for 'tun', the term for the central high point of a defensive position that is the etymon of the suffix of Bolton.<ref name="Civ">{{cite web |url=http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/cumbria_palatine_counties.html |title=Cumbria and Palatine Counties Area |work=Civic Heraldry of England and Wales |access-date=22 January 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=24 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824141725/http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/cumbria_palatine_counties.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Early history to the Civil War===
There is evidence of human existence on the moors around Bolton since the early part of the [[Bronze Age Britain|Bronze Age]], including a [[stone circle]] on [[Cheetham Close]] above [[Egerton, Greater Manchester|Egerton]],<ref name="CC2">{{cite web |last=Fletcher |first=M. |title=The Bronze Age Complex on Cheethams Close, Turton: A New Survey |url=http://www.gmau.manchester.ac.uk/pdfs/gmac1.pdf |publisher=manchester.ac.uk |access-date=6 December 2009 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=20 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920173108/http://www.gmau.manchester.ac.uk/pdfs/gmac1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and Bronze Age burial mounds on [[Winter Hill (North West England)|Winter Hill]].<ref name="WHB">{{cite web |title=Winter Hill Barrow |url=http://www.chorleyhistorysociety.co.uk/sys2011.htm |publisher=Chorley Historical and Archaeological Society |access-date=6 December 2009 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304015951/http://www.chorleyhistorysociety.co.uk/sys2011.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> A Bronze Age mound was excavated in [[Victorian era|Victorian]] times outside Haulgh Hall. The Romans built roads from Manchester to [[Ribchester]] to the east and a road along what is now the A6 to the west. It is claimed that [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola|Agricola]] built a fort at [[Blackrod]] by clearing land above the forest. Evidence of a [[Saxons|Saxon]] settlement exists in the form of religious objects found when the Victorian parish church was built.<ref name=BolParHist>
{{cite web |title=History of Bolton Parish Church |url=http://www.boltonparishchurch.co.uk/index_files/history.htm |work=[[St Peter's Church, Bolton|Bolton Parish Church]] |access-date=18 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070401222332/http://www.boltonparishchurch.co.uk/index_files/history.htm |archive-date=1 April 2007 |mode=cs2}}</ref>

In 1067 [[Great Bolton]] was the property of [[Roger de Poitou]] and after 1100, of Roger de Meresheys. Bolton became the property of the [[Pilkington of Lancashire|Pilkington]] family until they forfeited the land in the [[Wars of the Roses]]. The land was given to the [[Stanley family]] and thus the [[Earls of Derby]] who became royalists in the [[English Civil War]]. The area surrounding Bolton was subsequently divided into four parts including the Stanley family, the [[Earl of Bradford]], a [[Serfdom|Freeman]] and various other parties.<ref name="Vob Desc">{{cite web |title=Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Bolton |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp?text_id=861580&word=NULL |publisher=[[University of Portsmouth]] |access-date=7 December 2009 |series=[[Great Britain Historical GIS Project]] |year=2004 |work=A Vision of Britain Through Time |mode=cs2 |archive-date=29 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729113241/https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp?text_id=861580&word=NULL |url-status=live }}</ref> Great Bolton and [[Little Bolton]] were part of the Marsey fee, in 1212 Little Bolton was held by Roger de Bolton as plough-land, by the service of the twelfth part of a knight's fee to Randle de Marsey.<ref name=vchLB/> The parish church in Bolton has an early foundation although the exact date is unknown; it was given by the lord of the manor to the [[Gilbertine]] canons of [[Mattersey Priory]] in Nottinghamshire, founded by Roger de Marsey.<ref name=vchBleM/>
[[File:Ye Olde Man & Scythe, Bolton - geograph.org.uk - 498745.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ye Olde Man & Scythe]]]]
A charter to hold a [[Bolton Market|market]] in Churchgate was granted on 14 December 1251 by King [[Henry III of England]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Lancashire: Bolton |url=http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/lancs.html#B |work=Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales |date=18 June 2003 |access-date=9 June 2009 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=29 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629055040/http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/lancs.html#B |url-status=live }}</ref> Bolton became a market town and borough by a charter from the Earl of Derby, William de Ferrers, on 14 January 1253, and a market was held until the 18th century. [[Burgage]] plots were laid out on Churchgate and Deansgate in the centre of the [[medieval]] town close to where [[Ye Olde Man & Scythe]] public house, dating from 1251, is situated today.<ref name="Town Hall"/>
In 1337 Flemish weavers settled and introduced the manufacture of woollen cloth.{{sfnp|Lewis|1835|p=|ps=none}} More Flemish weavers, fleeing the persecution of [[Huguenots]], settled here in the 17th century. The second wave of settlers wove [[fustian]], a rough cloth made of linen and cotton.<ref name=lewis1835>Lewis (1835)</ref> Digging [[coal|sea coal]] was recorded in 1374.<ref name=vchGB/> There was an outbreak of the plague in the town in 1623.<ref name=vchGB/>

During the [[English Civil War]], the people of Bolton were [[Puritan]]s and supported the [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] cause.<ref name=vchBleM>{{citation |editor1-last=Farrer |editor1-first=William |editor2-last=Brownbill |editor2-first=J |title=Bolton le Moors |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53036 |work=A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5 |publisher=British History Online |pages=235–243 |year=1911 |access-date=6 December 2009 |archive-date=30 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030174128/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53036 |url-status=live }}</ref> A parliamentary garrison in the town was attacked twice without success but on 28 May 1644 Prince Rupert's Royalist army with troops under the command of the [[James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby|Earl of Derby]] attacked again. The attack became known as the [[Bolton Massacre]] in which 1,500 died, 700 were taken prisoner and the town plundered.<ref name=lewis1835/> The attackers took to referring to the town as the "Geneva of the North", referencing [[Geneva]]'s dominant [[Calvinism]], although historian Malcolm Hardman says this was a description borne "more of irritation than accuracy".<ref>{{cite book |title=Classic Soil: Community, Aspiration, and Debate in the Bolton Region of Lancashire, 1819–1845 |first=Malcolm |last=Hardman |publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-83863-966-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dx6gXAU-bc0C&pg=PA165 |page=165 |access-date=21 September 2020 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528052829/https://books.google.com/books?id=dx6gXAU-bc0C&pg=PA165#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> At the end of the Civil War, Lord Derby was tried as a traitor at Chester and condemned to death. When his appeal for pardon to parliament was rejected he attempted to escape but was recaptured. For his part in the massacre, he was executed outside Ye Olde Man & Scythe Inn on 15 October 1651.<ref name=vchGB/>

===Industrial Revolution onward===
[[File:Swan Lane Mills Bolton - geograph.org.uk - 175112.jpg|thumb|left|[[Swan Lane Mills]]]]
Bolton was a 19th-century [[boomtown]] and, at its zenith in 1929, its 216&nbsp;[[cotton mill]]s and 26&nbsp;bleaching and dyeing works made it one of the largest and most productive centres of [[Spinning (textiles)|cotton spinning]] in the world. The British cotton industry declined sharply after the First World War and, by the 1980s, cotton manufacture had virtually ceased in Bolton.

A tradition of cottage spinning and weaving and improvements to spinning technology by local inventors, [[Richard Arkwright]] and [[Samuel Crompton]], led to rapid growth of the textile industry in the 19th century. Crompton, whilst living at [[Hall i' th' Wood]], invented the [[spinning mule]] in 1779. Streams draining the surrounding [[moorland]] into the River Croal provided the water necessary for the [[bleach]] works that were a feature of this area.{{sfnp|Ashmore|1982|p=81|ps=none}} Bleaching using [[chlorine]] was introduced in the 1790s by the Ainsworths at Halliwell Bleachworks. Bolton and the surrounding villages had more than thirty bleachworks including the [[Lever Bank Bleach Works]] in the Irwell Valley.<ref name="SpWeb"/> The mule revolutionised cotton spinning by combining the roller drafting of Arkwright's water frame with the carriage drafting and spindle tip twisting of [[James Hargreaves]]'s [[spinning jenny]], producing a high quality yarn. Self-acting mules were used in Bolton mills until the 1960s producing fine yarn.<ref name="SpWeb">{{cite web |title=Bolton |url=http://www.spinningtheweb.org.uk/m_display.php?irn=48&sub=nwcotton&theme=places&crumb=Bolton |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061003071713/http://www.spinningtheweb.org.uk/m_display.php?irn=48&sub=nwcotton&theme=places&crumb=Bolton |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 October 2006 |publisher=spinningtheweb.org.uk |access-date=6 December 2009 |mode=cs2}}</ref> The earliest mills were situated by the streams and river as at [[Barrow Bridge]], but steam power led to the construction of the large multi-storey mills and their chimneys that dominated Bolton's skyline, some of which survive today.<ref name=lewis1835/>

Growth of the textile industry was assisted by the availability of coal in the area. By 1896 John Fletcher had coal mines at [[Ladyshore Colliery|Ladyshore]] in [[Little Lever]]; The Earl of Bradford had a coal mine at [[Great Lever]]; the Darcy Lever Coal Company had mines at [[Darcy Lever]] and there were coal mines at [[Tonge, Bolton|Tonge]], [[Breightmet]], [[Deane, Greater Manchester|Deane]] and [[Doffcocker]]. Some of these pits were close to the [[Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal]] providing the owners with markets in Bolton and Manchester.<ref name="1896 coal mines list">{{cite web |url=http://www.pdmhs.com/1896%20Lists/1896-80.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006230321/http://www.pdmhs.com/1896%20Lists/1896-80.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 October 2007 |title=1896 coal mines list |publisher=pdmhs.com |access-date=6 December 2009 |mode=cs2}}</ref> Coal mining declined in the 20th century.

Important transport links contributed to the growth of the town and the textile industry; the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal<ref name=lewis1835/> constructed in 1791, connected the town to [[Bury, Greater Manchester|Bury]] and [[Manchester]] providing transport for coal and other basic materials. The [[Bolton and Leigh Railway]], the oldest in Lancashire, opened to goods traffic in 1828 and [[Bolton Great Moor Street railway station|Great Moor Street station]] opened to passengers in 1831. The railway initially connected Bolton to the [[Leeds and Liverpool Canal]] in [[Leigh, Greater Manchester|Leigh]], an important link with the [[port of Liverpool]] for the import of raw [[cotton]] from America, but was extended in 1829 to link up with the [[Manchester to Liverpool Line]].<ref name=lewis1835/> Local firms built locomotives for the railway, in 1830 "Union" was built by [[Rothwell, Hick and Rothwell|Rothwell, Hick and Company]] and two locomotives, "Salamander" and "Veteran" were built by Crook and Dean.{{sfnp|Sweeney|1996|p=8|ps=none}}

Bolton's first Mayor, Charles James Darbishire was sympathetic to [[Chartism]] and a supporter of the [[Anti-Corn Law League]]. In August 1839 Bolton was besieged by Chartist rioters and the [[Riot Act]] was read and special constables sworn in. The mayor accompanied soldiers called to rescue special constables at [[Little Bolton Town Hall]], which was besieged by a mob, and the incident ended without bloodshed.<ref name="First Mayor">{{cite web |url=http://www.boltonsmayors.org.uk/darbishire-c-j.html |title=Charles Darbishire |publisher=boltonsmayors.org.uk |access-date=31 May 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=21 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091121080401/http://www.boltonsmayors.org.uk/darbishire-c-j.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Derby Barracks, Bolton|Derby Barracks]] was established in Fletcher Street in the early 1860s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bolton.gov.uk/sites/DocumentCentre/Documents/Urban%20Historic%20Landscape%20Characterisation.pdf |title=Bolton Urban Historic Landscape Characterisation |page=150 |publisher=University of Manchester |access-date=19 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920045115/http://www.bolton.gov.uk/sites/DocumentCentre/Documents/Urban%20Historic%20Landscape%20Characterisation.pdf |archive-date=20 September 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

One of two statues prominent on Victoria Square near [[Bolton Town Hall]] is that of [[Samuel Taylor Chadwick]] (1809 – 3 May 1876) a [[philanthropist]] who donated funds to [[Bolton General Hospital|Bolton Hospital]] to create an ear, nose and throat ward; built houses for people living in cellars; through Bolton Council fought for better public health including cleaner water; established the Chadwick Orphanage; improved the Bolton [[Workhouse]] and funded the town's natural history museum that was the basis of the present [[Bolton Museum]] at Le Mans Crescent (the original museum was in a building at [[Queen's Park, Bolton|Queens Park]]).<ref name = BMJ>{{Cite journal |pmid=6409217 |pmc=1548499 |year=1983 |last1=Felstein |first1=I |title=Samuel Taylor Chadwick: 1809–73 |journal=British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.) |volume=286 |issue=6383 |pages=2031–2 |last2=Naqvi |first2=N |doi=10.1136/bmj.286.6383.2031}}</ref> The second statue at Victoria Square is in memory of a former Bolton Mayor [[Benjamin Alfred Dobson|Sir Benjamin Alfred Dobson]] (1847–1898) who died in office in 1898, he was a textile machinery manufacturer and chairman of [[Dobson & Barlow]], a significant employer in the town.<ref name="links">{{cite web |title=Sir Benjamin Alfred Dobson |url=http://www.boltonsmayors.org.uk/dobson-b-a.html |website=Links in a Chain: the Mayors of Bolton |publisher=Bolton Council |access-date=21 June 2019 |archive-date=21 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621144503/http://www.boltonsmayors.org.uk/dobson-b-a.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="grace">{{cite web |title=Benjamin Alfred Dobson |url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Benjamin_Alfred_Dobson |publisher=Grace's Guide to British Industrial History |access-date=21 June 2019 |archive-date=21 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621151651/https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Benjamin_Alfred_Dobson |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="cassidy">{{cite web |title=Bolton: a tale of two statues |url=http://www.johncassidy.org.uk/bolton.html |website=John Cassidy: Manchester Sculptor |access-date=21 June 2019 |archive-date=21 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621144450/http://www.johncassidy.org.uk/bolton.html |url-status=live }}</ref> By 1900 Bolton was Lancashire's third largest engineering centre after Manchester and Oldham. About 9,000 men were employed in the industry, half of them working for Dobson and Barlow in Kay Street.<ref name="D&B">{{cite web |url=http://www.mcrh.mmu.ac.uk/pubs/pdf/mrhr_03ii_holden.pdf |title=Dobson and Barlow |publisher=mmu.ac.uk |access-date=13 December 2009 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718071747/http://www.mcrh.mmu.ac.uk/pubs/pdf/mrhr_03ii_holden.pdf |archive-date=18 July 2011 }}</ref>

Another engineering company [[Hick, Hargreaves & Co]] based at the Soho Foundry made Lancashire boilers and heavy machinery.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=125-zhh&cid=0 |title=Access to Archives Hick, Hargreaves and Co Ltd, engineers and millwrights, Soho Works, Bolton |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=30 April 2014 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=2 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502103039/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=125-zhh&cid=0 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Thomas Ryder and Son]] of Turner Bridge manufactured machine tools for the international motor industry. [[Wrought iron]] was produced for more than 100 years at [[Thomas Walmsley and Sons]]' Atlas Forge.<ref>{{cite web |title=Heritage steam hammer moves home |url=http://www.bolton.ac.uk/News/News-Articles/2009/nov-2009-5.aspx |publisher=Bolton University |access-date=29 March 2012 |mode=cs2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731074257/http://www.bolton.ac.uk/News/News-Articles/2009/nov-2009-5.aspx |archive-date=31 July 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

By 1911 the textile industry in Bolton employed about 36,000 people.<ref name="mills">{{cite web |title=Bolton Mills Action Framework |url=http://www.bolton.gov.uk/sites/DocumentCentre/Documents/bolton-mills-action-framework.pdf |page=6 |publisher=Bolton Council |access-date=23 June 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615102945/http://www.bolton.gov.uk/sites/DocumentCentre/Documents/bolton-mills-action-framework.pdf |archive-date=15 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> As of 1920, the [[Bolton Cardroom Union]] had more than 15,000 members, while the [[Bolton Weavers' Association]] represented 13,500 workers.<ref name="marsh">{{cite book |last1=Marsh |first1=Arthur |last2=Ryan |first2=Victoria |last3=Smethurst |first3=John B. |title=Historical Directory of Trade Unions |volume=4 |date=1994 |publisher=Ashgate |location=Farnham |isbn=9780859679008 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldirect0004mars}}</ref> The last mill to be constructed was Sir John Holden's Mill in 1927.<ref name="mills" /> The cotton industry declined from the 1920s. A brief upturn after the Second World War was not sustained, and the industry had virtually vanished by the end of the 20th century.

During the night of 26 September 1916, Bolton was the target for an aerial offensive. [[LZ 61 (L 21)|L21]], a [[Zeppelin]] commanded by [[Oberleutnant]] Kurt Frankenburg of the [[Imperial German Navy]], dropped twenty-one bombs on the town, five of them on the working class area of Kirk Street, killing thirteen residents and destroying six houses. Further attacks followed on other parts of the town, including three incendiaries dropped close to the Town Hall.{{sfnp|Smith|1991|pp=16–20|ps=none}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Zeppelin raid on Bolton |url=http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/museum/museum-collection-highlights/local-history/zeppelin-raid-on-bolton |publisher=Bolton Museums |access-date=30 April 2014 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203130608/http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/museum/museum-collection-highlights/local-history/zeppelin-raid-on-bolton |archive-date=3 February 2014 }}</ref>

===Lord Leverhulme===
In 1899 William Lever, [[William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme|Lord Leverhulme]], bought Hall i'th' Wood as a memorial to Samuel Crompton inventor of the spinning mule. Lever restored the dilapidated building and presented it to the town in 1902, having turned it into a museum furnished with household goods typical of domestic family life in the 16th and 17th centuries. Lever re-endowed [[Bolton School]]s, giving land and his house on Chorley New Road. He presented the town with {{convert|67|acre|m2}} of land for a public park which the corporation named [[Leverhulme Park]] in 1914.<ref name="Lord Leverhulme">{{cite web |url=http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/archive/2001/09/19/Lancashire+Archive/6008969.The_legacy_of_Lord_Leverhulme_/ |title=The Legacy of Lord Leverhulme |publisher=This is Lancashire |access-date=22 January 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=21 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921000431/http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/archive/2001/09/19/Lancashire+Archive/6008969.The_legacy_of_Lord_Leverhulme_/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1902 he gave the people of Bolton Lever Park at [[Rivington]]. In 1911, Lever consulted [[Thomas Mawson]], [[landscape architect]] and lecturer in Landscape Design at the University of Liverpool, regarding [[town planning]] in Bolton. Mawson published "Bolton – a Study in Town Planning and Civic Art" and gave lectures entitled "Bolton Housing and Town Planning Society" which formed the basis of an illustrated book "Bolton – as it is and as it might be". In 1924, Leverhulme presented Bolton Council with an ambitious plan to rebuild the town centre based on Mawson's designs funded partly by himself. The council declined in favour of extending the town hall and building the civic centre.<ref name="Mayors">{{cite web |url=http://www.boltonsmayors.org.uk/lever-w-h.html |title=William Hesketh Lever |publisher=Bolton Council |work=Links in a Chain – The Mayors of Bolton |access-date=22 January 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=4 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504135651/http://www.boltonsmayors.org.uk/lever-w-h.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Governance==
[[File:Bolton County Borough Council - coat of arms.png|thumb|right|The coat of arms of the former [[County Borough of Bolton|Bolton County Borough Council]]]]
Lying within the county boundaries of [[Lancashire]], until the early 19th century, [[Great Bolton]] and [[Little Bolton]] were two of the eighteen [[Township (England)|township]]s of the [[Parish|ecclesiastical parish]] of [[Bolton le Moors]].<ref name="MapGB">{{citation |url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Bolton/ParishMap.shtml |title=Great Bolton Township Boundaries |publisher=GenUKI |access-date=6 June 2010 |archive-date=18 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218191233/http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Bolton/ParishMap.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="MapLB">{{citation |url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/LittleBolton/ParishMap.shtml |title=Little Bolton Township Boundaries |publisher=GenUKI |access-date=6 June 2010 |archive-date=6 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606222137/http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/LittleBolton/ParishMap.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> These townships were separated by the [[River Croal]], Little Bolton on the north bank and Great Bolton on the south.<ref name=vchGB/><ref name=vchLB>{{citation |editor1-last=Farrer |editor1-first=William |editor2-last=Brownbill |editor2-first=J |title=Little Bolton |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53038 |work=A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5 |publisher=British History Online |pages=251–255 |year=1911 |access-date=6 December 2009 |archive-date=1 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201073824/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53038 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=vchBleM/> Bolton [[Poor Law Union]] was formed on 1 February 1837. It continued using existing poorhouses at Fletcher Street and Turton but in 1856 started to build a new [[workhouse]] at Fishpool Farm in Farnworth. Townleys Hospital was built on the site which is now [[Royal Bolton Hospital]].<ref name="Workhouse">{{cite web |url=http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Bolton/ |title=Workhouse |publisher=workhouses.org.uk |access-date=13 December 2009 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=7 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230507044137/https://www.workhouses.org.uk/Bolton/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1838 Great Bolton, most of Little Bolton and the Haulgh area of [[Tonge with Haulgh]] were incorporated under the [[Municipal Corporations Act 1835]] as a [[municipal borough]], the second to be created in England. Further additions were made adding part of [[Rumworth]] in 1872 and part of [[Halliwell, Greater Manchester|Halliwell]] in 1877.<ref name=GMCROBolton>{{citation |title=Greater Manchester Gazetteer |url=http://www.gmcro.co.uk/Guides/Gazeteer/gazzb.htm |access-date=20 June 2007 |publisher=Greater Manchester County Record Office |archive-date=18 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718144414/http://www.gmcro.co.uk/Guides/Gazeteer/gazzb.htm}}</ref><ref name=bolmusBolCB>{{cite web |title=Bolton County Borough |url=http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/bolton-archives/archives-indexes/local-authority-records/index_html#bolton-county-borough |publisher=Bolton Museums and Archive Service |access-date=6 July 2007 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529011228/http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/bolton-archives/archives-indexes/local-authority-records/index_html |archive-date=29 May 2008}}</ref> In 1889 Bolton was granted [[County Borough]] status and became self-governing and independent from [[Lancashire County Council]] jurisdiction. In 1898, the borough was extended further by adding the [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]]es of Breightmet, Darcy Lever, Great Lever, the rest of Halliwell, [[Heaton, Greater Manchester|Heaton]], [[Lostock, Bolton|Lostock]], [[Middle Hulton]], the rest of Rumworth which had been renamed Deane in 1894, Smithills, and Tonge plus Astley Bridge Urban District, and part of [[Over Hulton]] civil parish.<ref name=GMCROBolton/><ref name="bolmusBolCB"/> The [[County Borough of Bolton]] was abolished in 1974 and became a constituent part of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester.<ref name=GMCROBolton/><ref name="bolmusBolCB"/> Bolton unsuccessfully applied for city status in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13841482 |title=Why do towns want to become cities? |access-date=24 June 2011 |date=22 June 2011 |last=McClatchey |first=Caroline |work=BBC News |mode=cs2 |archive-date=24 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624015632/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13841482 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Three towns win city status for Diamond Jubilee |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17364651 |access-date=14 June 2012 |date=14 March 2012 |work=BBC News |mode=cs2 |archive-date=25 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425183250/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17364651 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council|Bolton Council]] is divided into twenty wards, each of which elects three councillors for a term of up to four years.<ref name="Dem">{{cite web |url=http://www.bolton.gov.uk/website/pages/Councillorinformation.aspx |title=Councillors |publisher=Bolton Council |access-date=30 April 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=28 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328024209/http://www.bolton.gov.uk/website/pages/Councillorinformation.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

Under the [[Reform Act 1832|Reform Act of 1832]], a [[Parliamentary Borough]] was established.<ref name=EB1911/> The [[Bolton (UK Parliament constituency)|Bolton constituency]] was represented by two [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] (MPs).<ref name=raymentsbcommons4>{{cite web |title=House of Commons constituencies: Bodmin to Bradford East (including Bolton) |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Bcommons4.htm |publisher=Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page |access-date=7 January 2009 |mode=cs2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810231554/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Bcommons4.htm |archive-date=10 August 2009 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> The Parliamentary Borough continued until 1950 when it was abolished and replaced with two parliamentary constituencies, [[Bolton East (UK Parliament constituency)|Bolton East]] and [[Bolton West (UK Parliament constituency)|Bolton West]], each with one Member of Parliament.<ref name=raymentsbcommons4/> In 1983 Bolton East was abolished and two new constituencies were created, [[Bolton North East (UK Parliament constituency)|Bolton North East]], and [[Bolton South East (UK Parliament constituency)|Bolton South East]] covering most of the former [[Farnworth (UK Parliament constituency)|Farnworth constituency]]. At the same time major boundary changes also took place to Bolton West, which took over most of the former [[Westhoughton (UK Parliament constituency)|Westhoughton constituency]].<ref name=raymentsbcommons4/><ref name=boltonwestprofile>{{cite web |title=Bolton West constituency profile |url=http://www.dodonline.co.uk/engine.asp?lev1=6&lev2=401&lev3=0&showpage=constit&tab=1&id=0001&BodyID=19245&GroupID=69&page=Bolton%20West%20:%20Constituency |work=dodonline |access-date=6 June 2007 |mode=cs2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011140508/http://www.dodonline.co.uk/engine.asp?lev1=6&lev2=401&lev3=0&showpage=constit&tab=1&id=0001&BodyID=19245&GroupID=69&page=Bolton%20West%20:%20Constituency |archive-date=11 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> More recent boundary changes resulted in the replacement of Bolton South West with [[Bolton South and Walkden (UK Parliament constituency)|Bolton South and Walkden]], first contested at the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 General Election]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – North West {{!}} Boundary Commission for England |url=https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/2023-review/2023-review-volume-one-report/the-2023-review-of-parliamentary-constituency-boundaries-in-england-volume-one-report-north-west/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk}}</ref>

It is surrounded by several neighbouring towns and villages that together form the [[Metropolitan Borough of Bolton|Borough of Bolton]], of which Bolton is the [[administrative centre]]. The town of Bolton has a population of 139,403, whilst the wider metropolitan borough has a population of 262,400.

Under the [[town twinning]] scheme the local council have twinned Bolton with [[Le Mans]] in France, since 1967,<ref name="TT1">{{cite web |url=http://www.bolton.gov.uk/website/pages/Towntwinning.aspx?bid=3515 |title=Town Twinning |publisher=bolton.gov.uk |access-date=22 January 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=15 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615101858/http://www.bolton.gov.uk/website/pages/Towntwinning.aspx?bid=3515 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Archant twinning">{{cite web |url=http://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns |title=British towns twinned with French towns |access-date=11 July 2013 |work=Archant Community Media |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705094933/http://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns |archive-date=5 July 2013 }}</ref> and [[Paderborn]] in Germany, since 1975.<ref name="TT1"/>

==Geography==
{{further|Geography of Greater Manchester}}
{{Panorama
| image = File:Bolton from Winter Hill.jpg
| alt = 
| fullwidth = 31953
| fullheight = 3225
| caption = A panoramic view of Bolton and environs from the north-west, taken from [[Winter Hill (North West England)|Winter Hill]].
| height = 200
}}
Close to the [[West Pennine Moors]], Bolton is {{convert|10|mi|km}} north-west of [[Manchester]].

The early name, Bolton le Moors, described the position of the town amid the low hills on the edge of the [[West Pennine Moors]] southeast of [[Rivington Pike]] (456 m). Bolton lies on relatively flat land on both sides of the clough or steep-banked valley through which the [[River Croal]] flows in a southeasterly direction towards the [[River Irwell]].<ref name=vchGB/> The geological formation around Bolton consists of [[sandstone]]s of the [[Carboniferous]] series and [[Coal Measures]]; in the northern part of Bolton the lower Coal Measures are mixed with underlying [[Millstone Grit]].<ref name=vchBleM/>

{{Geographic Location
| title = '''Neighbouring towns, villages and places.'''
| Northwest = [[Horwich]]
| North = [[Egerton, Greater Manchester|Egerton]] and [[Chapeltown, Lancashire|Chapeltown]]
| Northeast = [[Tottington, Greater Manchester|Tottington]]
| West = [[Aspull]] and [[Blackrod]]
| Centre = Bolton
| East = [[Little Lever]] and [[Radcliffe, Greater Manchester|Radcliffe]]
| Southwest = [[Westhoughton]]
| South = [[Atherton, Greater Manchester|Atherton]] and [[Tyldesley]]
| Southeast = [[Farnworth]] and [[Kearsley]]
}}

Climate in the Greater Manchester area is generally similar to the [[climate of England]], although owing to protection from the mountains in North Wales it experiences slightly lower than average rainfall except during the summer months, when rainfall is higher than average.{{sfnp|Wood|1974|p=15|ps=none}} Bolton has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The [[Köppen Climate Classification]] subtype for this climate is "[[Köppen climate classification#Group C: Temperate/mesothermal climates|Cfb]]" (Marine West Coast Climate/[[Oceanic climate]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=Köppen Classification: Marine West Coast Climate |url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=591040&cityname=Bury%2C+England%2C+United+Kingdom&units= |publisher=Weatherbase |access-date=7 August 2013 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528052827/https://www.weatherbase.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bury, England |url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=591040&cityname=Bury-England |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130807100406/http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=591040&cityname=Bury-England |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 August 2013 |publisher=Weatherbase |access-date=7 August 2013 |mode=cs2}}</ref>

{{Areas of Bolton}}

==Demography==
{{update|section|date=March 2025}}
{| class="wikitable" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align:center"
|+Bolton compared
![[United Kingdom Census 2021|2021 Census]]
! Bolton
! [[Metropolitan Borough of Bolton|Bolton<br>(borough)]]
! [[Greater Manchester|Greater<br>Manchester]]
! England
|-
| Total population||296,000||295,963||2,867,752 ||56,490,048 
|-
!colspan="5"|
|-
| White||71.9% ||72%||76.4%||81%
|-
| Asian||20.1%||19.8%||13.5%||9.7%
|-
| Black||3.8%||3.8%||4.7%||4.2%
|-
!colspan="5" |Source: Office for National Statistics<ref>{{cite web |title=How life has changed in Bolton: Census 2021 |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/censusareachanges/E08000001/ |access-date=24 July 2023 |language=English |date=19 January 2023 |archive-date=24 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724002327/https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/censusareachanges/E08000001/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
|}
At the time of the [[United Kingdom Census 2001]], according to the [[Office for National Statistics]], the Urban Subdivision of Bolton<ref name="2001urbanareamap">{{cite web |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/keystats/sqmap.aspx?kv=1371537478&type=-1&title=D90206+:+Greater+Manchester+Urban+Area+-+Bolton+%28urban+area+subdivisions%29 |title=D90224: Greater Manchester Urban Area – Bolton (urban area subdivisions) map |publisher=National Statistics |access-date=7 December 2009 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=17 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717101027/https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/keystats/sqmap.aspx?kv=1371537478&type=-1&title=D90206+:+Greater+Manchester+Urban+Area+-+Bolton+(urban+area+subdivisions) |url-status=live }}</ref> was part of the [[Greater Manchester Urban Area]] and had a total resident population of 139,403, of which 67,823 (48.7%) were male and 71,580 (51.3%) were female,<ref name=KS01/> living in 57,827&nbsp;households.<ref name="2001-KS17">{{citation |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-211152 |title=Census 2001 Key Statistics – Urban area results by population size of urban area |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=16 February 2009 |date=22 July 2004 |work=ons.gov.uk |at=[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/census-2001-key-statistics/urban-area-results-by-population-size-of-urban-area/urban-area-results-by-population-size-of-urban-area-ks17--cars-or-vans.xls KS17 Cars or vans] {{XLSlink}} |archive-date=12 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912070140/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-211152 |url-status=live }}</ref> The settlement occupied {{convert|4446|ha|sqmi}}, compared with {{convert|2992|ha|sqmi}} in the 1991 census, though the 2001 Urban census area contains a large rural area to the south of the town. Its population density was 31.35&nbsp;people per hectare compared with an average of 40.20 across the Greater Manchester Urban Area.<ref name=KS01/> The median age of the population was 35, compared with 36 within the Greater Manchester Urban Area and 37 across England and Wales.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-211152 |title=Census 2001 Key Statistics – Urban area results by population size of urban area |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=16 February 2009 |date=22 July 2004 |work=ons.gov.uk |at=[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/census-2001-key-statistics/urban-area-results-by-population-size-of-urban-area/urban-area-results-by-population-size-of-urban-area-ks02--age-structure.xls KS02 Age structure] {{XLSlink}} |archive-date=12 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912070140/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-211152 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Birthplace===
{{section update|date=June 2025}}
The majority of the population of Bolton were born in England (87.10%); 2.05% were born elsewhere within the United Kingdom, 1.45% within the European Union, and 9.38% elsewhere in the world.<ref name="2001birthdata">{{citation |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-211152 |title=Census 2001 Key Statistics – Urban area results by population size of urban area |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=16 February 2009 |date=22 July 2004 |work=ons.gov.uk |at=[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/census-2001-key-statistics/urban-area-results-by-population-size-of-urban-area/urban-area-results-by-population-size-of-urban-area-ks05--country-of-birth.xls KS05 Country of birth] {{XLSlink}} |archive-date=12 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912070140/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-211152 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Religion===
{{update section|date=June 2025}}
Data on religious beliefs across the town in the 2001 census show that 67.9% declared themselves to be [[Christians|Christian]], 12.5% stated that they were [[Muslim]], 8.6% said they held no religion, and 3.4% reported themselves as [[Hindu]].<ref name="2001religiondata">{{citation |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-211152 |title=Census 2001 Key Statistics – Urban area results by population size of urban area |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=16 February 2009 |date=22 July 2004 |work=ons.gov.uk |at=[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/census-2001-key-statistics/urban-area-results-by-population-size-of-urban-area/urban-area-results-by-population-size-of-urban-area-ks07--religion.xls KS07 Religion] {{XLSlink}} |archive-date=12 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912070140/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-211152 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Population change===
{{for|earlier population figures|Great Bolton|Little Bolton}}
{{Historical populations
|title = [[Population growth|Population changes]] in Bolton since 1891
| align = center
| shading = off
| pop_name = Population
| percentages = on
| cols = 3
| 1891 |146487
| 1901 |168215
| 1911 |180851
| 1921 |178683
| 1931 |177250
| 1939 |163823
| 1951 |167167
| 1961 |160789
| 1971 |154223
| 1981 |143921
| 1991 |139020
| 2001 |139403
| align-fn= center
| footnote = Sources: County Borough 1891–1971.<ref name=EB1911/><ref>{{citation |title=Bolton County Borough |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10003179&c_id=10001043&add=N |work=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]] |access-date=6 December 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201064003/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10003179&c_id=10001043&add=N |archive-date=1 December 2008}}</ref><ref name=visionboltonmbcbpop>{{cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10003179/cube/TOT_POP |title=Bolton MB/CB: Total Population |work=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]] |access-date=20 March 2016 |archive-date=29 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829003622/https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10003179/cube/TOT_POP |url-status=dead}}</ref> Urban Subdivision 1981–2001.<ref name=KS01>{{citation |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-211152 |title=Census 2001 Key Statistics – Urban area results by population size of urban area |work=ons.gov.uk |date=22 July 2004 |access-date=24 July 2008 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |at=[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/census-2001-key-statistics/urban-area-results-by-population-size-of-urban-area/urban-area-results-by-population-size-of-urban-area-ks01-usual-resident-population.xls KS01 Usual resident population] {{XLSlink}} |archive-date=12 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912070140/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-211152 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite document |title=1981 Key Statistics for Urban Areas: The North Table 1 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |year=1981 |mode=cs2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/greater_manchester_urban_area.asp |title=Greater Manchester Urban Area 1991 Census |publisher=National Statistics |access-date=24 July 2008 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205014453/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/greater_manchester_urban_area.asp |archive-date=5 February 2009}}</ref>
}}

==Economy==
{{update|section|date=March 2025}}
{| class="wikitable" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align:center" cellspacing="5"
|+Bolton compared
|'''[[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 UK Census]]'''||'''Bolton'''||'''[[Greater Manchester Urban Area|GM Urban Area]]'''||England
|-
| Population (16–74)||97,859||1,606,414||35,532,091
|-
| Full-time employment||37.0%||40.1%||40.8%
|-
| Part-time employment||11.7%||11.2%||11.8%
|-
| Self-employed||6.7%||6.6%||8.3%
|-
| Unemployed||4.2%||3.6%||3.3%
|-
| Retired||13.0%||13.0%||13.5%
|-
!colspan="5" |Source: Office for National Statistics<ref name="2001economicactivity">{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-211152 |title=Census 2001 Key Statistics – Urban area results by population size of urban area |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=9 December 2009 |date=22 July 2004 |work=ons.gov.uk |at=[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/census-2001-key-statistics/urban-area-results-by-population-size-of-urban-area/urban-area-results-by-population-size-of-urban-area-ks09a--economic-activity---all-people.xls KS09a Economic activity – all people] {{XLSlink}} |archive-date=12 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912070140/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-211152 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|}

At the time of the 2001 Census, 56,390 people resident in Bolton were in employment. Of these, 21.13% worked in the wholesale and retail trade, including repair of motor vehicles; 18.71% worked within manufacturing industry; 11.00% worked within the health and social work sector and 6.81% were employed in the transport, storage and communication industries.<ref name="2001industrydata">{{cite web |url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-211152 |title=Census 2001 Key Statistics – Urban area results by population size of urban area |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=8 December 2009 |date=22 July 2004 |work=ons.gov.uk |at=[http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/census-2001-key-statistics/urban-area-results-by-population-size-of-urban-area/urban-area-results-by-population-size-of-urban-area-ks11a--industry-of-employment---all-people.xls KS11a Industry of employment – all people] {{XLSlink}} |archive-date=12 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912070140/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-211152 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the last quarter of the 20th century heavy industry was replaced by service-based activities including data processing, call centres, hi-tech electronics and IT companies. The town retains some traditional industries employing people in paper-manufacturing, packaging, textiles, transportation, steel foundries and building materials. Missiles were produced at the [[British Aerospace]] (BAe) factory in [[Lostock, Bolton|Lostock]], now closed.{{cn|date=September 2025}} The [[Reebok]] brand's European headquarters were located at the Reebok Stadium (the present [[Toughsheet Community Stadium]]) until 2009 when its closure heralded the end of Reebok's presence in the town.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/7845574.stm |website=BBC News |title=Jobs go as Reebok leaves Bolton |date=22 January 2009 |access-date=13 September 2025 }}</ref> Bolton is also the home of the family bakery, [[Warburtons]], established in 1876 on Blackburn Road.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grant |first=Jeremy |title=CEO succession planning in a family business |url=https://www.strategy-business.com/article/CEO-Succession-Planning-in-a-Family-Business?gko=e0f6e |access-date=11 May 2020 |website=strategy+business}}</ref> On 13 February 2003, Bolton was granted [[Fairtrade Town]] status.<ref name="boltonfairtrade">{{cite web |url=http://www.boltonfairtrade.org.uk/ |title=Fair Trade |publisher=boltonfairtrade.org.uk |access-date=8 December 2009 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=8 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208145106/http://www.boltonfairtrade.org.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Bolton attracts visitors to its shopping centres, markets, public houses, restaurants and cafes in the town centre
as well retail parks and leisure facilities close to the town centre and in the surrounding towns and suburbs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visitbolton.com/shop |title=A winning market and your favourite high street brands |publisher=Bolton Council |access-date=30 April 2014 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=24 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624103622/https://www.visitbolton.com/shop |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visitbolton.com/portfolio/boltontowncentre |title=Bolton town centre, you'll find it all there... |publisher=Bolton Council |access-date=30 April 2014 |mode=cs2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502033047/http://www.visitbolton.com/portfolio/boltontowncentre |archive-date=2 May 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Tourism plays a part in the economy, visitor attractions include [[Hall i' th' Wood]], [[Smithills Hall]] and Country Park, Last Drop Village, [[Barrow Bridge, Bolton|Barrow Bridge]] and the [[Bolton Steam Museum]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visitbolton.com/thingstodo |title=From history and heritage to breath-taking countryside |publisher=Bolton Council |access-date=30 April 2014 |mode=cs2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502001246/http://www.visitbolton.com/thingstodo |archive-date=2 May 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Steam">{{cite web |url=http://www.communigate.co.uk/lancs/boltonsteammuseum/ |title=Bolton Steam Museum |publisher=communigate.co.uk |access-date=22 January 2010 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806110243/http://www.communigate.co.uk/lancs/boltonsteammuseum/ |archive-date=6 August 2010 }}</ref>

There are several regeneration projects planned for Bolton over the next ten years, including Church Wharf by Ask Developments and Bluemantle<ref name="Church Wharf">{{cite web |title=Church Wharf, Bolton |url=http://www.bluemantle-group.co.uk/church-wharf-bolton/ |publisher=bluemantle-group.co.uk/ |access-date=1 May 2014 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140501093710/http://www.bluemantle-group.co.uk/church-wharf-bolton/ |archive-date=1 May 2014 }}</ref> and Merchant's Quarter by local developer Charles Topham group, which together will contribute {{convert|1000000|sqft}} of business space.<ref>{{cite web |title=Merchant's Quarter Master Plan: Supplementary Planning Document |date=July 2009 |url=http://www.bolton.gov.uk/sites/documentcentre/Documents/Merchants%20Quarter.pdf |publisher=Bolton Council |page=6 |access-date=1 May 2014 |mode=cs2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502010226/http://www.bolton.gov.uk/sites/documentcentre/Documents/Merchants%20Quarter.pdf |archive-date=2 May 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Bolton Innovation Zone is a large £300 million development with the University of Bolton at its core. Bolton is pursuing major redevelopment projects in its town centre, including the regeneration of Crompton Place and Church Wharf areas, aimed at promoting residential, commercial, and leisure spaces.<ref name="Place Guild">{{cite web |url=https://placeguild.com/boltons-town-center-regeneration-gains-momentum-as-key-projects-advance/ |title=Bolton's Town Center Regeneration Gains Momentum as Key Projects Advance |date=22 March 2024 |access-date=2 May 2024 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528052829/https://placeguild.com/boltons-town-center-regeneration-gains-momentum-as-key-projects-advance/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Landmarks==
{{See also|Grade I listed buildings in Greater Manchester|Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester|List of public art in Greater Manchester}}
[[File:Smithills Hall 1.jpg|thumb|right|The 14th-century [[Smithills Hall]] is now a museum.]]
Situated in the town centre on the site of a former market is the [[Grade II*]] listed [[Bolton Town Hall|town hall]], an imposing [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] building designed by William Hill and opened in June 1873 by [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Albert Edward, Prince of Wales]].<ref name="Town Hall">{{cite web |title=Town Hall Conservation Area |url=http://www.bolton.gov.uk/sites/documentcentre/Documents/TownHall.pdf |page=7 |publisher=Bolton Council |access-date=13 February 2012 |mode=cs2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222024909/http://www.bolton.gov.uk/sites/DocumentCentre/Documents/TownHall.pdf |archive-date=22 February 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the 1930s the building was extended by [[Bradshaw Gass & Hope]].<ref name="Town Hall"/><ref name=alberthalls/> Within the Town Hall are the 'Albert Halls and several function rooms. The original, single Albert Hall was destroyed by fire on 14 November 1981. After rebuilding work, it was replaced by the present '''Albert Halls''', which were opened in 1985.<ref name=alberthalls>{{cite web |title=The Albert Halls |url=http://www.alberthalls-bolton.co.uk/ |work=Bolton Council |access-date=6 February 2008 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509085546/http://www.alberthalls-bolton.co.uk/ |archive-date=9 May 2008 }}</ref> The halls underwent a major restoration project, reopening in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=About us |url=https://www.alberthalls-bolton.co.uk/alberthallsbolton/us |website=Albert Halls Bolton |access-date=29 September 2022 |language=en |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528052833/https://www.alberthalls-bolton.co.uk/about/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Great Hall of [[Smithills Hall]] was built in the 14th century when William de Radcliffe received the Manor of Smithills from the Hultons, the chapel dates from the 16th century and was extended during the 19th. Smithills Hall was where, in 1555, [[George Marsh (martyr)|George Marsh]] was tried for heresy during the [[Marian Persecutions]]. After being "examined" at Smithills, according to local tradition, George Marsh stamped his foot so hard to re-affirm his faith, that a footprint was left in the stone floor. It is a Grade I listed building and is now a museum.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1388279|desc= Smithills Hall|access-date= 30 April 2014 |mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="Smithills Hall">{{cite web |title=Smithills Hall |url=http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/smithillshall/smithills-history/ |publisher=Bolton Council |access-date=4 December 2009 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091215113215/http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/smithillshall/smithills-history |archive-date=15 December 2009 }}</ref>

[[Hall i' th' Wood]], now a museum, is a late mediaeval yeoman farmer's house built by Laurence Brownlow. Around 1637 it was owned by the Norris family, who added the stone west wing. In the 18th century it was divided up into tenements. [[Samuel Crompton]] lived and worked there. In the 19th century it deteriorated further until in 1895 it was bought by industrialist [[William Hesketh Lever]], who restored it and presented it to [[Metropolitan Borough of Bolton|Bolton Council]] in 1900.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1388052|desc=Hall i' th' Wood |access-date=30 April 2014 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

Bolton's 26 conservation areas contain 700 listed buildings, many of which are in the town centre, and there is parkland including the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] [[Queen's Park, Bolton|Queen's Park]], [[Leverhulme Park]] and other open spaces in the surrounding area.<ref name="Parks">{{cite web |url=http://www.bolton.gov.uk/website/pages/Parksandopenspacesinformationandadvice.aspx |title=Parks and open spaces |publisher=Bolton Council |access-date=5 June 2010 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227100809/http://www.bolton.gov.uk/website/pages/Parksandopenspacesinformationandadvice.aspx |archive-date=27 February 2010 }}</ref><ref name="conservation areas">{{cite web |url=http://www.bolton.gov.uk/website/Pages/Conservationareas.aspx |title=Conservation Areas |publisher=Bolton Council |access-date=1 June 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=15 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315082805/http://www.bolton.gov.uk/website/Pages/Conservationareas.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> These include Le Mans Crescent, Ye Olde Man & Scythe, Little Bolton Town Hall, the Market Place, Wood Street and [[Holy Trinity Church, Bolton|Holy Trinity Church]]. [[Bolton Market Hall|The Market Hall]] of 1854 is a Grade II listed building.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1388092|desc=Market Hall and all ground floor shops|access-date= 30 April 2014 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref> Outside the town centre can be found Mere Hall, [[10 Firwood Fold|Firwood Fold]], Haulgh Hall, Park Cottage, St Mary's Church, Deane, Lostock Hall Gatehouse and [[Church of All Souls, Bolton|All Souls Church]]. Notable mills still overlooking parts of the town are Sir John Holden's Mill<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1387926|desc=Astley Bridge Mill|access-date=20 December 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref> and [[Swan Lane Mills]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1388071|desc=Swan Lane Mill Number 3|access-date=20 December 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

Most views northwards are dominated by Rivington Pike and the [[Winter Hill TV Mast]] on the West Pennine Moors above the town.<ref name="pike">{{cite web |url=http://www.bolton.org.uk/pike.html |title=Rivington Pike |publisher=Bolton Council |access-date=23 January 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=8 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608211332/http://www.bolton.org.uk/pike.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Transport==
Bolton is well served by the local road network and national routes. The [[A6 road (Great Britain)|A6]], a major north–south [[trunk road]], passes to the west through Hunger Hill and Westhoughton.
The [[A666 road|A666]] [[dual carriageway]], is a spur to and from the [[M61 motorway|M61]] [[M60 motorway|motorway]] through the town centre to Astley Bridge, Egerton, Darwen and Blackburn. The M61 has three dedicated junctions serving the borough.

A network of local buses coordinated by [[Transport for Greater Manchester]] serves the Bolton district and beyond;<ref name="Bus Stn">{{citation |title=Bolton Bus Station |url=http://www.tfgm.com/destination/Bolton-050911.pdf |publisher=TfGM |access-date=13 February 2012}}{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> bus operators include [[Go North West]] and [[Diamond North West]], both under the [[TfGM]] branding of [[Bee Network]]. Bolton is also served by the [[National Express Coaches|National Express]] coach network. The bus station on [[Bolton bus station|Moor Lane]] was scheduled to be replaced by a new interchange in the town centre next to the railway station by the end of 2014, at a cost of £48 million.<ref name="BusInterchange">{{citation |title=Bolton's £48m bus station plans approved |date=15 March 2012 |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-17381771 |access-date=30 April 2014 |archive-date=26 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926003348/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-17381771 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Bolton Interchange]] is managed by [[Northern (train operating company)|Northern]]; the railway station is part of a town centre [[transport interchange]] with services to Manchester, Wigan, Southport, Kirkby, Blackburn, Preston, Blackpool, Barrow in Furness, Windermere, Glasgow, Edinburgh and intermediate stations operated by Northern and [[TransPennine Express]].<ref name="Live">{{citation |title=Live Arr & Deps |url=http://realtime.nationalrail.co.uk/ldb/station.aspx?T=BON |publisher=nationalrail.co.uk |access-date=5 December 2009 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528052834/https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/live-trains/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Station">{{citation |title=Bolton Station |url=http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/bon/details.html#Transport_Links |publisher=nationalrail.co.uk |access-date=5 December 2009 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528052834/https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/bolton/#Transport_Links |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Education==
{{see also|List of schools in Bolton}}
[[Bolton School]], a [[Private schools in the United Kingdom|private day school]], was founded on a site next to the parish church in 1524 as a grammar school for boys; it merged around 1656 with a free grammar school (Lever's grammar) that had been founded shortly after 1641.<ref name=EB1911/><ref name=school>{{cite book |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53037 |title='Townships: Great Bolton', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 5 |year=1911 |pages=243–251 |editor1=William Farrer |editor2=J. Brownbill |publisher=Victoria County History |access-date=9 June 2009 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200819/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53037 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historyboltonwi00schogoog |quote=1524. |title=History of Bolton: With Memorials of the Old Parish Church |author=[[James Christopher Scholes]] |year=1892 |publisher=Daily Chronicle |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyboltonwi00schogoog/page/n419 393]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GwsJRFnvUIAC&pg=PA639 |page=639 |title=A Concise Description of the Endowed Grammar Schools in England and Wales, Volume 1 |author=Nicholas Carlisle |publisher=Baldwin, Cradock and Joy |year=1818 |access-date=15 March 2016 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528053329/https://books.google.com/books?id=GwsJRFnvUIAC&pg=PA639#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1898, it moved to its present site in Chorley New Road, and in 1913 merged with Bolton Girls' Day School.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.boltonschool.org/junior-boys/history/ |title=A Short History of the School |work=boltonschool.org |access-date=12 May 2014 |archive-date=19 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219090249/http://www.boltonschool.org/junior-boys/history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1855 the Bolton Church Institute was founded by Canon [[James Slade]] near to the parish church. The school became [[Canon Slade School]], which has since relocated to [[Bradshaw, Greater Manchester|Bradshaw]].<ref name="CSS">{{cite web |url=http://www.canon-slade.bolton.sch.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=172&Itemid=211 |title=Canon Slade School |publisher=Canon Slade School |access-date=1 June 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=11 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911173843/http://www.canon-slade.bolton.sch.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=172&Itemid=211 |url-status=live }}</ref> The town's other secondary schools include [[Bolton St Catherine's Academy]], [[Ladybridge High School]], [[Rivington and Blackrod High School]], [[Sharples School]], [[Smithills School]], [[Thornleigh Salesian College]], and [[University Collegiate School]]. [[Bolton College]] provides further education from sites throughout the borough.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bolton-community-college.ac.uk/ |title=Bolton Community College |publisher=Bolton Community College |access-date=5 October 2011 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=13 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513022015/http://bolton-community-college.ac.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Bolton Sixth Form College]] comprises the Town Centre Campus and Farnworth Campus.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bolton-sfc.ac.uk/howtofindus.htm |title=How To Find Us |publisher=Bolton Sixth Form College |access-date=5 October 2011 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003031726/http://www.bolton-sfc.ac.uk/howtofindus.htm |archive-date=3 October 2011 }}</ref> The [[Bolton TIC]] (Technical Innovation Centre), opened in 2006, supports local schools by providing additional technical training.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nwda.co.uk/news--events/press-releases/200601/the-princess-royal-opens-the-b.aspx |title=The Princess Royal opens the Bolton TIC |publisher=Northwest Regional Development Agency |access-date=5 October 2011 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001231750/http://www.nwda.co.uk/news--events/press-releases/200601/the-princess-royal-opens-the-b.aspx |archive-date=1 October 2011}}</ref> The [[University of Bolton]], formerly the Bolton Institute of Higher Education, gained university status in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bolton.ac.uk/AboutUs/OurOrigins.aspx |title=Origins |publisher=[[University of Bolton]] |access-date=22 January 2010 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121024004/http://www.bolton.ac.uk/AboutUs/OurOrigins.aspx |archive-date=21 January 2010 }}</ref>

==Religion==
{{See also|List of churches in Greater Manchester}}
[[File:Bolton Parish Church 2007.jpg|thumb|left|Bolton Parish Church]]
[[File:Bolton Parish Church, Nave - geograph.org.uk - 3123663.jpg|thumb|Bolton Parish Church Interior]]
{| class="wikitable floatright" style="margin-left: 1em;"
|+Religion in Bolton 2001<ref name="Bolton2001">{{citation |url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=276776&c=Bolton&d=13&e=16&g=349617&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1260706006628&enc=1 |title=2001 Census: Census Area Statistics: Key Figures: Area: Bolton (Local Authority) |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |access-date=13 December 2009 |archive-date=13 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613085108/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=276776&c=Bolton&d=13&e=16&g=349617&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1260706006628&enc=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
![[United Kingdom Census 2001|UK Census 2001]] || [[Metropolitan Borough of Bolton|Bolton <br />(borough)]] || [[Greater Manchester|Greater <br />Manchester]]|| England
|-
|Christian||74.56%||78.01%||71.74%
|-
|No religion||8.75%||10.48%||14.59%
|-
|Muslim||7.07%||3.04%||3.1%
|-
|Buddhist||0.10%||0.18%||0.28%
|-
|Hindu||2.00%|| 0.40%||1.11%
|-
|Jewish||0.06%|| 0.42%||0.52%
|-
|Sikh||0.03%||0.10%||0.67%
|-
|Other religions||0.15%||0.16%||0.29%
|-
|Religion not stated||7.28%|| 7.23%||7.69%
|}
There is evidence from Saxon times of [[Christianity|Christian]] churches and at the time of the Civil War a Puritan and [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformist]] presence in the town. The [[Unitarianism|Unitarians]] were among the early dissenting congregations which eventually included [[Methodist]]s, Baptists, Seventh Day Adventist and other denominations. More than forty churches were built during the Victorian era, but some have now been closed, demolished or converted to other uses.<ref name="Bolton Faith Trail">{{citation |url=http://www.allcommunity.co.uk/sei/s/911/f1.pdf |title=The Bolton Faith Trail |publisher=Bolton Interfaith Council |access-date=1 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903182907/http://www.allcommunity.co.uk/sei/s/911/f1.pdf |archive-date=3 September 2011 }}</ref><ref name="genuki">{{citation |url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Bolton/ |title=Genuki Bolton |publisher=Genuki |access-date=1 June 2010 |archive-date=15 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515113351/http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Bolton/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Today, the parish of [[Bolton-le-Moors]] covers a small area in the town centre,<ref name=acnyBleM>{{citation |title=St. Peter Bolton le Moors |url=http://www.achurchnearyou.com/parish.php?p=24/184 |work=A Church Near You |access-date=6 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204095303/http://www.achurchnearyou.com/parish.php?p=24%2F184 |archive-date=4 December 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but until the 19th century it covered a much larger area, divided into eighteen chapelries and townships.<ref name=vchBleM/><ref name=boltonparishes>{{citation |title=Map of Bolton ancient parishes |url=http://www.boydhouse.com/alice/Haslam/bolton.html |work=boydhouse.com |access-date=9 February 2008 |archive-date=31 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080331080222/http://www.boydhouse.com/alice/Haslam/bolton.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The neighbouring ancient parish of [[Deane, Greater Manchester|Deane]] centred around [[St Mary the Virgin's Church, Deane|St Mary's Church]] once covered a large area to the west and south of Bolton,<ref>{{citation |title=St Mary the Virgin, Deane |url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Deane/StMary.shtml |work=GENUKI |access-date=9 February 2008 |archive-date=4 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080204234811/http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Deane/StMary.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> and the township of [[Great Lever]] was part of the ancient parish of [[Middleton, Greater Manchester|Middleton]].<ref name=boltonparishes/>

The [[St Peter's Church, Bolton|Church of St Peter]], commonly known as Bolton Parish Church, is an example of the [[Gothic Revival architecture|gothic revival style]]. Built between 1866 and 1871 of [[Longridge]] stone to designs by [[Edward Graham Paley|Paley]], the [[Church (building)|church]] is {{cvt|67|ft|m|1}} in width, {{cvt|156|ft|m|1}} in length, and {{cvt|82|ft|m|1}} in height. The [[Bell tower|tower]] is {{cvt|180|ft|m|1}} high with 13 [[Church bell|bells]].<ref name=BolParHist/> The first church on the same site was built in [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] times. It was rebuilt in [[Normans|Norman]] times and again in the early 15th century. Little is known of the first two earlier churches, but the third building was a solid, squat building with a sturdy square tower at the west end. It was modified over the years until it fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1866.<ref name=vchBleM/> Fragments of stone and other artefacts from these first three buildings are displayed in the museum corner of the present church.<ref name=BolParHist/>

St Mary's Deane, once the only church in a parish of ten townships in the hundred of Salford, is a church established in Saxon times. The current building dates from 1250 with extensions and restoration in the 19th century and is a [[Grade II#England and Wales|Grade II*]] [[listed building]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num= 1388085 |desc= Church of St Mary |access-date= 30 April 2014 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

St George's Church was built between 1794 and 1796 when Little Bolton was a separate township. Built by Peter Rothwell and paid for by the Ainsworth family.<ref>Buildings of Bolton. Bolton and District Civic Trust. 1994.</ref> in 1975 it was leased to Bolton Council, and became a craft centre in 1994.{{sfnp|Hartwell|Hyde|Pevsner|2004|p=|ps=none}} [[St Patrick's Church, Bolton|St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church]] on Great Moor Street, was built in 1861.<ref name=stock1>[http://taking-stock.org.uk/Home/Dioceses/Diocese-of-Salford/Bolton-St-Patrick Bolton – St Patrick] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160217002714/http://taking-stock.org.uk/Home/Dioceses/Diocese-of-Salford/Bolton-St-Patrick |date=17 February 2016 }} from [[English Heritage]], retrieved 13 February 2016</ref>

The New Zakaria Mosque, the first mosque in Bolton, served the Muslim community from Pakistan and India from the 1960s. The first place of worship for Hindus was in the former St Barnabas Church, converted into a Hindu temple.<ref name="Bolton Faith Trail"/>

==Sport==
[[Bolton Wanderers F.C.]] is an [[English Football League teams|English Football League]] club which was formed in 1874 and for 102 years played at [[Burnden Park]]. The club moved to the [[Toughsheet Community Stadium]] in [[Horwich]] in 1997.<ref>{{cite news|title=Timeline: A history of the Reebok Stadium|url=http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/11171470.print/|access-date=6 August 2014|work=The Bolton News|date=24 April 2014}}</ref> The club has won four [[FA Cup]]s, the most recent in 1958, and spent 73 seasons in the top division of the English league – more than any club never to have been league champions.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.myfootballfacts.com/SEASONS-IN-TOP-FLIGHT----1888-89-to-2009-10.html |title=Seasons in the Top Flight of English Football by Clubs |publisher=www.myfootballfacts.com |access-date=13 July 2012 |archive-date=23 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423184146/http://www.myfootballfacts.com/SEASONS-IN-TOP-FLIGHT----1888-89-to-2009-10.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Bolton Hockey Club]] fields women's, men's, and junior teams and has more than 120 playing members.<ref name="BHC">{{citation |url=http://www.boltonhc.co.uk/ |title=Bolton Hockey Club |publisher=boltonhc.co.uk |access-date=3 December 2009 |archive-date=13 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113025345/http://www.boltonhc.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The town has a local cricket leagues, the [[Bolton Cricket League]],<ref>{{citation |title=The Bolton Cricket League |url=http://www.boltoncricket.co.uk/ |access-date=17 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217150504/http://www.boltoncricket.co.uk/ |archive-date=17 December 2008}}</ref> Bolton also has a [[rugby union]] club, [[Bolton rugby club|Bolton RUFC]] formed in 1872 situated on Avenue Street. The club operates four senior teams, as well as women's and junior sections.<ref name="Brfu">{{citation |url=http://clubs.rfu.com/Clubs/portals/bolton/ |title=Bolton RUFC |publisher=rfu.com |access-date=3 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201073348/http://clubs.rfu.com/Clubs/portals/bolton/ |archive-date=1 February 2013 }}</ref> [[Bolton Robots of Doom]] is a [[baseball]] club started in 2003, playing home games at Stapleton Avenue. In addition to the adult team there is a junior team, Bolton Bears. Baseball in Bolton dates back to 1938 with a team called Bolton Scarlets.<ref name="BB">{{citation |url=http://www.boltonbaseball.co.uk/ |title=Bolton Baseball |publisher=boltonbaseball.co.uk |access-date=3 December 2009 |archive-date=6 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406072431/http://www.boltonbaseball.co.uk/ |url-status=usurped }}</ref> An American football team, the Bolton Bulldogs, plays home games at Smithills School operating varsity and junior varsity teams.<ref name="BAF">{{citation |url=http://www.boltonbulldogs.co.uk/ |title=Bolton Bulldogs |publisher=boltonbulldogs.co.uk |access-date=3 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130419232416/http://www.boltonbulldogs.co.uk/ |archive-date=19 April 2013 }}</ref>
[[Motorcycle speedway|Speedway racing]], known as Dirt Track Racing, was staged at [[Raikes Park Greyhound Stadium|Raikes Park]] in the pioneering days of 1928, but the speedway was short-lived.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.tigerjack.co.uk/ |title=Tiger Jack Wood – Bolton's Broadsider |access-date=8 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071121193025/http://tigerjack.co.uk/ |archive-date=21 November 2007 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>
[[Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom|Greyhound racing]] took place at the [[Raikes Park Greyhound Stadium]] from 1927 until 1996.<ref>{{cite book |last=Barnes |first=Julia |title=Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File |pages=276–278 |year=1988 |publisher=Ringpress Books |isbn=0-948955-15-5}}</ref>

==Culture and society==
[[File:Bolton Civic Centre1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Bolton Civic Centre in 1994, Le Mans Crescent]]
[[Humphrey Spender]] photographed Bolton calling it ''Worktown'' for the [[Mass-Observation]] Project, a social research organisation which aimed to record everyday life in Britain. His photographs provide a record of ordinary people living and working in a British pre-World War Two industrial town.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://boltonworktown.co.uk/ |title=Bolton Worktown Photography and archives from the mass observation |publisher=Bolton Council |access-date=30 April 2014 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=2 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502032139/http://boltonworktown.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to a 2003 survey of the [[British Association for the Advancement of Science]], Boltonians are the friendliest people in Britain.<ref name="boltonfriendliest">{{cite news |title=Bolton people 'are friendliest in Britain' |url=http://archive.theboltonnews.co.uk/2003/8/26/534987.html |access-date=25 January 2010 |date=26 August 2003 |newspaper=The Bolton News |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928015826/http://archive.theboltonnews.co.uk/2003/8/26/534987.html |archive-date=28 September 2007 }}</ref> 

Bolton has several theatres including the [[Octagon Theatre, Bolton|Octagon]] and independent groups such as [[Bolton Little Theatre]] and the Phoenix Theatre Company. Comedian [[Peter Kay]] was a member of the Octagon youth theatre and worked in the box office for about four months, until being dismissed. Actress [[Maxine Peake]] made her professional debut at the Octagon and director [[Danny Boyle]] was inspired to start his career when he worked there as an usher.<ref>[[BBC]] - [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67674543 Peter Kay plays secret homecoming shows to raise funds for Bolton Octagon theatre, 10th December 2023] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211071323/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67674543 |date=11 December 2023 }}</ref> Inside the Town Hall there is a theatre and conference complex, the Albert Halls. Le Mans Crescent, home to the central library, museum, art gallery, aquarium, magistrates' court and town hall, is to be the centre of a new Cultural Quarter. The library and museum are to be extended into the area now occupied by the Magistrates Court. [[Bolton Museum]] and Art Gallery houses a collection of local and international art.<ref name="Museums">{{cite web |url=http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/museum/collections-overview/the-art-collection |title=The Art Collection |publisher=Bolton Library and Museum Services |access-date=3 December 2009 |mode=cs2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502032240/http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/museum/collections-overview/the-art-collection |archive-date=2 May 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Bolton Steam Museum]] houses a variety of preserved [[steam engine]]s in part of the old Atlas Mill.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nmes.org/ |title=The Northern Mill Engine Society Collection |publisher=Northern Mill Engine Society |access-date=23 February 2016 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=10 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510113318/http://www.nmes.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A noted 1953 painting by [[L. S. Lowry]] depicts match-day crowds at [[Burnden Park]], the former home stadium of [[Bolton Wanderers Football Club]]. The painting is in the collection of [[The Lowry]] arts centre in [[Salford]], and was exhibited at Bolton Museum and Art Gallery in 2023.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Bolton Wanderers celebrated in free exhibition |url=https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/23412897.lowry-painting-centrepiece-bolton-wanderers-exhibition/ |website=The Bolton News |access-date=16 January 2024 |language=en |date=26 March 2023 |archive-date=16 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116173107/https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/23412897.lowry-painting-centrepiece-bolton-wanderers-exhibition/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Bolton Central Library was one of the earliest public libraries established after the [[Public Libraries Act 1850]], opening in October 1853 in the Exchange Building on the old market square (Victoria Square) before moving to Le Mans Crescent in July 1938.{{sfnp|Dunne|1978|p=|ps=none}} The Bolton Symphony Orchestra performs regular concerts at the Albert Halls and Victoria Hall in the town centre.<ref name="BS">{{cite web |url=http://www.boltonsymphony.org.uk/ |title=Bolton Symphony |publisher=Bolton Symphony |access-date=1 February 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=18 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100818041018/http://www.boltonsymphony.org.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
The 2008 BBC Radio 3 Adult Choir of the Year<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.choiroftheyear.co.uk/picture-library2.htm |title=Choir of the Year |publisher=choiroftheyear.co.uk |access-date=15 October 2010 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721174217/http://www.choiroftheyear.co.uk/picture-library2.htm |archive-date=21 July 2012 }}</ref> and five times gold-medal winning barbershop chorus The Cottontown Chorus is based in Bolton.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-23 |title=Familiar Bolton faces get starring role in popular soap opera |url=https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/24134254.coronation-street-features-boltons-cottontown-chorus/ |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=The Bolton News |language=en}}</ref>

Bolton Community and Voluntary Services supports voluntary and community activities.<ref>Bolton Community and Voluntary Services, [https://www.boltoncvs.org.uk/contact Bolton CVS: Contact details] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804073645/https://www.boltoncvs.org.uk/contact |date=4 August 2021 }}, accessed 4 August 2021</ref> A network of volunteer groups look after the environment in Bolton supported by Bolton Green Umbrella.<ref>Bolton Community and Voluntary Services, [https://www.boltoncvs.org.uk/sites/boltoncvs.org.uk/files/A%20Social%20Value%20Approach%20for%20Bolton%20final%20document%202019.pdf A social value approach for Bolton] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804073648/https://www.boltoncvs.org.uk/sites/boltoncvs.org.uk/files/A%20Social%20Value%20Approach%20for%20Bolton%20final%20document%202019.pdf |date=4 August 2021 }}, accessed 4 August 2021</ref>

The first [[Bolton Pride|Bolton LGBT+ Pride]] was held in 2015 and has been an ongoing annual event which since its second year has included a parade and live music.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.boltonpride.co.uk/ |title=Home |website=Bolton Pride |language=en-GB |access-date=21 September 2019 |archive-date=21 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921132616/https://www.boltonpride.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=BMBC>{{cite web |url=https://www.bolton.gov.uk/downloads/file/1979/equality-information-2019 |publisher=Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council |date=2019 |title=Bolton Council: equality information (January 2019) |access-date=23 September 2019 |archive-date=23 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190923185814/https://www.bolton.gov.uk/downloads/file/1979/equality-information-2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Fiction ===
The fictional village of Newbank in [[Benjamin Disraeli]]'s novel ''[[Coningsby (novel)|Coningsby]]'' was based in part on the industrial village of [[Barrow Bridge, Bolton|Barrow Bridge]].<ref name="Disraeli">{{cite web |title=Barrow Bridge Conservation Area |url=http://www.bolton.gov.uk/sites/documentcentre/Documents/BarrowBridgeCAx.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825161953/http://www.bolton.gov.uk/sites/DocumentCentre/Documents/BarrowBridgeCAx.pdf |archive-date=25 August 2012 |access-date=28 July 2011 |publisher=Bolton Council |mode=cs2}}</ref> ''[[Spring and Port Wine (film)|Spring and Port Wine]]'' by playwright, [[Bill Naughton]] was filmed and set in Bolton and ''[[The Family Way]]'' based on Naughton's play ''All in Good Time'' was also filmed and set in the town.<ref name="Naughton">{{cite web |title=Bill Naughton |url=http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/bolton-archives/bill-naughton/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127165957/http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/bolton-archives/bill-naughton |archive-date=27 January 2010 |access-date=21 January 2010 |publisher=Bolton Museums |mode=cs2}}</ref> [[Peter Kay]] filmed comedy TV series ''[[That Peter Kay Thing]]'' in the town.

Bolton has been used as a setting for film and television drama. Le Mans Crescent has featured as a London street in the [[Jeremy Brett]] version of [[Sherlock Holmes]], a Russian secret service building in the 1990s comedy series ''Sleepers'' and in ''Peaky Blinders'' in 2014.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Scullard |first1=Vickie |date=6 October 2014 |title=Why Bolton is becoming a popular setting for shooting TV dramas |url=http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/11516594.Why_Bolton_is_becoming_a_popular_setting_for_shooting_TV_dramas/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402165559/http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/11516594.Why_Bolton_is_becoming_a_popular_setting_for_shooting_TV_dramas/ |archive-date=2 April 2017 |access-date=2 April 2017 |publisher=Lancashire Telegraph |ref=films_lanc_telegraph}}</ref> The 1990s BBC drama ''Between the Lines'' filmed an episode in Victoria Square.<ref>{{cite web |title=Film Locations |url=http://www.visitbolton.com/guides/bolton-way.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220091322/http://visitbolton.com/guides/bolton-way.pdf |archive-date=20 February 2009 |access-date=22 January 2010 |publisher=visitbolton.com |page=3 |mode=cs2}}</ref>

== Media ==
The town's daily newspaper is ''[[The Bolton News]]'', formerly the ''[[Bolton Evening News]]''. There is a weekly free paper, the ''Bolton Journal'' and Bolton Council's monthly newspaper, ''Bolton Scene''. The town is part of the [[BBC North West]] and [[Granada Television|ITV Granada]] television regions, served by the [[Winter Hill TV Mast|Winter Hill transmitter]] near [[Belmont, Lancashire|Belmont]]. Local radio is provided by [[BBC Radio Manchester]], [[BBC Radio Lancashire]], [[Capital Manchester and Lancashire]], [[Heart North West]], and [[Greatest Hits Radio Greater Manchester]] (formerly [[Tower FM]]), which broadcasts across Bolton and [[Bury, Greater Manchester|Bury]]. Community based radio station [[96.5 Bolton FM|Bolton FM]] began broadcasting in 2009.<ref name="bfm">{{cite web |title=Bolton FM |url=http://www.boltonfm.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003131815/http://www.boltonfm.com/ |archive-date=3 October 2020 |access-date=4 December 2009 |publisher=boltonfm.com |mode=cs2}}</ref>

==Public services==
{{See also|Healthcare in Greater Manchester}}
Bolton is policed by the Bolton Division of [[Greater Manchester Police]]. The statutory emergency fire and rescue service is provided by the [[Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service]], from Bolton Central, Bolton North, Horwich and Farnworth Fire Stations.<ref name="fire">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchesterfire.gov.uk/my_area.aspx |title=Fire and Rescue |publisher=Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue |access-date=24 May 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615063455/http://www.manchesterfire.gov.uk/my_area.aspx |archive-date=15 June 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Hospital services are provided by the [[Bolton NHS Foundation Trust]], which provides [[Emergency department|Accident and Emergency]] and other services at Royal Bolton Hospital in Farnworth.<ref name="Boltonnhs">{{cite web |url=http://www.boltonhospitals.nhs.uk/ |title=Bolton NHS |publisher=Bolton NHS |access-date=31 May 2010 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530122904/http://www.boltonhospitals.nhs.uk/ |archive-date=30 May 2010 }}</ref> Community health services, including GPs, district and community nurses, dentists and pharmacists, are co-ordinated by
the Bolton Primary Care Trust.<ref name="Bpct">{{cite web |url=http://www.bolton.nhs.uk/ |title=Bolton Primary Care Trust |publisher=Bolton.nhs.uk |access-date=31 May 2010 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526041201/http://www.bolton.nhs.uk/ |archive-date=26 May 2010 }}</ref> Waste management is co-ordinated by the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority.<ref name="gmwda">{{cite web |url=http://www.gmwda.gov.uk/ |title=Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority |publisher=gmwda.gov.uk |access-date=24 May 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=7 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207001553/http://www.gmwda.gov.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Bolton's Distribution Network Operator for electricity is Electricity North West Ltd.<ref name="grid">{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Electricity/AboutElectricity/DistributionCompanies/ |title=Electricity Distribution Companies |publisher=nationalgrid.com/uk |access-date=24 May 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=20 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220153254/http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Electricity/AboutElectricity/DistributionCompanies |url-status=live }}</ref> United Utilities manage Bolton's drinking and waste water.<ref name="UU">{{cite web |url=http://www.unitedutilities.com/Areascovered.aspx |title=Areas Covered |publisher=United Utilities |access-date=13 February 2012 |mode=cs2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413094911/http://www.unitedutilities.com/Areascovered.aspx |archive-date=13 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Notable people==
<!--- DO NOT ADD PEOPLE TO THE "Notable people" SECTION OF THIS ARTICLE. TO ADD A PERSON, GO TO THE "List of people from Bolton" ARTICLE AND ADD THEM THERE --->
{{main|List of people from Bolton}}
Among the notable people born in Bolton are the Protestant martyr [[George Marsh (martyr)|George Marsh]], 1515–55,<ref name="Smithills Hall"/> the inventor of the spinning mule that revolutionised the textile industry, [[Samuel Crompton]], 1753–1827,<ref name="Crompton">{{cite web |title=Samuel Crompton |url=http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/collections/local-history/local-life/samuel-crompton/ |publisher=boltonmuseums.org.uk |access-date=22 January 2010 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100411014519/http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/collections/local-history/local-life/samuel-crompton/ |archive-date=11 April 2010}}</ref> and industrialist [[William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme|Lord Leverhulme]] of Bolton-le-Moors, 1851–1925.<ref name="Mayors"/>

More recently, people born and raised in Bolton include [[Fred Dibnah]], a steeplejack who became a popular television historian of Britain's industrial past;<ref name="FD">{{cite news |title=Fred Dibnah |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article504175.ece |newspaper=The Times |access-date=23 January 2010 |date=8 November 2004 |url-access=subscription |mode=cs2 |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604114908/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article504175.ece |url-status=dead }}</ref> world champion boxer [[Amir Khan (British boxer)|Amir Khan]], who became the [[List of WBA world champions|WBA World]] [[List of super lightweight boxing champions|light-welterweight champion]] on 18 July 2009 at the age of 22, making him Britain's third-youngest world champion boxer;<ref name="Amir Khan">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boxingandmma/5865190/Amir-Khan-heralds-new-dawn-as-world-champion-after-Andreas-Kotelnik-defeated.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722094230/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boxingandmma/5865190/Amir-Khan-heralds-new-dawn-as-world-champion-after-Andreas-Kotelnik-defeated.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 July 2009 |title=Amir Khan heralds new dawn as world champion after Andreas Kotelnik defeated |access-date=22 January 2010 |last=Davies |first=Gareth A. |date=19 July 2009 |newspaper=The Telegraph |mode=cs2}}</ref> comedian [[Peter Kay]];<ref name="PK">{{cite web |title=Peter Kay |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/going_out/comedy/biogs/peter_kay.shtml |publisher=BBC |access-date=23 January 2010 |mode=cs2 |archive-date=6 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106143955/http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/going_out/comedy/biogs/peter_kay.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> and president of the [[International Paralympic Committee]] [[Philip Craven]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/Graduation/99950.htm |title=Philip Craven |publisher=[[Liverpool John Moores University]] |access-date=1 May 2014 |mode=cs2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100131012315/http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/Graduation/99950.htm |archive-date=31 January 2010}}</ref> Playwright and author [[Bill Naughton]] was born in Ireland but brought up in Bolton from an early age.<ref name="Naughton"/>

==See also==
{{portal|Greater Manchester}}
* [[List of mills in Bolton]]
* [[Listed buildings in Bolton]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation |last=Ashmore |first=Owen |title=The Industrial Archaeology of North-West England |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-7190-0820-7}}
* {{citation |last=Dunne |first=Tom |title=Bolton Public Libraries 1853–1978 |publisher=Arts Department of Bolton Metropolitan Borough |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-906585-00-9}}
* {{citation |last1=Hartwell |first1=Clare |last2=Hyde |first2=Matthew |last3=Pevsner |first3=Nikolaus |title=Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-300-10583-4}}
* {{citation |last=Lewis |first=Samuel |year=1835 |title=A Topographical Dictionary of England |edition=3rd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=infRAAAAMAAJ&q=bolton%20le%20moors&pg=PT280 |access-date=9 November 2020 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528053330/https://books.google.com/books?id=infRAAAAMAAJ&q=bolton%20le%20moors&pg=PT280#v=snippet&q=bolton%20le%20moors&f=false |url-status=live }}
* {{citation |last=Mills |first=David |title=A Dictionary of British Place-Names |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXucAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 |year=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-852758-9 |access-date=15 March 2016 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528053331/https://books.google.com/books?id=tXucAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA65#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}
* {{citation |last=Shorrocks |first=Graham |author-link=A Grammar of the Dialect of the Bolton Area |title=A Grammar of the Dialect of the Bolton Area: Introduction, phonology |publisher=Peter Lang |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-9529333-0-4}}
* {{citation |first=Peter J. C. |last=Smith |title=Zeppelins over Lancashire |year=1991 |publisher=Neil Richardson |isbn=1-85216-066-7}}
* {{citation |last=Sweeney |first=D. J. |title=A Lancashire Triangle Part One |publisher=Triangle Publishing |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-9529333-0-4}}
* {{citation |last=Wood |first=C. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KeNRAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA15 |title=The Geography of Pollution: A Study of Greater Manchester |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1974 |isbn=9780719005640 |access-date=15 March 2016 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528053332/https://books.google.com/books?id=KeNRAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA15#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Southern |first=Christine |title=The Changing Face of Bolton |publisher=Hendon Publishing Lancs. |year=1975 |isbn=0-902907-76-X |mode=cs2}}

==External links==
{{wikivoyage|Bolton|Bolton}}
{{commons category|Bolton}}
* [http://www.bolton.gov.uk/ Bolton Council]

{{Greater Manchester}}
{{Buildings and structures in Bolton}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Good article}}

[[Category:Bolton| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:Market towns in Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:Unparished areas in Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:Former civil parishes in Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:West Pennine Moors]]
[[Category:Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton]]