Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the Newton township was historically largely pastoral lands, with the mining industry encroaching from the north and the west as time went on. The township (often referred to as Newton in Makerfield at that time) is documented since at least the 12th century. In the early 19th century the township saw significant urban development to support the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The presence of the Sankey Canal running through the Sankey Valley necessitated the construction of the Sankey Viaduct by George Stephenson, and the town of Earlestown developed around the industrial works there. Earlestown gradually became the administrative and commercial centre of the township, with the historic market and fairs moving to a purpose built square.
Name
Historically, Newton was known as both "Newton-le-Willows" and "Newton in Makerfield" to differentiate it from other towns of the same name.[3] The name Newton means "new town", while Makerfield is an ancient name for the district from the Brittonic word "mager" meaning "wall" combined with the English word "field".[4][5] "Neweton" was mentioned in the Domesday Book while the spelling of Makerfield evolved and was recorded as Makeresfeld in 1205 and 1351, as Makefeld in 1206, Makerefeld in 1213 and Makerfield since 1242.[3]
History
Randall's Arch
Before the Norman Conquest, Newton was head of a hundred. The Domesday hundred was assessed at five hides one of which included Newton. The lord of the manor was Edward the Confessor at his death in 1066. The Newton Hundred was subsequently combined with the Warrington and Derby Hundreds to form the West Derby Hundred.[5][3]
Newton has two railway stations. Newton-le-Willows railway station and Earlestown railway station, opened in 1830. They are two of the oldest railway stations. Earlestown was an important junction where the original Liverpool and Manchester Railway line was joined by the 1837 line running south to Birmingham. The town also had three other railway stations, situated at Parkside, the Vulcan Village, and the old racecourse (which closed when Haydock Park Racecourse was opened). Parkside is notable as the site of the world's first fatal rail accident, at which a notable MP at the time, William Huskisson died. Two other local railway related landmarks are Newton Viaduct and the Sankey Viaduct which is locally known as the "Nine Arches".
Forming part of the historic county boundaries of Lancashire from a very early time, Newton-le-Willows is an ancient town. It was initially part of the Fee of Makerfield, which was part of the West Derby Hundred. It was later made a parliamentary borough from 1558 until 1832, one of the earliest in Lancashire. From this date until 1894, the town came under the control of a court leet and improvement commissioners. The developing industrial town was then created into an urban district under the name Newton in Makerfield. The name of the urban district was changed in 1939 to Newton-le-Willows. On 1 April 1974 Newton-le-Willows Urban District Council merged with a number of neighbouring local authorities, to create St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council in the new ceremonial county of Merseyside.[6]
Newton-le-Willows is split into two wards, Newton East and Newton West; each ward returns three councillors to serve on St Helens Borough Council. As of May 2022, the East ward is represented by three Labour councillors, while Newton West has two Independent councillors and one Labour.
Geography
Newton-le-Willows (centre of map) is located at the easternmost edge of Merseyside adjacent to the Greater Manchester borough of Wigan and unitary authority of Warrington in Cheshire
The M6 and M62 motorways and A580 East Lancashire Road pass close to the town. This has helped Newton become an important commuter town, now that most of its industry has gone, with the city centres of Manchester and Liverpool also being accessible by train in as little as 18 minutes and 16 minutes respectively. There have as a result been many new housing estates built around the outskirts of the town.
The Sankey Canal passes through the town and is crossed, on the Sankey Viaduct, by the world's first passenger railway, also within the boundaries of the town.
Newton-le-Willows and Earlestown railway stations have a regional service with regular trains running to Liverpool and Manchester, St Helens, Warrington, Chester, West Yorkshire and along the North Wales coast to Llandudno. Earlestown is a very large station for the size of the town, with 5 platforms. On platform 2 is the old waiting room, regarded as one of the oldest remaining railway buildings in the world.
Church of SS Mary and JohnSt Peter's Church, Newton-le-Willows
Once part of the ancient parish of Winwick, the town is split into four Anglican parishes, St Peter's covering Newton, St John's covering Earlestown, Emmanuel covering Wargrave and All Saints' covering the northern parts of the town.
Similar to other towns in Lancashire, Newton has a large Roman Catholic population and there are three Catholic churches in the town: St Patrick's in Earlestown, St Mary and St John's in Newton and St David's in Wargrave.
There are also other denominations represented in the town, such as the Methodist and Baptist churches in the town centre.
Local media
From Victorian times until 2007, the town had a number of local newspapers. The Newton and Golborne Guardian was the longest established, which ceased publication in 2007. Other papers to have served the town over the years include the Earlestown Guardian, and Newton Reporter. The town comes within the distribution area of the St Helens Star and St Helens Reporter, both free newspapers. The Warrington Guardian, Liverpool Echo, Manchester Evening News and Wigan Post are widely available within the town.
Newton-le-Willows racecourse closed down in 1898 and was replaced by Haydock Park Racecourse. The Old Newton Cup is the world's oldest continually competed for trophy, with a history dating back over 200 years.
Football has always been an important sport within the town, and Newton-le-Willows had its own club between 1894 and 1908. Newton-le-Willows F.C. played in the local leagues until the 1900–01 season when the club joined the English Combination where they competed for three years. In 1903–04 season the club joined the Lancashire Combination where their derby matches included Bryn Central and Wigan Town (a forerunner of Wigan Athletic). The club left the league at the end of the 1907–08 season at which point the club folded. Newton-le-Willows home ground was the Pied Bull Ground which was situated behind the public house of the same name and bordered Rob Lane (then Golborne Road), more or less where the Parchments estate lies.
There has been a couple of spells that Earlestown Football Club has been quite successful. The team competed in the Lancashire Combination league which at the time (1950s/1960s) was the equivalent of today's Conference North. Earlestown enjoyed a local rivalry with a number of teams which would go on to national prominence, especially Wigan Athletic. Earlestown was a very ambitious club who hit the headlines when they signed Wilf Mannion as player manager. Crowds of one or two thousand were not unknown for local derbies. However, falling gates and the cost of a professional squad forced the club into bankruptcy in the mid 1960s. In its earlier history, Earlestown F.C. created a few pieces of history, including being defeated by Everton in the Liverpool Cup which was the Toffees' first cup final victory. A year later, Earlestown won the final beating an Everton side that would help form the football league just three years later. Earlestown also played Everton in the first ever match at Anfield stadium.[7] A number of smaller teams operated in the town, the most prominent being Vulcan Newton who have previously been in the Lancashire Combination and North West Counties League.
The area is very popular for rugby league, with St Helens R.F.C., Warrington Wolves, Widnes Vikings, Wigan Warriors, Salford Red Devils and Leigh Leopards all being local teams. However, Newton-le-Willows never had a rugby league team until 2002, with the formation of Newton Storm RLFC. Storm has become one of the fastest-growing amateur rugby league clubs in the north-west.
Rugby union was historically the most popular code in the town, with two teams, Newton-le-Willows RUFC and Vulcan RUFC being prominent teams in the South Lancashire and Cheshire leagues. The most prominent players in the past have been former England and British Lions international Fran Cotton, and Wigan player Steve Hampson.
Cricket is now the major sport in the town, with Newton C.C. playing in the Premier Division of the Liverpool Competition, a major north west league with teams stretching from the Fylde coast to North Wales competing in it. Vulcan C.C. also represent the town on a more localised level. Newton has produced a number of players who have progressed onto Lancashire County Cricket Club.
Andy Burnham, former Leigh MP, former government minister, Labour leadership candidate and Shadow Home Secretary was educated at St Aelred's High School in Newton. He was elected as Mayor of Greater Manchester in 2017.
Ed Clancy, Olympic Gold Medalist for Great Britain in the Team Pursuit event at Beijing 2008
Joe Fagan, the former Manchester City football player and European Cup–winning Liverpool F.C. manager, who resigned his post after the Heysel disaster started his career playing for Earlestown Bohemians FC in the 1930s
Roger Hunt, former Liverpool and England World Cup–winning footballer, was born in the neighbouring village of Culcheth; his family's business Hunt Brothers Haulage is based in Newton-le-Willows
Martin Kelly, current West Brom and former England U-21 international was born in Newton-le-Willows and attended St Aelred's Catholic Technology College
Lynda La Plante, author, screenwriter and former actress, was born on 15 March 1943 in Newton-le-Willows
Wilf Mannion, former Middlesbrough and England winger was the manager of the town's most successful football club, Earlestown F.C. between 1960 and 1962
Steve Marsh, actor, played Big Cook Ben in Big Cook Little Cook between 2004 and 2006
