Bolton History, United Kingdom

Bolton, UK - History: Tracing The Roots Of Bolton

Bolton is a famous town in the United Kingdom that is located a few kilometers apart from Manchester. Theatre and art in Bolton are also quite famous.

The roots of Bolton can be traced back to a Saxon village that was once known as Bothl tun. The term means a ‘village with an important building’. In its initial days, the village was very small. It was only in 1251 that Bolton was declared to be a town and given a charter. This charter enabled it to have the rights to hold a market. The Bolton Fair, which used to be an annual fair, was attended by many people. Although it mainly was a market town, Bolton also had a wool manufacturing industry in it during the Middle Ages.

In 1516, the Bolton Grammar School was founded. The 17th century saw the development of the cotton weaving industry in Bolton. The same period also saw a civil war between the parliament and the king. Bolton supported the parliament, and hence had to face attacks from the royalists. Royalists were finally successful in 1744 in entering the town and killed several residents. However, the royalist forces were finally thwarted by the forces led by Cromwell.

With the invention of the spinning mule by Samuel Crompton, in 1779, the cotton industry grew in great proportions in Bolton. There was the growth of a good number of cotton mills and factories, which resulted in a booming textile industry in Bolton. With the growth in the cotton industry, the population of the town also grew by a large proportion. In the 19th century, many other industries like bleaching, papermaking and coal mining developed in Bolton.

The cotton textile industry in Bolton prospered by a great deal, and during the early 20th century there were a large number of cotton mills in the town, which provided employment to many people. However, the cotton industry declined after the World War II. By 1970s, there were very few mills operating in Bolton.

There was also a famous company in Bolton that manufactured footwear products during the 1890s. This company went on to become a reputed name in the shoe industry, and was named Reebok in 1960.

Bolton, thus, has an illustrious past and its history is really worth knowing. Over the centuries, the town has undergone lot of development and is presently one of the most famous towns in UK.