Middlebrook, Greater Manchester

Middlebrook

Middlebrook Retail Park
Middlebrook
 Middlebrook shown within Greater Manchester
OS grid referenceSD645094
Metropolitan boroughBolton
Metropolitan county Greater Manchester
RegionNorth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town BOLTON
Postcode district BL6
Dialling code 01204
Police Greater Manchester
Fire Greater Manchester
Ambulance North West
EU Parliament North West England
UK ParliamentBolton West
List of places
UK
England
Greater Manchester

Coordinates: 53°34′48″N 2°32′06″W / 53.580°N 2.535°W / 53.580; -2.535

Middlebrook is a locality that spans the boundaries of Horwich and Lostock in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.

Historically a part of Lancashire, the name Middlebrook is derived from the watercourse which starts at Red Moss, the mossland south of Horwich. Further downstream the Middlebrook joins with other tributaries and becomes the River Croal which runs through Bolton and eventually joins the River Irwell at Kearsley.

Middlebrook is an out-of-town complex of retail, leisure and business parks and location of the Macron Stadium and Horwich Police Station.

History

The name Middlebrook (or Middle Brook) comes from the Old English words "mycel" and "broc" meaning "great brook". In 1292 the name was written "Mikelbrok" and over the centuries it became Middlebrook.[1]

Before the retail, leisure and business parks were built Middlebrook was the site of Sefton Fold Farm in Horwich. The 1666 timber-framed farmhouse was re-built in 1811. Before demolition in 1996 the University of Manchester's Archaeological Unit spent three weeks on the Sefton Fold Farm site. The team excavated a moated site of late medieval origins and pottery believed to date from the late 16th or early 17th centuries was found.[2] When development started, the site was partly covered by a roundabout. The farmhouse's 1666/1811 date stone, 1860s cooking range and other items were saved and can be seen at the Heritage Centre in Horwich.[3]

Development

Emerson Group began developing the 200-acre Middlebrook retail, leisure and business complex[4] started in 1996 and the first businesses were operating from the site in 1998. The out-of-town retail centre, contains retail shops and stores, a twelve screen cinema, ten-pin bowling alley, cafés and restaurants, two hotels, and the Bolton Arena Sports & Leisure Complex. Horwich Police Station is located on Burnden Way at the Middlebrook site.[5] At the centre of the site is the Macron Stadium (formerly Reebok Stadium), home of Bolton Wanderers F.C. which was inaugurated on 1 September 1997 when the first game between Bolton and Everton was played.

Transport

The Middlebrook site is adjacent to Junction 6 of the M61 motorway. The A6027 connects the A6 with the motorway, the retail and business parks and the A673 road to Horwich and Bolton. There is a regular train service provided by Northern Rail at Horwich Parkway railway station where there is a Park and Ride facility with trains to Bolton, Manchester and Preston. There are also bus services which include the 505 (school mornings only) from Bolton, 516/517/518 from Leigh and 574, also from Bolton.

References

  1. ↑ Billington, W.D. (1982). From Affetside to Yarrow : Bolton place names and their history, Ross Anderson Publications (ISBN 0-86360-003-4).
  2. ↑ Bolton Evening News - Sefton Fold Farm. URL accessed 8 April 2007.
  3. ↑ Horwich Heritage Centre. URL accessed 5 October 2008.
  4. ↑ Middlebrook Bolton, Middlebrook, retrieved 30 November 2010
  5. ↑ Welcome to Horwich and Blackrod, Bolton North. URL accessed 27 May 2007.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.