Metropolitan Borough of Bolton – Wikipedia

Borough of Greater Manchester, England

Metropolitan borough in England

The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton ( BOHL-tən) is a metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England, named after its largest town, Bolton, but covering a larger area which includes Blackrod, Farnworth, Horwich, Kearsley,
Westhoughton, and part of the West Pennine Moors. It had a population of 276,800 at the 2011 census, making it the fourth-most populous district in Greater Manchester.^[1]

The borough is in the historic county of Lancashire, and was created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of seven former local government districts and part of an eighth; being seven urban districts from the administrative county of Lancashire, and the County Borough of Bolton. The metropolitan districts of Bury, Salford and Wigan lie to the east, south and west respectively; and the unitary authority of Blackburn with Darwen and the non-metropolitan district of Chorley in Lancashire to the north and north-west.

History[edit]

Bolton Metropolitan Borough was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the combined areas of seven former local government districts and part of an eighth, which were all abolished at the same time:^[2]

As a county borough, the old borough of Bolton had been administratively independent from any county council, but was deemed part of Lancashire for ceremonial purposes.^[3] The other seven districts had all been part of the administrative county of Lancashire prior to 1974, with Lancashire County Council serving as their upper tier authority. When the metropolitan borough of Bolton was created in 1974 it was transferred to the new metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, with Greater Manchester Council providing county-level services. The Greater Manchester Council was abolished in 1986, after which Bolton became a unitary authority, providing all local government services.

Bolton Council unsuccessfully petitioned Elizabeth II for the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton to be granted city status in 1992 (the Queen’s 40th year as monarch), in 2000 (for the Millennium celebrations), in 2002 (Queen’s Golden Jubilee), and 2012 (Queen’s Diamond Jubilee).^[4]

Parishes[edit]

Horwich, Westhoughton and Blackrod are now constituted as civil parishes, each having a town council: Westhoughton Town Council, Horwich Town Council and Blackrod Town Council. The rest of the metropolitan borough, covering the town of Bolton itself, Farnworth, Kearsley, Little Lever, and South Turton, have remained unparished areas since 1974.

Demographics[edit]

According to the 2021 census, of the 295,963 people living in Bolton Metropolitan Borough, the following table below show the population of ethnicities in Bolton:

Ethnicity[edit]

Ethnic Group	2021[5]
	Population	%
	White: British	203,486	68.8
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani	27,897	9.4
Asian or Asian British: Indian	26,238	8.9
Black or Black British: African	9,299	3.1
White: Other	7,133	2.4
Other: Any other ethnic group	3,730	1.3
Asian or Asian British: Other Asian	3,353	1.1
Mixed: White and Asian	2,338	0.8
Other: Arab	1,812	0.6
Mixed: White and Black Caribbean	1,737	0.6
White: Irish	1,430	0.5
Black or Black British: Other Black	1,336	0.5
Mixed: Other Mixed	1,326	0.4
Mixed: White and Black African	1,242	0.4
Asian or Asian British: Chinese	1,123	0.4
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi	985	0.3
Black or Black British: Caribbean	603	0.2
White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller	519	0.2
White: Roma	373	0.1
Total	295,963	100%

Population change[edit]

The table below details the population change since 1801, including the percentage change since the last available census data. Although the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton has only existed since 1974, figures have been generated by combining data from the towns, villages, and civil parishes that would later be constituent parts of the borough.

Religion[edit]

The following table shows the religious identity of residents residing in Bolton.

Population growth in Bolton since 1801

Year Population ±% 1801 37,417 —     1811 48,996 +30.9% 1821 60,319 +23.1% 1831 75,787 +25.6% 1841 89,507 +18.1% 1851 105,957 +18.4% 1861 132,437 +25.0%	Year Population ±% 1871 158,917 +20.0% 1881 185,397 +16.7% 1891 216,792 +16.9% 1901 240,014 +10.7% 1911 265,733 +10.7% 1921 263,413 −0.9% 1931 261,119 −0.9%	Year Population ±% 1941 256,207 −1.9% 1951 251,388 −1.9% 1961 255,627 +1.7% 1971 259,993 +1.7% 1981 260,229 +0.1% 1991 262,880 +1.0% 2001 261,035 −0.7%
Pre-1974 statistics were gathered from local government areas that now comprise the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton Source: Vision of Britain[7]

Transport[edit]

The Bolton metropolitan area is served by the following railway stations:

Education[edit]

In 2007, Bolton was ranked 69th out of the 149 Local Education Authorities – and sixth out of ten in Greater Manchester – for its National Curriculum assessment performance.^[8] Measured on the percentage of pupils attaining at least 5 A*–C grades at GCSE including maths and English, the Bolton LEA was 111th out of 149: 40.1% of pupils achieved this objective, against a national average of 46.7%.^[9] Unauthorised absence from Bolton’s secondary schools in the 2006/2007 academic year was 1.4%, in line with the national average, and authorised absence was 6.0% against the national average of 6.4%.^[10] At GCSE level, Bolton School (Girls’ Division) was the most successful of Bolton’s 21 secondary schools, with 99% of pupils achieving at least 5 A*–C grades at including maths and English.^[11]

The University of Bolton is one of Greater Manchester’s four universities. In 2008, The Times Good University Guide ranked it 111th of 113 institutions in Britain.^[12] There are 4,440 students (83% undergraduate, 17% postgraduate); 2.6% come from outside Britain. In 2007 there were 8.8 applications for every place, and student satisfaction was recorded as 74.4%. It is one of Britain’s newest universities, having been given this status in 2005.^[13]

GCSE Examination Performance 2009[edit]

• The table on the left shows the percentage of students gaining five A* to C grades, including English and Maths, for secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton.
• The table on the right shows the Average Total Point Score per Student for secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton.
• Schools highlighted in yellow are above the LEA average; those highlighted in orange are below the average.
• Another secondary school, Bolton Muslim Girls’ School, has opened since January 2007; no results are available.
• Source: Department for Children, Schools and Families^{[permanent dead link]}

Governance[edit]

The local authority is Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, which styles itself “Bolton Council”. Since 2011 it has been a constituent member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, providing strategic co-ordination of local government across the ten metropolitan boroughs of Greater Manchester. Since 2017 the combined authority has been led by the directly-elected Mayor of Greater Manchester.

Twin towns[edit]

The Metropolitan Borough of Bolton has two twin towns, one in France and another in Germany.^[14]

Neighbouring districts[edit]

Freedom of the Borough[edit]

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough.

Individuals[edit]

Military units[edit]

^[16]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]