ENTWISLE
Hennetwisel, 1212; Ennetwysel, 1278; Entwysel, Entwysil, 1292.
The greatest height in this township, about 1,080 ft.,
is reached at Soot Hill, near the centre of the northern
boundary. To the east there is a valley, and then
the ground rises again, reaching a similar height on the
north-east boundary. From these points the ground
slopes southward. The area is 1,668 acres. The population in 1901 was numbered with that of Edgeworth,
in which township Entwisle was merged by the
Bolton, Turton, and Westhoughton Extension Act,
1898.
The Bury and Blackburn road crosses the eastern
part of the township, passing through the hamlet called
Wayoh Fold. A minor road goes west through the
hamlets of Entwisle, Edgefold, and Cadshaw. Cranberry Moss lies in the north-west corner, and Aushaw
in the north-east. Bradshaw Brook, which forms the
southern boundary, has been transformed into a reservoir of the Bolton Water Works. The Lancashire
and Yorkshire Company's Bolton and Blackburn line
passes north through the centre of the township, and
has a station called Entwisle; there is a long tunnel
at the northern boundary, passing under Whittlestone
Head.
The soil is mostly in pasture. There are calico
print works, and bricks are made. There are also
stone quarries.
There were thirty-six hearths to contribute to the
hearth tax in 1666; Francis Norbury's house had the
largest number, seven. (fn. 1)
Manor
Two oxgangs in Edgeworth, or a fourth
part of the manor, were by the father of
the William de Radcliffe living in 1212
given to Robert de Entwisle in marriage with his
daughter. (fn. 2) This was no doubt the township of Entwisle, but the' manor' of Entwisle appears to have
been more properly the portion
held by the local family of the
Hospitallers, who had land
here from an early period. (fn. 3)
The Hospitallers. Gules a cross argent.
The Entwisle family can
thus be traced back to the
latter years of the 12th century, but in this case, as in
others, no proper account can
be given of it, owing to the
lack of evidence. (fn. 4) Anian Entwisle died in May 1442,
having a fourth part of the fourth part of the manor of
Edgeworth, held by the sixteenth part of a knight's
fee and the service of 1s. 3d. a year; its clear value
was 20s. He also held the manor of Entwisle of
St. John of Jerusalem by the service of 12d. a year; its
value was 100s.; also lands in Turton and Bolton.
Ellis, his son and heir, was twenty-three years of age. (fn. 5)
Of the same family is supposed to have been the Sir
Bertin Entwisle who fell fighting on the Lancastrian
side at St. Albans, 1455. (fn. 6)
Edmund Entwisle died 8 July 1544, holding the
manor of Entwisle of the king in socage by a rent of
12d. yearly (i.e. the Hospitallers' rent); messuages and
lands in Entwisle and Edgeworth, of the king by the
third part of the fourth part of a knight's fee and
rent of 15d.; also lands in Turton, Bolton, Radcliffe,
and the Manchester district. George his son and heir
was twenty-two years of age. (fn. 7)
George Entwisle in 1546 and 1551 made settlements of his estate in thirty or thirty-six messuages and
various lands, largely moor and pasture, in Entwisle,
Wayoh (' Wao '), Bolton, Chorlton, Rusholme, Ardwick, Withington, and Manchester. (fn. 8) In the second
case the estate, after one week, was to pass to Thurstan
Tyldesley, his younger son, and his heirs. (fn. 9)
Entwisle. Argent on a bend engrailed sable three mullets of the field.
Tyldesley. Argent three mole-hills proper.
The manor thus passed into the hands of the Tyldesleys of Morleys. (fn. 10) The hall and lands in the township
were sold by Edmund Tyldesley between 1657 and
1670 to a large number of persons, (fn. 11) and the history
of the manor cannot be traced further.
In 1808, however, John Brandwood paid £1 to
Bamber Gascoyne, as lord of Much Woolton, for
twenty years' rent known as St. John of Jerusalem's
rent. (fn. 12) Of this family probably was derived James
Brandwood, born in 1739, son of John Brandwood of
New House, Entwisle, who joined the Society of
Friends and achieved some distinction among them.
He died in 1826. (fn. 13)
Entwisle Hall, a two-story stone-built house standing on a high situation about 1½ miles north of Turton
Tower, was described by Camden (fn. 14) as a 'proper fair
house,' but this probably refers to an older building
than the present one, which seems to have been erected
in the first half of the 17th century. It has a long front
facing south and is of the type of plan having a central
hall and projecting end wings; but has a further east
wing with large stone chimney and end gable. The
roof of the main portion of the building has been
covered in modern times with blue slates, but the
eastern end retains its ancient grey stone slates and
stone coping and balls to the end gable; the two gables
facing south are quite plain. The windows at this
end too are the original ones, with stone mullions and
hood-moulds, but those of the rest of the house have
been mutilated and done away with altogether, and
smaller modern windows inserted, though the hoodmould of a former long low window still remains in
the centre part of the house.
The building is divided into three tenements and
seems to have been so since the middle of the 17th
century. A deed for the transfer of the middle
part of Entwisle Hall to John Kay in 1657 speaks of
'all that capital Messuage or Manor House commonly
known by the name of Entwisle Hall, and the demesne
lands thereunto belonging, That is to witt, the Room
called the Hall, containing three bays of buildings or
thereabouts, standing and being betwixt the parlour
and the kitchen, with all the chambers and rooms over
the same room called the Hall.' Mention is also
made of the 'out Ileinge adjoining to the Hall on the
north side,' and of the 'court or yard lying on the
south side of the Hall.' Another deed of the same
year referring to the sale of the east end of the house
to Roger Brandwood refers to it as 'the kitchen containing four bays in length with the chambers and
rooms over,' and gives Brandwood the liberty 'to pass
and repass through the fold or yard on the south side
of the hall and parlour unto and from the kitchen.'
The building still fairly well corresponds with these
descriptions. The middle part, or hall, seems always
to have been of two stories, and probably the house as
described in 1657 had been lately rebuilt. The court
on the south side appears to have been a yard only as
at present. The barn now on the south side of the
house was erected in 1720, which date it bears, together with the initials I R B M, probably those of
James and Roger Brandwood and Mary, the wife of
James. (fn. 15) The Brandwoods also appear to have restored their end of the house in the 18th century, and
later unimportant additions have been made to the
building on the north and west sides.
In 1826, during the days of industrial distress and
starvation, the old kitchen and other apartments on the
ground floor at the east end, were used as a 'dowhouse,' and about the same time the rooms over the
hall, most of which retain their oak floors, were converted into weaving places to find employment for
those out of work. (fn. 16)
A Houghton family had some estate in the township. (fn. 17)
The Wesleyan Methodists have a Sunday service at
Entwisle.