WEST HOUGHTON, a township of Lancashire, England, on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, 5 miles west-south-west of Bolton, 15 north-west of Manchester, and 5 east-north-east of Wigan. The church of St Bartholomew was rebuilt in 1870 in the Gothic style at a cost of £6000. There are coal-mines in the neighbourhood, and the town possesses a silk factory, print-works, and cotton-mills. The population of the urban sanitary district (area 4341 acres) in 1871 was 6609 and in 1881 it was 9197.

West Houghton before the time of Richard II. was a manor belonging to the abbey of Cockersand. It was confiscated at the Reformation, and since then has been vested in the crown. It is now held by the representatives of the late Colonel Wilbraham. The army of Prince Rupert assembled on West Houghton moor before the attack on Bolton.