BOLTON, or Boltonle Moors, a municipal and parliamentary borough of England, in the county of Lancashire, 11 miles N.W. of Manchester, in 53° 35' N. lat. and 2° 37' W. long. It is divided by the Croal, a small tributary of the Jewell, into Great and Little Bolton, the former of which is situated on the south side of the stream. The town is on the whole well arranged and well built, and great improvements and extensions have been effected since 1860. An abundant supply of water is obtained from the neighbouring hills and stored in reservoirs at Belmont, Sharpies, and Heaton. The waterworks, formerly in the hands of a company founded in 1824, have been the property of the corporation since 1847. The water rises by natural pressure to a height of 80 feet. Bolton possesses a large number of churches, but few are remarkable for either antiquity or architecture. The parish church of St Peter’s, a building of somewhat early date, was restored in an elaborate style about 1868. Among the educational establishments may be mentioned Lever’s Grammar School, founded in 1641, where Dr Ainsworth, the Latin lexicographer, and Lemprière, of the Classical Dictionary, were formerly masters. A new town-hall, two clothhalls, a fish-market, an exchange, a theatre, and assembly rooms, are among the chief buildings. There are several public libraries and a mechani<s ’ institute; and in 1855 a large Church of England institute was erected. During the great cotton famine the unemployed operatives were set to work on a large public park, which was opened in 1866. The cotton manufacture m various departments is still the most important in the town; in 1871 it gave employment to 8708 men and 11,353 women of twenty years of age and upwards. Various other industries, however, are extensively ...