Hindley, Greater Manchester

Hindley was one of 15 berewicks of the royal manor of Newton before the Norman conquest in 1066. After the conquest, it formed part of the Barony of Makerfield. The area was held by free tenants until 1330 when Robert Langton, Baron Makerfield, gave the lordship of the manor to his younger son. His descendants were lords of the manor until 1765 when it was sold to the Duke of Bridgewater. From the Middle Ages until the 18th century the land was a mixture of pastoral, farming and woodland and the farmers were tenants of a variety of lords. Parish registers from the end of the 17th century reveal that residents were Yeomen, independent farmers who supplemented their income by spinning and…