Worsley | |
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Bridgewater Canal in Worsley, with the Packet House in the background |
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Worsley shown within Greater Manchester | |
Population | 10,035 (2011 CensusWard) |
OS grid reference | SD7401 |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | MANCHESTER |
Postcode district | M28 |
Dialling code | 0161 |
Police | Greater Manchester |
Fire | Greater Manchester |
Ambulance | North West |
EU Parliament | North West England |
UK Parliament | |
Worsley (/ˈwɔːrzli/) is a town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. The population of the town at the 2011 census was 10,035. It lies along the course of Worsley Brook, 5.75 miles (9.25 km) west of Manchester. The M60 motorway bisects the area.
Historically part of Lancashire, Worsley has provided evidence of Roman and Anglo-Saxon activity, including two Roman roads. The completion in 1761 of the Bridgewater Canal allowed Worsley to expand from a small village of cottage industries to an important town based upon cotton manufacture, iron-working, brick-making and extensive coal mining. Later expansion came after the First and Second World Wars, when large urban estates were built in the region.
Today, Worsley is under consideration to be made a World Heritage Site, including Worsley Delph, a scheduled monument. A significant part of the town's historic centre is now a conservation area.
Worsley is first mentioned in a Pipe roll of 1195–96 as Werkesleia, in the claim of a Hugh Putrell to a part of the fee of two knights in nearby Barton-upon-Irwell and Worsley. There are many variations on the name; Werkesleia, 1195; Wyrkedele, 1212; Whurkedeleye, c. 1220; Worketley, 1254; Worcotesley, Workedesle, 1276; Wrkesley, Wrkedeley, Workedeley, 1292; Wyrkeslegh, Workesley, 1301; Worsley, 1444; and "Workdisley alias Workesley alias Worseley", 1581. The spelling of the name in early documents, suggests a Saxon origin. Ge-Weore, the Old English form of the name, means "the cleared place which was cultivated or settled." The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle contain no references to Worsley.