ATHERTON MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The registry location and associated place identify Atherton in historic Lancashire, now Greater Manchester. The manor is historically documented as the Atherton family lordship centred on Atherton Hall/Old Hall at Atherton, near Leigh, rather than the unrelated Atherton Hall in Leyland.
Representative point: 53.5094, -2.5017
Basis: documented_manor_site — Atherton Old Hall, also called Lodge Hall, was the historic seat of the Atherton family, lords of the manor. Historic England identifies surviving listed structures at Atherton Old Hall, Old Hall Mill Lane, at National Grid Reference SD 66530 01431; the historic parkland record identifies the site of Atherton Old Hall and the later Atherton Hall on the same manorial estate.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The evidence confirms the manor's location and its association with the Atherton township and estate, but no reliable source located in this research supplies a documented polygon or sufficiently explicit historical perimeter for the manorial land. The 19th-century township, parish, urban-district and modern administrative boundaries cannot safely be substituted for the manor boundary.
Sources:
- The National Archives: Atherton Manor, F244898: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F244898 — Registry record for the exact manor, located at Atherton, Lancashire, with authority reference GB/NNAF/M229596.
- Historic England: Barn immediately to east of Old Hall Farmhouse, Atherton Old Hall Mill Lane: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1068456 — Identifies the Atherton Old Hall site at Old Hall Mill Lane and gives National Grid Reference SD 66530 01431, supporting the representative point.
- Atherton Hall, Parks & Gardens: https://www.parksandgardens.org/places/atherton-hall — States that the remains of 18th-century Atherton Hall and the site of Atherton Old Hall stand together on the historic estate; records the location as OS grid SD672015 and coordinates near 53.5094, -2.5017.
- Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerk Project: Atherton history: https://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Atherton/home.html — Documents the historical relationship of Atherton/Chowbent to the Atherton family and identifies the medieval lords of the manor as living at the Lodge manor.
- Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerk Project: 1841 Census township boundaries: https://lan-opc.org.uk/Atherton/census1841/census1841.html — Provides explicit historical descriptions of Atherton township boundary sectors, useful as contextual evidence but not sufficient to establish the manor's own territorial perimeter.
- Catalogue of British Town Maps: Atherton 1839 tithe map: https://townmaps.history.ac.uk/townmap/lancashire-atherton-1839/ — Confirms the existence of a 1839 Atherton tithe map with field and tenement boundaries, but the accessible catalogue evidence does not demonstrate a manor-specific boundary.
- The National Archives: Atherton manor court records, DDLI Box 261: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N14330058 — The 1838-1889 court book supports the continuing operation of Atherton manor jurisdiction and provides an archive lead for possible future boundary research.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- Do not use the Atherton Hall in Leyland, South Ribble, at approximately 53.681,-2.685; it is a different property and manor context.
- The representative point marks the documented historic manorial centre/site, not the full extent of the manor.
- A polygon should only be added after examining the Lancashire Archives DDLI Box 261 material, historical surveys, estate maps, tithe material or other documents explicitly identifying the manor's land perimeter.