Bolton

Bolton gifts with an unexpected museum connection

Bolton became known for fine cotton spinning and weaving after the spinning mule was invented there. The town's textile history also connects with its Egyptian collections. Annie Barlow raised funds for excavations in Egypt and gave finds to the Chadwick Museum. Bolton Museum's Egyptology collection is particularly strong in textiles, linking a local industrial subject with material from the ancient world. The collection also includes a full-scale replica of the burial chamber of Thutmose the Third.

Smithills Hall tells another Bolton story through successive families and changes to the building. William Radcliffe obtained the manor from the Hulton family in thirteen thirty-five. It passed to the Barton family in fourteen eighty-five. Those changes of ownership belong to the hall's medieval history, before its later connection with Bolton's bleaching industry.

The Ainsworth family bought the Smithills estate in 1801. They were Bolton bleachers and modernised the hall; architect George Devey designed Victorian improvements to it. Bolton Council bought Smithills Hall in 1938, bringing the building into public ownership. The hall's family history, the textile industry and the Egyptian collection give the town several distinct connections. A Bolton keepsake can refer to that working and museum history without treating Smithills and the town-centre museum as the same place.

Gift ideas: the Bolton artwork below offers a starting point for a present about the town. A former home or another meaningful address can instead be marked with the Where It Happened map print. Check that the chosen location matches the part of Bolton you want the gift to recall. Also explore Bolton - Come On Then, Bolton - Still Here, Greater Manchester.