Scheduled MonumentsEnglandChequerbent embankment of Bolton and Leigh Railway

Chequerbent embankment of Bolton and Leigh Railway

England
List entry 1479269
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1479269
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
1.24 hectares
Grid reference
SD6764306283
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Chequerbent embankment is a raised earthwork forming part of the Bolton and Leigh Railway, which opened in 1828 as one of the earliest public railways in England. The embankment, constructed to carry the railway line across the landscape near Bolton in Lancashire, survives as a substantial linear monument of early nineteenth-century railway engineering. It represents the physical infrastructure of this pioneering transport scheme, which connected Bolton to the Leigh branch of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal and played a significant role in the region's industrial development. The monument exemplifies the scale of earthwork required for early railway construction prior to more extensive engineering refinements.

Chequerbent embankment of Bolton and Leigh Railway is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1479269. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Chequerbent embankment of Bolton and Leigh Railway?

Chequerbent embankment is a raised earthwork forming part of the Bolton and Leigh Railway, which opened in 1828 as one of the earliest public railways in England. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1479269.

Who is responsible for protecting Chequerbent embankment of Bolton and Leigh Railway?

Chequerbent embankment of Bolton and Leigh Railway is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1479269.

What other scheduled monuments are near Chequerbent embankment of Bolton and Leigh Railway?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Gidlow Hall moated site, Aspull, 560m NNE of Pennington Hall (5.2 km), New Hall Moat, Astley, 200m north of Astley Hospital (5.6 km), Round cairn 280m west of Old Harpers Farm (6.3 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Chequerbent embankment of Bolton and Leigh Railway

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Chequerbent embankment of Bolton and Leigh Railway's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Chequerbent embankment of Bolton and Leigh Railway

Chequerbent embankment of Bolton and Leigh Railway stands on Pennine Lower Coal Measures Formation And South Wales Lower Coal Measures Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Westphalian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.

The wider landscape

Around Chequerbent embankment of Bolton and Leigh Railway

Battle of Winwick (also known as Battle of Red Bank) 1648Battle (1648) · ~9 miles