- The modern era takes off
- In the same year the Vulcan Foundry was established, later developing into one of the biggest worldwide suppliers of railway locomotives.
- Also in 1830 James Muspratt began chemical manufacturing at Bradley Lock, making use of the Sankey Canal for the commercial benefit of Newton.
- In 1831 the Warrington and Newton Railway was opened, making it possible for later railway links to Birmingham and London to be made.
- Also in 1832 the Wigan Branch Railway was opened, creating a junction with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway at Parkside.
- In 1833 the Viaduct Foundry was established, which at first also made locomotives, some for export, but later becoming a major manufacturer of railway wagons.
- Also in the 1830's, Ackers, Abraham and Company founded a Crown Glass Works to the north of Crow Lane, the site being used by other glass firms until the early 20th century.
In some ways, Newton had been an important place for many hundreds of years, although in size it was never more than a small market town. By today's standards we would probably have thought of it as only a village. Even the Sankey Canal really only brought small changes to the town, mainly in connection with a wharf on the canal for Haydock coal. However, things changed for ever with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
It was strange that Newton lost much of its political power and influence at exactly the same time as it was developing its economic and industrial power and influence. The developments began with the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830, with Newton as a very important halfway point:
In the middle of this extraordinary development came the Reform Act in 1832, when Newton lost its two Members of Parliament which it had had since 1559. After this spurt in the 1830's industrial development continued through the 19th century, with another spurt in the 1850's. Meanwhile, McCorquodale and Company's Printing works was established in 1846, soon becoming the leading printer nationally for railway timetables and stationery.
In 1853 the Viaduct Works were leased by the London and North Western Railway Company, a Director of which was Sir Hardman Earle. There had been a small industrial village around the works, but now labour was brought in on a larger scale, from the company's Ordsall Lane Works in Manchester, and over 600 houses were built for them by 1860. Earlestown was named after Sir Hardman Earle, in honour of this expansion of the works and of the growth of the settlement which he was so instrumental in.
The Vitriol works finally closed in 1853 after complaints and several lawsuits over pollution, and moved to Flint in North Wales. Two years later the Sankey Sugar Works was established near the site of the Vitriol Works, also using both canal and rail transport.
Also in 1855, to reflect the growth of the town and the need to improve facilities locally, the Newton-in-Makerfield Improvement Act was passed.
The 19th century ended on a warlike note, with the Boer War, which lasted from 1899 to 1902. Newton soldiers went to fight in South Africa, and 52 died there. Their names are listed on the Memorial in front of the Town Hall at Earlestown, which was put up in 1904.
The early years of the 20th Century saw several public buildings being put up in Newton, including the Water Tower, built in a very advanced system of Ferro-concrete, patented by a Frenchman, Hennebique. Other new public buildings were the Library and the Technical School, the Isolation Hospital, new schools (Manor, Lyme Infants and St.Mary's Boys' School), as well as the Vulcan Institute building and All Saints' Church. An event of great excitement came in 1913 with the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Earlestown.
The Boer War ended in 1902, but a much more terrible war, the First World War, broke out in 1914 and lasted until 1918. At the time, and until the Second World War, it was called the Great War. Like every other town in the country, Newton suffered greatly from the large numbers of men killed. This can be seen from the population figures which only increased between the Censuses of 1911 and 1921 by 321, the lowest increase since 1821, a hundred years before.
The 1920s was a period of some turbulence, brought on by the Great Depression, and in 1926 came the General Strike, which affected the area deeply, especially with regard to coal mining. Meanwhile, Lyme Colliery, on the border between Haydock and Newton began production in 1922.
A forerunner of things to come, the Liverpool-East Lancashire Road (now more usually called the East Lancashire Road), was opened in 1934.
To prepare for the next war which was foreseen, the Vulcan Foundry began to produce tanks in
1935. The Second World War broke out in 1939 and lasted half as long again as the First World War. Many more people died worldwide in World War II although casualties for this country were less than those in World War I.
After the War a Labour Government was elected, which brought in many changes, such as the National Health Service and the Nationalisation of coal mining, the railways, canals and some road transport.
In 1951, the Festival of Britain took place. This was held partly as the Centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851, but also as a way of stimulating the development of industry and the arts after the ravages of the war. As part of the Festival, an event called the Newton Carnival was held, as a celebration of Newton's history and achievements over the years.
The 1960s saw another time of great change in and around Newton. The Sankey Canal was finally abandoned by Act of Parliament, although the Sankey Sugar Works, the last commercial user, had given up using the canal in 1959. In 1963, the local section of the M6 motorway, from Bamber Bridge to Lymm, was opened. In 1964, Lyme Colliery closed, but in the same year production officially began at Parkside Colliery. Also in 1964 the Viaduct Works closed, causing much hardship in Earlestown.
Changes continued into the 1970s. In 1970, locomotive production at Vulcan came to an end after 133 years, although the Works diversified into other fields of engineering. Wood Colliery (which for a time used to be called Newton Colliery) closed in 1971. In 1974, as part of the national reorganisation of Local Government, Newton-le-Willows became part of St.Helens Metropolitan Borough Council. This was a time of great unemployment and many people left the area to find work elsewhere. This can be seen in the Census figures. Newton suffered one of the sharpest decreases in population in the country at this time. Numbers dropped by 11.9%, from 22.080 to 19,723.
The new Conservative Government, led by Margaret Thatcher, which was elected in 1979, brought many changes. In the 1980s there was a national miners' strike against the pit closures. In the end the closures went ahead, and in 1993, Parkside Colliery closed. This was the last remaining deep colliery in the Lancashire coalfield and the towers and other pithead buildings which were a prominent local landmark, were demolished the following year.
By contrast, in the late 1990s and into the new Millennium, there has been something of an economic and environmental regeneration. As part of this, in 1996 began the five year programme of the Newton 21 Partnership. This came together after the award of over £14.5 million from the Government's Single Regeneration Budget. Since then, over £40 million has been attracted from other public funds and private sector investors and has been invested across Newton in over fifty projects, delivered by eighteen partners. Together, they have helped to bring to Newton a stronger economy, better community services including education and health care, better housing and transport, environmental improvements, as well as steps towards developing the town's tourism and leisure potential. Although the SRB funding ended in March 2001, the effects of the investment will be felt well into the new century.