c.69 - 77 AD The Romans built a road, probably as part of their main conquest route, crossing the Mersey at Wilderspool, through Newton, Wigan and Preston, to Lancaster and possibly beyond.
642 Saint Oswald, King of Northumbria, slain in battle against Penda, the heathen King of Mercia, at the Battle of Maserfield (thought possibly to be the same as Makerfield, the site being St.Oswald's Well).
1086 Newton mentioned in the Domesday Survey.
1258 Robert Banastre, Baron of the Fee of Makerfield was granted by Henry III a Charter for a Fair and a Market at Newton.
1284 Robert Banastre obtained from the Prior of the Friary of St. Oswald at Nostell (in Yorkshire) to which Winwick belonged, the privilege of having a chantry in his chapel at Rokeden, on account of the distance of Newton from the mother church at Winwick.
1301 Sir John Langton, Baron of the Fee of Makerfield (after his marriage to Alice Banastre), obtained from Edward I a confirmation of the Charter for a Market and Fair (and free warren, originally granted in 1257) in Newton.
1373 The cross at Newton features in a medieval ghost story.
1559 Newton first sends two Members to Parliament, one of whom was Sir George, thought to have been the brother of Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII.
1594 The Barony of Newton was bought by Thomas Fleetwood from Thomas Langton.
1634 Newton Hall was built by Thomas Blackburne (demolished in 1965).
1642-1649 The Civil War.
1648 The Battle of Winwick Pass (sometimes called the Battle of Red Bank) in which Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentary Forces defeated 'the whole Army of the Scots' under the command of the Duke of Hamilton, killing about 1000 and taking prisoner about 2000.
1660 Newton Manor, Borough and Barony (Fee of Makerfield) was bought from Sir Thomas Fleetwood by Richard Legh. He granted the use of his ram's head crest as the arms of the Borough of Newton.
1677 Dean School was built.
1680 First known mention of Newton Racecourse, although it may be older than that.
1685 Peter Legh, aged only 16, elected as Member of Parliament (together with Sir John Chicheley).
1695 Dr. Kuerden's description of Newton.
1699 A School at Newton was founded by Peter Legh, and endowed with the sum of £55 10s.
1726 The Warrington to Wigan Turnpike Trust was set up by Act of Parliament.
1745 Legh Estate Map of Newton.
1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie passed through Newton with his army of rebellion, on his way to London (although he only got as far as Derby).
1755 An Act of Parliament was granted, 'for making navigable the Sankey Brook'.
1757 The Sankey Canal was opened.
1762 The Bolton and St. Helens turnpike Trust was set up by Act of Parliament, with three sections: Bolton to Newton Bridge, Newton to Parr, and Golborne Dale to Winwick.
1788 the Golborne Dale to Winwick section was excluded from the Act of Parliament which continued the term of Bolton and St. Helens Turnpike Trust.
1793 A steam boat was invented and made by John Smith of St. Helens, and seems to have been used on the Sankey Canal until at least 1797.
1819 St. Peter's Church was enlarged, and the old market cross beside it was taken down and replaced by the obelisk (which was moved to Earlestown in 1870).
1826 An Act of Parliament was passed for the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. A Company was formed for this purpose, and George Stephenson was appointed as Engineer. Work began on the Railway.
1827 Work began on the 9-arch Sankey Viaduct of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
1829 The Rainhill Locomotive Trials. Newton Bridge, over Mill Lane, was built.
1830 The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was opened. Sir William Huskisson, M.P. for Liverpool was killed by being run over by a locomotive at Parkside, in Newton (the Huskisson Memorial there commemorates this event).
1830 The Vulcan Foundry was established by Charles Tayleur, who went into partnership with Robert Stephenson three years later.
1831 The Warrington and Newton Railway was opened. Newton Junction Station (later called Earlestown Station) was probably built at this time.
1832 The Reform Act was passed - Newton no longer sent two Members to Parliament, but became instead a polling station for elections to the South West Lancashire Division.
1832-1834 Messrs. Muspratt & Co's Vitriol Works were built, on the north side of the Sankey Canal.
1833 The first two locomotives built at the Vulcan Foundry, the 'Tayleur' and the 'Stephenson', were delivered to the North Union Railway at Bolton. The first locomotive exports were made from Vulcan, to the U.S.A.: two bogie engines, the 'Fire Fly' and 'Red Rover'.
1833 The Viaduct Foundry was established, by Messrs. Jones, Turner and Evans. Among the early products were locomotives and mine pumping machinery.
1841The Winwick Rectory Act was passed, creating for the first time a separate Parish for Newton ( the Parish Church was not, however St. Peter's, but Emmanuel, Wargrave ).
1846 McCorquodale and Co's Printing Works was established, soon becoming the leading printer nationally for railway timetables and stationery.
1852 The first iron sea-going vessel in the world, a tea clipper called the 'Tayleur' was built at Bank Quay Foundry in Warrington (a subsidiary of the Vulcan Foundry since 1847), but was wrecked on her maiden voyage.
1852 Eight passenger locomotives were exported from the Vulcan Foundry, for the Great Indian Peninsular Railway, whose Bombay to Thana section, opened in 1853, was the first main line railway in India.
1852 - 1853 Newton Mere was created by the damming of Newton Brook.
1853 The Viaduct Works were leased from Jones and Potts (successors to Jones, Turner and Evans) by the London and North Western Railway Company, whose Director was Sir Hardman Earle. Earlestown was named in appreciation of his efforts.
1853 The Vitriol Works were finally given up, following lawsuits because of pollution, the 133 yards high chimney was blasted. and the business removed to Flint in North Wales. Evidence of the works can still be seen - their refuse heap, known locally as the 'Mucky Mountains'.
1855 The Newton-in-Makerfield Improvement Act was passed.
1855 The Sankey Sugar Works was established, near the site of the former Vitriol Works.
1857 The District School was founded. It was the first public building in Earlestown, and was by day an Infants' School, by night a lending library, news room, night school and Mechanics Institute, and on Sunday a church and Sunday school.
1858 Red Bank School was founded.
1866 Wood Colliery was sunk by Richard Evans and Company. Its name was changed for a time in the 20th century, to Newton Colliery, and it finally closed in 1971.
1870 Newton Market, together with the obelisk, was moved to Earlestown.
1877 The Viaduct Institute opened, for the 'material and moral welfare' of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Company's employees, with six acres of grounds, later to be used for sporting and recreational activities.
1877 The Warrington to Wigan Turnpike Trust finally expired (set up in 1726).
1878 Explosion at Wood Colliery, when 204 men and boys who worked there (the youngest aged only 12) were killed.
1879 The Bolton and St. Helens Turnpike Trust finally expired (originally set up in 1762).
1880 Earlestown A.F.C. (Association Football Club) was formed. They were rivals of Everton in the 1880s, but were disbanded in 1911.
1885 Trees were first planted in Newton High Street, the gift of Lord Newton.
1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act made Newton into one of the Parliamentary Divisions of South West Lancashire.
1892-1893 The new Town Hall was built in Earlestown.
1894 The Local Government Act created Newton-in-Makerfield Urban District Council.
1898 Newton Races were last held, then transferred to Haydock Park.
1899-1902 Boer War (the Memorial in front of the Town Hall was built in 1904).
1906 Newton Water Tower was completed, built in Hennebique's Ferro-Concrete.
1909 Newton Library was opened by Lord Newton.
1911 Newton Technical School was opened.
1912 Isolation Hospital in Bradlegh Road opened.
1912 Sinking of the Titanic (the widow of the Captain, Edward John Smith, was originally from Newton, as was also the Chief Steward, Mr Andrew Latimer).
1912 Miners' Strike: riots near Earlestown.
1913 Royal Visit, by King George V and Queen Mary.
1914-1918 First World War.
1914-1918 Armaments were made at the Vulcan Foundry, including shells, gun mountings and mine-sweeping devices, making use of female labour.
1916 Newton Fair was finally abolished (although it had fallen into disuse about a hundred years before then).
1922 Lyme Colliery began production.
1922George Formby's first public performance, when aged only 16, took place in Earlestown, at the Hippodrome (known locally as Kemp's, after the owner), in Chemical Street. He appeared 18 months later, also in Earlestown, at the Pavilion.
1923 The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) become part of the newly-formed London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Company.
1926 The General Strike.
1929 First non-steam locomotive built at the Vulcan Foundry - an electric locomotive for India.
1930 The first locomotive was sent from the Vulcan Foundry by the new method, by road transporter, for export to India by sea (previously they were partly dismantled before transport).
1930 An explosion took place at Lyme Colliery, which killed five men and seriously injured 20 others, eight of whom also died soon after.
1934 Liverpool-East Lancashire Road opened by King George V.
1935 250 light tanks built at the Vulcan Foundry, to War Office specifications (used in action in the Second World War, in Flanders and North Africa).
1936 Design work began at the Vulcan Foundry for the Waltzing Matilda Tank (used in the Second World War, from 1940, on the Western Front, North Africa, Russia and the Pacific).
1938 Crow Lane Hall (also known as White Cross Hall) was demolished.
1939 Name changed from Newton-in-Makerfield to Newton-le-Willows, to avoid confusion with Ashton-in-Makerfield. Previously Newton-le-Willows only referred to the part of Newton at the eastern, High Street, end of the town.
1939-45 Second World War.
1939-43 At the height of production Vulcan's output per head for war purposes exceeded that of any other similar works in the country.
1940 Burtonwood Aerodrome first came into operation. It became a U.S. Air Base in 1942, but it was always known officially as R.A.F Burtonwood. It became the largest military base in Europe, and finally closed in 1993.
1941 Visit by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (now Queen Mother) to the Vulcan Foundry.
1945 Earlestown A.F.C. re-formed (disbanded again in 1964).
1947 Nationalisation of Coal Mining, and the creation of the National Coal Board (N.C.B.).
1947 The Transport Act nationalised the railways (British Railways, later British Rail), canals (British Waterways Board) and some road transport.
1948 Creation of the National Health Service.
1951 Newton Carnival event, as part of the Festival of Britain.
1955 Vulcan Foundry became part of the English Electric Group of Companies, and production of diesel locomotives, traction, marine and industrial engines increased from this time.
1956 The last big main line steam locomotive was built at the Vulcan Foundry (the 6,204th steam locomotive built there), for the East African Railways.
1959 The Sankey Sugar Company gave up using the Sankey Canal (this was the last commercial user of the Canal).
1963 The Sankey Canal was abandoned, by Act of Parliament.
1963 The local section of the M6 Motorway, from Bamber Bridge to Lymm, was opened by Ernest Marples, Minister of Transport. Haydock Island (roundabout) was the biggest of its kind in Europe at that time. Newton Lake was temporarily drained during construction of the Motorway.
1964 Lyme Colliery closed.
1964 Production officially began at Parkside Colliery.
1964 The Viaduct Works closed.
1965 Newton Hall demolished.
1970 Locomotive production at the Vulcan Foundry finally came to an end, the last one to be produced being a main line locomotive, supplied to Ghana Railways and Ports.
1971 Wood Colliery (previously known for a time as Newton Colliery) closed.
1974 As part of the national reorganisation of Local Government, Newton-le-Willows became part of St.Helens Metropolitan Borough Council.
1984 The Miners' Strike, against pit closures.
1985 SCARS (Sankey Canal Restoration Society) was formed.
1993 Parkside Colliery (the last remaining deep colliery in the Lancashire Coalfield) closed, and the towers and other pithead buildings were demolished in the following year.
1994 The Civic Hall (former Assembly Room and Newton Town Hall) was demolished.
1996 Beginning of the 5-year SRB (Single Regeneration Budget) Programme of the Newton 21 Partnership.
642 Saint Oswald, King of Northumbria, slain in battle against Penda, the heathen King of Mercia, at the Battle of Maserfield (thought possibly to be the same as Makerfield, the site being St.Oswald's Well).
1086 Newton mentioned in the Domesday Survey.
1258 Robert Banastre, Baron of the Fee of Makerfield was granted by Henry III a Charter for a Fair and a Market at Newton.
1284 Robert Banastre obtained from the Prior of the Friary of St. Oswald at Nostell (in Yorkshire) to which Winwick belonged, the privilege of having a chantry in his chapel at Rokeden, on account of the distance of Newton from the mother church at Winwick.
1301 Sir John Langton, Baron of the Fee of Makerfield (after his marriage to Alice Banastre), obtained from Edward I a confirmation of the Charter for a Market and Fair (and free warren, originally granted in 1257) in Newton.
1373 The cross at Newton features in a medieval ghost story.
1559 Newton first sends two Members to Parliament, one of whom was Sir George, thought to have been the brother of Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII.
1594 The Barony of Newton was bought by Thomas Fleetwood from Thomas Langton.
1634 Newton Hall was built by Thomas Blackburne (demolished in 1965).
1642-1649 The Civil War.
1648 The Battle of Winwick Pass (sometimes called the Battle of Red Bank) in which Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentary Forces defeated 'the whole Army of the Scots' under the command of the Duke of Hamilton, killing about 1000 and taking prisoner about 2000.
1660 Newton Manor, Borough and Barony (Fee of Makerfield) was bought from Sir Thomas Fleetwood by Richard Legh. He granted the use of his ram's head crest as the arms of the Borough of Newton.
1677 Dean School was built.
1680 First known mention of Newton Racecourse, although it may be older than that.
1685 Peter Legh, aged only 16, elected as Member of Parliament (together with Sir John Chicheley).
1695 Dr. Kuerden's description of Newton.
1699 A School at Newton was founded by Peter Legh, and endowed with the sum of £55 10s.
1726 The Warrington to Wigan Turnpike Trust was set up by Act of Parliament.
1745 Legh Estate Map of Newton.
1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie passed through Newton with his army of rebellion, on his way to London (although he only got as far as Derby).
1755 An Act of Parliament was granted, 'for making navigable the Sankey Brook'.
1757 The Sankey Canal was opened.
1762 The Bolton and St. Helens turnpike Trust was set up by Act of Parliament, with three sections: Bolton to Newton Bridge, Newton to Parr, and Golborne Dale to Winwick.
1788 the Golborne Dale to Winwick section was excluded from the Act of Parliament which continued the term of Bolton and St. Helens Turnpike Trust.
1793 A steam boat was invented and made by John Smith of St. Helens, and seems to have been used on the Sankey Canal until at least 1797.
1819 St. Peter's Church was enlarged, and the old market cross beside it was taken down and replaced by the obelisk (which was moved to Earlestown in 1870).
1826 An Act of Parliament was passed for the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. A Company was formed for this purpose, and George Stephenson was appointed as Engineer. Work began on the Railway.
1827 Work began on the 9-arch Sankey Viaduct of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
1829 The Rainhill Locomotive Trials. Newton Bridge, over Mill Lane, was built.
1830 The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was opened. Sir William Huskisson, M.P. for Liverpool was killed by being run over by a locomotive at Parkside, in Newton (the Huskisson Memorial there commemorates this event).
1830 The Vulcan Foundry was established by Charles Tayleur, who went into partnership with Robert Stephenson three years later.
1831 The Warrington and Newton Railway was opened. Newton Junction Station (later called Earlestown Station) was probably built at this time.
1832 The Reform Act was passed - Newton no longer sent two Members to Parliament, but became instead a polling station for elections to the South West Lancashire Division.
1832-1834 Messrs. Muspratt & Co's Vitriol Works were built, on the north side of the Sankey Canal.
1833 The first two locomotives built at the Vulcan Foundry, the 'Tayleur' and the 'Stephenson', were delivered to the North Union Railway at Bolton. The first locomotive exports were made from Vulcan, to the U.S.A.: two bogie engines, the 'Fire Fly' and 'Red Rover'.
1833 The Viaduct Foundry was established, by Messrs. Jones, Turner and Evans. Among the early products were locomotives and mine pumping machinery.
1841The Winwick Rectory Act was passed, creating for the first time a separate Parish for Newton ( the Parish Church was not, however St. Peter's, but Emmanuel, Wargrave ).
1846 McCorquodale and Co's Printing Works was established, soon becoming the leading printer nationally for railway timetables and stationery.
1852 The first iron sea-going vessel in the world, a tea clipper called the 'Tayleur' was built at Bank Quay Foundry in Warrington (a subsidiary of the Vulcan Foundry since 1847), but was wrecked on her maiden voyage.
1852 Eight passenger locomotives were exported from the Vulcan Foundry, for the Great Indian Peninsular Railway, whose Bombay to Thana section, opened in 1853, was the first main line railway in India.
1852 - 1853 Newton Mere was created by the damming of Newton Brook.
1853 The Viaduct Works were leased from Jones and Potts (successors to Jones, Turner and Evans) by the London and North Western Railway Company, whose Director was Sir Hardman Earle. Earlestown was named in appreciation of his efforts.
1853 The Vitriol Works were finally given up, following lawsuits because of pollution, the 133 yards high chimney was blasted. and the business removed to Flint in North Wales. Evidence of the works can still be seen - their refuse heap, known locally as the 'Mucky Mountains'.
1855 The Newton-in-Makerfield Improvement Act was passed.
1855 The Sankey Sugar Works was established, near the site of the former Vitriol Works.
1857 The District School was founded. It was the first public building in Earlestown, and was by day an Infants' School, by night a lending library, news room, night school and Mechanics Institute, and on Sunday a church and Sunday school.
1858 Red Bank School was founded.
1866 Wood Colliery was sunk by Richard Evans and Company. Its name was changed for a time in the 20th century, to Newton Colliery, and it finally closed in 1971.
1870 Newton Market, together with the obelisk, was moved to Earlestown.
1877 The Viaduct Institute opened, for the 'material and moral welfare' of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Company's employees, with six acres of grounds, later to be used for sporting and recreational activities.
1877 The Warrington to Wigan Turnpike Trust finally expired (set up in 1726).
1878 Explosion at Wood Colliery, when 204 men and boys who worked there (the youngest aged only 12) were killed.
1879 The Bolton and St. Helens Turnpike Trust finally expired (originally set up in 1762).
1880 Earlestown A.F.C. (Association Football Club) was formed. They were rivals of Everton in the 1880s, but were disbanded in 1911.
1885 Trees were first planted in Newton High Street, the gift of Lord Newton.
1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act made Newton into one of the Parliamentary Divisions of South West Lancashire.
1892-1893 The new Town Hall was built in Earlestown.
1894 The Local Government Act created Newton-in-Makerfield Urban District Council.
1898 Newton Races were last held, then transferred to Haydock Park.
1899-1902 Boer War (the Memorial in front of the Town Hall was built in 1904).
1906 Newton Water Tower was completed, built in Hennebique's Ferro-Concrete.
1909 Newton Library was opened by Lord Newton.
1911 Newton Technical School was opened.
1912 Isolation Hospital in Bradlegh Road opened.
1912 Sinking of the Titanic (the widow of the Captain, Edward John Smith, was originally from Newton, as was also the Chief Steward, Mr Andrew Latimer).
1912 Miners' Strike: riots near Earlestown.
1913 Royal Visit, by King George V and Queen Mary.
1914-1918 First World War.
1914-1918 Armaments were made at the Vulcan Foundry, including shells, gun mountings and mine-sweeping devices, making use of female labour.
1916 Newton Fair was finally abolished (although it had fallen into disuse about a hundred years before then).
1922 Lyme Colliery began production.
1922George Formby's first public performance, when aged only 16, took place in Earlestown, at the Hippodrome (known locally as Kemp's, after the owner), in Chemical Street. He appeared 18 months later, also in Earlestown, at the Pavilion.
1923 The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) become part of the newly-formed London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Company.
1926 The General Strike.
1929 First non-steam locomotive built at the Vulcan Foundry - an electric locomotive for India.
1930 The first locomotive was sent from the Vulcan Foundry by the new method, by road transporter, for export to India by sea (previously they were partly dismantled before transport).
1930 An explosion took place at Lyme Colliery, which killed five men and seriously injured 20 others, eight of whom also died soon after.
1934 Liverpool-East Lancashire Road opened by King George V.
1935 250 light tanks built at the Vulcan Foundry, to War Office specifications (used in action in the Second World War, in Flanders and North Africa).
1936 Design work began at the Vulcan Foundry for the Waltzing Matilda Tank (used in the Second World War, from 1940, on the Western Front, North Africa, Russia and the Pacific).
1938 Crow Lane Hall (also known as White Cross Hall) was demolished.
1939 Name changed from Newton-in-Makerfield to Newton-le-Willows, to avoid confusion with Ashton-in-Makerfield. Previously Newton-le-Willows only referred to the part of Newton at the eastern, High Street, end of the town.
1939-45 Second World War.
1939-43 At the height of production Vulcan's output per head for war purposes exceeded that of any other similar works in the country.
1940 Burtonwood Aerodrome first came into operation. It became a U.S. Air Base in 1942, but it was always known officially as R.A.F Burtonwood. It became the largest military base in Europe, and finally closed in 1993.
1941 Visit by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (now Queen Mother) to the Vulcan Foundry.
1945 Earlestown A.F.C. re-formed (disbanded again in 1964).
1947 Nationalisation of Coal Mining, and the creation of the National Coal Board (N.C.B.).
1947 The Transport Act nationalised the railways (British Railways, later British Rail), canals (British Waterways Board) and some road transport.
1948 Creation of the National Health Service.
1951 Newton Carnival event, as part of the Festival of Britain.
1955 Vulcan Foundry became part of the English Electric Group of Companies, and production of diesel locomotives, traction, marine and industrial engines increased from this time.
1956 The last big main line steam locomotive was built at the Vulcan Foundry (the 6,204th steam locomotive built there), for the East African Railways.
1959 The Sankey Sugar Company gave up using the Sankey Canal (this was the last commercial user of the Canal).
1963 The Sankey Canal was abandoned, by Act of Parliament.
1963 The local section of the M6 Motorway, from Bamber Bridge to Lymm, was opened by Ernest Marples, Minister of Transport. Haydock Island (roundabout) was the biggest of its kind in Europe at that time. Newton Lake was temporarily drained during construction of the Motorway.
1964 Lyme Colliery closed.
1964 Production officially began at Parkside Colliery.
1964 The Viaduct Works closed.
1965 Newton Hall demolished.
1970 Locomotive production at the Vulcan Foundry finally came to an end, the last one to be produced being a main line locomotive, supplied to Ghana Railways and Ports.
1971 Wood Colliery (previously known for a time as Newton Colliery) closed.
1974 As part of the national reorganisation of Local Government, Newton-le-Willows became part of St.Helens Metropolitan Borough Council.
1984 The Miners' Strike, against pit closures.
1985 SCARS (Sankey Canal Restoration Society) was formed.
1993 Parkside Colliery (the last remaining deep colliery in the Lancashire Coalfield) closed, and the towers and other pithead buildings were demolished in the following year.
1994 The Civic Hall (former Assembly Room and Newton Town Hall) was demolished.
1996 Beginning of the 5-year SRB (Single Regeneration Budget) Programme of the Newton 21 Partnership.