Wikipedia
Ashton-in-Makerfield
Ashton-in-Makerfield is a town located in Greater Manchester, England. Part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan it is south of the town of Wigan. In 2001 it had a population of 28,505, increasing to 28,762 at the 2011 Census.
Historically a part of Lancashire, Ashton-in-Makerfield was anciently a township in the parish of Newton-in-Makerfield (as Newton-le-Willows was once known), Winwick and hundred of West Derby. With neighbouring Haydock, Ashton-in-Makerfield was a chapelry, but the two were split in 1845. The place has long been a centre for the manufacture of locks and hinges, but also sits on the Lancashire Coalfield, and so was a coal mining district.