Horwich ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. within the Historic County Boundaries of Lancashire, It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester. It lies at the southern edge of the West Pennine Moors with the M61 motorway passing close to the south and west. At the 2011 Census, Horwich had a population of 20,067. Horwich emerged in the Middle Ages as a hunting chase. Streams flowing from the moors were harnessed to provide power for bleachworks and other industry at the start of the Industrial Revolution. The textile industry became a major employer and after 1884 the construction of the railway works caused the population of the town to increase dramatically. The old industries have closed and urban regeneration has been led by out of town developments, particularly at Middlebrook, which, since 1997 has been the base of Bolton Wanderers football club, who play at the University of Bolton Stadium, having moved from Burnden Park near Bolton town centre. History The name Horwich derives from the Old English har and wice, meaning the place at the grey wych-elm and in 1221 was recorded as Horewic. The name was recorded as Harewych in 1277 and Horewyche in 1327. Horwich Forest Horwich grew from its original 'bridge point settlement' on the River Douglas at what is now Scholes Bank. By the Middle Ages Horwich was a hunting chase, after the Norman Conquest held by Albert de Gresle between 1086 and 1100. In 1277 Robert Gresle, Baron of Manchester prosecuted Martin de Rumworth for carrying off deer in Horwich Chase which was described in 1322 as being within "a circuit of sixteen leagues with a yearly value in pannage, aeries of eagles, herons and goshawks, in honey, millstones, and iron mines, in charcoal-burning, and the like issues, 60 shillings; of which the vesture in oaks, elms and wholly covered with such, 160 marks." In 1294 Thomas Gresle, sixth Baron of Manchester obtained free warren over "Horewich". The local enforcement of Forest Law was through a Bailiff who served the Lord of the Manor and it was he who decided punishments. Trespassers in the forest were brought before the Manorial Court Leet. Preindustrial By the 16th century, subsequent to the reformation land ownership had shifted from Church to the crown and was then sold to new owners, who transformed