them easier to work. There were several collieries in Darcy Lever, the Darcy Lever Pit, Davenport Pit, Snow Hill Pit, Victoria Pit, Top o'th'Meadows Colliery. In addition closer to Farnworth there was Fogg Pit owned by Andrew Knowles and Sons, near the Bolton and Bury Canal, which was the scene of an explosion which killed 10 miners. Governance Darcy Lever was a township or civil parish in the ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred in the historic county of Lancashire and in 1837 became part of the Bolton Poor Law Union. In 1898 Darcy Lever was incorporated into the County Borough of Bolton following the Bolton, Turton, and Westhoughton Extension Act of 1898. Demographics The census of 1821 showed Darcy Lever had a population of 956, by 1871 this had grown to 2,071 people living in 404 houses. In 1901 the population was enumerated with Great Lever. In the 2001 census the populations of Little Lever and Darcy Lever are not separated and given as a total resident population of around 12,000 people and covers an area of 481 hectares. It is home to approximately 6,000 males and 6,000 females, living in approximately 5,000 households. General The village has a church, a primary school, a newsagent, a general store and four public houses, the Lever Bridge Inn, the Volunteer (formerly the Artillery & Volunteer), the Farmer's Arms and the Lever's Arms. The village also features two cricket pitches and borders both Moses Gate Country Park and Leverhulme Park. Darcy Lever also has the steepest public highway in Bolton, Gorses Steps. Through the village and park run the remains of the Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal and the Bolton-Bury/Radcliffe railway line, which had a station which was open between 1848 and 1951. The history and development of Darcy Lever as with its neighbour Little Lever is linked to three families, the Levers, the Cromptons and the Fletchers. Religion There is 1 church in Darcy Lever St Stephen and All Martyrs' Church, Lever Bridge. St Stephen was founded in 1844 and has a graveyard. There was a church on Banker St, Wesleyan Methodist which was opened for services in 1848. There was a secession between 1882 and 1885. This church has since been demolished. Transport Railway The original company operating the line was the Liverpool & Bury Railway, pre-grouping the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway acquired the line and