assumed that Levers daughter had inherited them and thus they passed to her husband John Bradshaw. However the land came to them, the family estate grew and today they continue to hold large parts of the Bolton area. At this time, 1666, Robert Lever had eight hearths liable to tax, James Bradshaw and John Crompton had seven each and Lawrence Fogg six. The rest of the township was made up of 12 more heaths. The land-tax return of 1786 shows that James Bradshaw and John Peploe Birch were the chief proprietors of Darcy Lever, between them they paid about half the land tax for Darcy Lever. In 1797 the area had changed hands again and Robert Andrews paid more than a third of the tax with John Fletcher and Benjamin Rawson (who owned the chemical works at Nob End) making up another third between them. Darcy Lever Hall Darcy Lever Hall was owned by James Crompton in 1598 and he partially rebuilt it in 1604. In 1641 Robert and Elizabeth Lever moved into the hall, the date was inscribed with the initials RLE on the stone head of the inner door and on the porch beam. The hall had two storeys with gable attics constructed with a timber frame with plaster fill and a grey slate roof in the Tudor style. It was located on the high ground that slopes down to Blackshaw Brook, which flowed past the south side of the house near the junction with the River Croal. The hall was demolished in 1951. Industry The growth of the textile industry around Darcy Lever was assisted by the availability of coal. By 1896 John Fletcher owned coal mines at Ladyshore, Little Lever; The Earl of Bradford had a coal mine at Great Lever and the Darcy Lever Coal Company and others had mines at Darcy Lever. Darcy Lever had little industry other than the coal mining. Many inhabitants not involved in coal mining found employment on the Manchester Bolton and Bury Canal or in the textile mills of Bolton and Farnworth. Today, that situation still exists with most of the working population commuting out of Darcy Lever to work in Bolton, Manchester and other nearby towns. Darcy Lever was not worked for coal as much as nearby Little Lever due to the fact it lay further off the Irwell Valley fault which had uplifted the coal measures making