page_title: Horwich
section_title: Governance
hierarchical_section_title: Horwich / Governance
caption_attribution_description: English: The Coat of arms of Horwich Town Council, the parish council authority for the civil parish of Horwich, in Greater Manchester, England. The blazon is:ARMS: Vert a Hart courant proper gorged with an Ancient Crown on a Chief or a Cross Flory Gules voided of the Chief between four Pallets two and two Sable all between two Roses Gules barbed and seeded proper. Motto&#160;: Copia est Labor. Origin/meaning The arms were officially granted on 1st September 1975, Horwich UDC arms were unofficial but made formal after the merger with Bolton. The arms show a deer and huntsman - reminders of Horwich as a Royal hunting forest in the middle ages, two red Lancashire roses separated by a pair of black railway lines depicting the railway industry of Horwich and the Cross of the Pilkington family. The motto "Copia est Labor" roughly translates to "Industry brings Prosperity". CREST: On a Wreath Argent and Gules a Huntsman habited and drawing his bow all proper.
context_page_description: Horwich is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is 5.3 miles southeast of Chorley, 5.8 miles northwest of Bolton and 15 miles 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.
context_section_description: Lying within the county boundaries of Lancashire since the 12th century, Horwich was a township in the historic ecclesiastical parish of Deane, in the Hundred of Salford. In 1837 Horwich joined with other townships and civil parishes to form the Bolton Poor Law Union and took joint responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law in that area and built a workhouse in Farnworth. The Horwich Local board of health was established in 1872 and was superseded by Horwich Urban District of the administrative county of Lancashire in 1894. Under the Local Government Act 1972 Horwich Urban District was abolished in 1974 and its area became a successor parish of the newly created Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester.
  On 9 January 1974 Horwich was granted a Town Charter by the Earl Marshal, giving Horwich the status of a town, a town council and the ability to elect a Mayor. An official coat of arms was granted and assigned on 6 December 1974 by the Earl Marshal.
  Horwich is covered by two electoral Wards of the Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, the Horwich and Blackrod, and Horwich North East Wards. Each Ward elects three councillors to the Metropolitan Borough Council. Horwich Town Council, formed in 1974, has six Wards; Vale, Bridge, Lever Park, Church, Claypool and Brazley, which elect 14 representatives to the Town Council.
  Horwich is part of the Bolton West Constituency. Its Member of Parliament is Chris Green who won the parliamentary seat at the 2015 General Election.
caption: The coat of arms of Horwich Town Council
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