Astley, Greater Manchester

Astley is a settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, northwest of Manchester and crossed by the Bridgewater Canal and the A580 East Lancashire Road. Continuous with neighbouring Tyldesley, it is equidistant from Wigan and Manchester city centre, both away. The Astley Mosley Common ward had a population of 11,270 at the 2011 Census.Historically a part of Lancashire, the name Astley is derived from Old English, indicating Anglo-Saxon settlement. It means "east Leigh", a reference to Astley's location relative to the town of Leigh or ēastlēah the "eastern wood or clearing". Throughout the Middle Ages, Astley constituted a township within the parish of Leigh and hundred of West Derby. Astley first appears in written form as Asteleghe in 1210, when its lord of the manor granted land to the religious order of Premonstratensian canons at Cockersand Abbey.