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Halliwell is a suburban area of the town of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it is about 2 mi to the north west of Bolton town centre and is bounded by Tonge Moor to the east and Heaton to the south west. Halliwell lies on the lower south facing slopes of the West Pennine Moors.

Toponymy
Halliwell derives its name from the holy well, an ancient spring which used to exist at the northern end of the township off Smithills Croft Road. In Old English it was recorded as halig wella (i.e. holy well). Over the centuries the name has been spelt as Haliwalle (1220), Haliwell (1243), Harywal (1273), and Halewell (1277–8). In Deane Parish Church registers it was spelt Halliwoe and Hollowell.

Manor
Smithills Hall to the north is within the ancient township.

Traces of this ancient history still remain.

Boundary Street marks the old boundary between Halliwell and the parish of Bolton le Moors, and a modern wall along Gladstone Street also marks this former boundary.

The old building on Halliwell Road, much modernised, at the end of the wall, is the former toll house.

Government
Lying within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire since the early 12th century, Halliwell was a township in the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Deane in the Salford Hundred. The township became part of the Bolton Poor Law Union in 1837 which took responsibility for funding the Poor Law within that Union area. In 1863, under the Local Government Act 1858, a local board of health was adopted for the township of Halliwell, and three years later it was given the status of a civil parish. In 1877, the south-eastern urban area of Halliwell became the ninth ward of the County Borough of Bolton. The remaining north-western rural area became known as Halliwell Higher End until 1894 when it changed its name to Smithills and became one of the civil parishes of the Bolton Rural District, but it too became part of the County Borough of Bolton in 1898. Under the Local Government Act 1972, the County Borough of Bolton was abolished in 1974 and its former area became part of the larger Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. The Halliwell area is covered by three electoral wards of Bolton Metropolitan Borough: the Halliwell ward, the Crompton ward, and the Smithills ward, each represented by three councillors.

For recording births, marriages, and deaths, Halliwell gave its name to a sub-district of the Bolton Registration district from 1837 until 1947.

Culture and community
The Halliwell area has three parks: Moss Bank Park, Smithills Hall Country Park, and Thomasson Park.

Education

 * Brownlow Fold Primary School, Halliwell
 * Church Road Primary School, Halliwell
 * Johnson Fold Primary School, Halliwell
 * Oxford Grove Primary School, Halliwell
 * St Joseph's RC Primary School, Halliwell
 * St Peter's Smithills Dean CE Primary School, Smithills
 * St Thomas' CE Primary School, Halliwell
 * Smithills School, Smithills

Religious sites
The Anglican Diocese of Manchester has seven active places of worship in the Halliwell area. The oldest is St Peter's Church on Church Road and was consecrated in 1840. The Vicar of St Peter's, Halliwell, also has responsibility over Barrow Bridge Mission in Barrow Bridge, St Andrew's Church in Johnson Fold, and Smithills Chapel at Smithills Hall. The other four Anglican churches in Halliwell are St Paul's Church in Halliwell Road was consecrated in 1848; St Luke's Church in Chorley Old Road was consecrated in 1874, but the original building was destroyed by fire in the early 1970s and was replaced by a new building; St Thomas the Apostle Church in Eskrick Street was consecrated in 1875; and St Margaret's Church in Lonsdale Road was consecrated in 1913.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford has two churches in Halliwell: St Joseph's Church, Horace Street, Halliwell, and St James the Great, Bowland Drive, Montserrat. They are served by the same parish priest.

Sport
Sharples Community Leisure Centre on Hill Cot Road is now Closed. It had a range of activities available including a swimming pool, large sports hall, all weather pitch and gymnasium. A wide range of facilities was available to suit people of all ages and abilities. The nearest local leisure centre now is the Jason Kenny Centre at Bolton One, Moor Lane, Bolton.

Halliwell had a football team, Halliwell Rovers, who were one of the strongest teams in the area. They played at a ground known as Bennett's or Holy Harbour which is now buried under terraced housing between Elgin Street and Hughes Street, Bennett's Lane and Cloister Street.