SHARPLES, a township and a sub-district in Bolton-le-Moors parish, Bolton district, Lancashire. The township lies 2½ miles N of Bolton; and contains the villages of Banktop, Sweet-Loves, High-Houses, Gale, Folds, Belmont, Piccadilly, Water-Meetings, Old Houses, and part of Astley-Bridge. Acres, 3, 920. Real property, £14, 697; of which £302 are in mines. Pop. in 1851, 3, 904; in 1861, 3, 294. Houses, 697. There are cottonmills, calico print-works, extensive bleach-works, largereservoirs of Bolton water-works, the churches of Belmont and Astley-Bridge, Baptist and Wesleyan chapels, and national and British schools.—The sub-district contains also the higher end or detached part of Little Bolton township. Pop. with S. township, in 1861, 4, 243. Houses, 872.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))