ATHERTON or CHOWBENT, urban district, Lancashire, England, 13m. W.N.W. of Manchester on the L.M.S. railway. Population (1931) 19,985. The cotton factories account for the rapid industrialization of the district. The manor was held by the Athertons from John's reign to 1738, when it passed by marriage to Robert Gwillym and subsequently to Lord Lilford. It is an early Nonconformist centre, with a chapel built in 1645. During the rebellion of 1715 this Nonconformist church headed by its pastor marched against the Pretender, a typical attitude for a weaving population. Up to 1891 the lord of the manor held a court-leet and court-baron annually in November, but in that year Lord Lilford sold to the local board the market tolls, stall ages and pickages, and since this sale the courts have lapsed. The earliest manufactures were iron and cotton. Silk-weaving, formerly an extensive industry, has now almost entirely decayed. At the present time textile works, mining (coal) and quarrying, as well as iron foundries, are the most important sources of employment.