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The first trustees for the township of Great Bolton were nominated in the Bolton Improvement Act of 1792 32 George III ch.lxxi. They were responsible for "widening, paving, lighting, watching, cleansing and regulating the Streets, Lanes, Passages and Places...and for supplying Water and for providing Fire Engines and Firemen and for removing and preventing Nuisances, Incroachments and Annoyances and for licensing and regulating hackney Coaches and Chairs". Rents of allotments of building land on Bolton Moor, enclosed by the Act, were allocated to defray the cost of the improvements.
The trustees acquired additional powers under the Great Bolton Improvement Act of 1817 57 George III ch.59. Attempts by political opponents to convert the trustees into an elected corporate body were unsuccessful. Following the establishment of the Borough of Bolton in 1838, the powers of the trustees waned and they were finally abolished in 1850 under the Bolton Improvement Act of that year 14 Victoria ch.40

This collection contains Minute books, Registers of Trustees, financial records rentals and Highway Records