In 1853 Pilkington was described as a township in the parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham, containing the districts called Stand and Outwood, and the hamlets of Ringley, Unsworth, and Whitefield. These are localities in which manufactures are flourishing, and which maintain collectively a large population. Pilkington lies between six and seven miles N.W. from Manchester, and contained 12,861 inhabitants in 1851; the number of persons in the township in 1841 was 11,186.