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Earlestown ( ) is a town contiguous with Newton-le-Willows in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. At the 2011 Census the town had a population of 10,830. The town's name is derived from one of its early settlers, Hardman Earle.
In July 1831, the Warrington and Newton Railway was opened, less than six months after the Liverpool and Manchester railway began service. A railway station was built at the junction of the two railways, a mile west of the town of Newton in Makerfield, now Newton-le-Willows, and was given the name Newton Junction. A locomotive and wagon works was built just west of the station and a model town was constructed for its workers. In 1837, the name of the station was changed to Earlestown.
Locomotive building was concentrated in another area within Newton-le-Willows. Between 1833 and 1895, the Vulcan Foundry produced some 6,000 locomotives to become the fourth largest locomotive building firm in the country, almost 70% of which were exported. Vulcan Foundry received its final steam locomotive order in 1954, while Earlestown was home to the major wagon works.
Other significant (non-railway) employers in the town included Sankey Sugar, and T&T Vicars, who produced biscuit manufacturing equipment. There were also the nearby Lyme and Wood pits, located in neighbouring village of Haydock.
Earlestown Town Hall is an imposing building, fronted by a war memorial. In 1962 the Beatles visited Earlestown for a night gig and played at the town hall. On the same night Newton Boys Club on Graffton Street was opened by Frankie Vaughan for the local community.
Another significant building included the art-deco former Curzon cinema which was demolished in January 2010.
Earlestown has a small but busy town centre with many shops including high-street outlets such as Tesco, Boots Group, Wilko and several high street banks alongside independent retailers, bookmakers and fast-food takeaways. There are a range of traditional pubs, such as The New Market, The Ram's Head, The Railway Inn, The Griffin, and The Wellington. Earlestown is well served by many fast food outlets offering a good range of Indian cuisine and Chinese cuisine dishes as well as fish and chips and the ubiquitous McDonald's. Most of the local restaurants are curry houses; Earlestown's 'curry quarter-of-a-mile' on Queen Street has three Indian restaurants and a Tandoori take-away.
Earlestown is one of two council wards within Newton-le-Willows.
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