Historically in Lancashire, it was a centre for coal mining, and once formed part of the Municipal Borough of Swinton and Pendlebury.

Clifton is derived from the Old English clif and tun, and means the "settlement near a cliff, slope or riverbank".

[3] The inquest and the official report concluded that explosion was caused by firedamp igniting on contact with a candle.

The township covered 850 acres in the valley of the River Irwell, which forms the north east boundary.

The underlying rocks are New Red Sandstone between Clifton and Ringley while the rest of the township lies on the Middle Coal Measures of the Manchester Coalfield.

[2] Much of Clifton's boundary with Pendlebury is defined by Slack Brook which flows eventually into the Irwell not far from where Agecroft Power Station once stood.

The Bury line left the station/junction and passed over Clifton Viaduct, known locally as "the thirteen arches",[10][11] across the Irwell Valley.

Clifton Junction was important in bringing workers to the three large factories in the area, Magnesium Elektron Ltd (M.E.L.

They also reached the finals of both the National ECB Club Vitality Blast and the Lancashire Knock Out.

On Rake Lane, at the junction with Queensway, stands the Holyrood nursery which was, until recent times, the Beehive public house.