Kearsley (/ˈkɜːrzli/ KURZ-lee) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England.

It is bounded to the west by Walkden, the east by Whitefield, the north by Farnworth and the south by Clifton.

In the Industrial Revolution a papermill, cotton mills, chemical works, an iron foundry, a quarry and 15 coal mines operated within its boundaries.

Several street names such as Moss Colliery Road (in nearby Clifton) bear testimony to this.

On 12 March 1878, an explosion[5] in the mine killed 43 men and boys[6] and 19 of the dead were buried at the parish church.

Today Kearsley has little industry; the one remaining mill is now a multi occupancy building housing retail and light engineering.

Kearsley railway station is on Stoneclough Road, from where there is a service northbound to Bolton and southbound to Manchester.

On 3 June 1881, trams ran the full length of the system: Town Hall Square, Bolton to Farnworth and Kearsley.

The Anglican church was the vision of Harrison Blair[11] who owned the chemical works at Moss Lane.

The church has a graveyard which holds the remains of 19 miners killed in the Unity Brook Colliery disaster.

St John Fisher Roman Catholic Church was founded in 1969 on Manchester Road.

The opening was attended by visitors from Mexico, Australia and South America and Schoenstatt members from Ireland, Scotland and Germany.