A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



in 1824. The patronage, by the founder's desire, is 

 vested in the rectors of Prestwich, Bury, and Middle- 

 ton, or the majority of them. The present church of 

 St. Saviour was built in 1851, and consecrated in 

 1854. Holy Trinity Church, Prestolee, was built 

 in 1863, and had a district assigned to it in 

 1 883 ; n the Lord Chancellor presents. St. George's, 

 Unsworth, was built in 1730, and rebuilt in 1843 ; 

 the rector of Prestwich is patron. 74 All Saints', Stand, 

 was built in 1826 ; Sir Frederick Johnstone is patron 

 at present. 75 St. John the Evangelist's, Stand Lane, 

 built in 1866, has also a small mission church ; the 

 patronage is vested in three trustees. 



In addition to the chapel Nathan Walworth also 

 founded a school at Ringley in 1626. 



There are Wesleyan chapels at Radcliffe Bridge 

 and Unsworth the former dating from 1815 and 

 a Primitive Methodist one at Chapel Field. 



The Congregational Church at Stand represents a 

 division in the old Presbyterian congregation caused 

 by opposition to the newly introduced Unitarian 

 doctrine. The first chapel was built in 1791. It 

 was demolished in 1885, and the present ornate 

 church built ; being on rising ground the spire can be 

 seen for some distance. 77 There is another church at 

 Besses o' th' Barn. 



At the same place is a Swedenborgian Church 

 called New Jerusalem. 



The Unitarian chapel at Stand is said to owe its 

 origin to a congregation formed after 1662 by 

 Mr. Pyke of Radcliffe, and other ejected clergy. 78 

 After the toleration of Nonconformity Robert Eaton, 

 who had been rector of Walton on the Hill till 1660, 

 was registered as preaching in William Walker's barn 

 at Pilkington ; 79 and a chapel was built for him in 

 I693. 80 As in other cases the teaching became 

 Unitarian towards the end of the i8th century. The 

 building was restored in 1 8 1 8, and a bell tower was 

 added in 1867 ; the bell is dated ijog. 81 There is a 

 school in connexion with it. 



OLDHAM 



Kaskenemore, 1212 ; Haskesmores, 1226. 

 Aldholm, 1226 ; Aldhulm, 1237 ; Oldhulme in 

 Oldham, 1622. . 



Oldum, Oldom, Holdum, Olduum, Oldun, 1292 ; 



Oldome, 1427 ; Oldam, Oldham, Ouldham, 1 xvi 

 cent. 



This township, with an extreme length from south- 

 west to north-east of over 4 miles, has an area of 

 4,665 acres. 7 The River Beal, flowing northwards, 

 forms the boundary between Oldham on one side and 

 Royton and Crompton on the other. To the east of 

 it the surface rises, a height of 1,225 & being attained 

 at Woodward Hill on the Yorkshire border. The 

 rest of the surface is hilly, the average height decreas- 

 ing towards the south-west. The ridge called Old- 

 ham Edge, 800 ft. high, comes southward from Roy- 

 ton into the middle of the town. The town of Old- 

 ham has spread over the whole of the centre of the 

 township and beyond its borders ; particularly along 

 the road to Manchester. The population in 1901 

 was 137,246. 



The old open Market Place may be taken as centre. 

 From this High Street and Yorkshire Street the latter 

 running parallel with the old Goldburne went east- 

 wards through Mumps and Greenacres ; a little off 

 this road, on the northern side, is the church, to 

 which Church Lane leads up from High Street. 

 South-west from the Market Place the old Manchester 

 road went out, crossed some 200 yds. away by King 

 Street, going south to Ashton under Lyne, and west- 

 south-west goes out the present road to Manchester. 

 From King Street George Street goes north-east to the 

 Market Place, and Union Street east to Mumps. 

 West Street leads from the Market Place towards 

 Chadderton, and from it, as a continuation of King 

 Street, Royton Street goes north to Royton and Roch- 

 dale. 



Yorkshire Street, proceeding eastward, branches out 

 into two great roads to Holmfirth and to Hudders- 

 field ; the latter has also a branch leading north-east 

 to Halifax. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway 

 Company has cross lines through the township. That 

 from Manchester, opened in 1 842, enters the town- 

 ship from the west, where it is joined by the line 

 from Middleton, at Werneth Station, and goes 

 through and under the town to the Central station ; 

 near here it is joined by the London and North 

 Western, the Oldham, Ashton, and Guide Bridge, and 

 the Great Central Companies' line, running north- 

 wards from Ashton-under-Lyne, the stations being 

 called Clegg Street and Glodwick Road. The com- 

 bined railways run north-east to another station, 



lands at Benton in Yorkshire ; in 1650 

 the value was 16 a year, but had in- 

 creased to a nominal 24. by 1718, by 

 which time other benefactions had been 

 made, raising the income to about 30 ; 

 Gastrell, Notitia (Chet. Soc.), ii, 117-19. 

 The chapel was then used by the inhabi- 

 tants of Kearsley and Clifton, as well as 

 Outwood. About 1735 a gift from 

 Queen Anne's Bounty added another 20 

 a year to the income ; Booker, Prest-wich, 

 84. In 1671 the curate, William Dennis, 

 was presented for not wearing the surplice 

 and omitting the holidays, particularly 

 29 May ; he promised obedience ; Visit. 

 Rec. In 1778 the chapel was regularly 

 served every Lord's Day ; the Sacrament 

 of the Lord's Supper was administered 

 once a quarter ; Booker, loc. cit. 



'* Lond. Gaz. 6 Mar. 1883. 



" 4 It was regularly served every Lord's 

 Day in 1778 ; the Sacrament of the Lord's 

 Supper was administered once every quar- 

 ter ; Booker, loc. cit. 



78 It was endowed with the tithes of 

 Unsworth and made a rectory in 1848 ; 

 Lond. Gam. 10 Mar. 



78 Notitia Cestr. ii, 119. The endow- 

 ment consisted of land at Flamborough. 



T> Nightingale, Lanes. Nonconf. iii, 226- 

 33. In spite of the reason given for the 

 division, the first minister was 'strongly 

 Unitarian ' ; the cause declined in con- 

 sequence. 



' 8 Mane /i. Socinian Controversy, 156, 

 where it is claimed as 'originally ortho- 

 dox,' though 'part of the endowments 

 were not of orthodox origin.' For the 

 endowments of chapel and school see 

 Endowed Charities Rep. for Prestwich, 

 1904, pp. 4, 1 8. 



7 9 Hist, MSS. Com. Rep. iv, App. iv, 

 232. 



80 The Charities' Report shows that 

 Henry Siddall, a tailor, of Radcliffe Bridge, 

 in 1666 left land in Whitefield which his 

 trustees in 1688 applied to the use of a 

 school. The building raised was used 



9 2 



both as chapel and school ; Notitia Cestr, 

 ii, in. 



81 For a full account see Nightingale, 

 op. cit. iii, 215-26. About 1720 there 

 were 338 persons in the congregation, of 

 whom thirty-one had county votes ; O, 

 Heywood, Diaries, iv, 316. 



The chapel was wrecked by a ' Church 

 and King ' mob from Manchester in June 

 1715 ; Pal. Note Bk. ii, 243. 



A school advertisement of 1769 is 

 printed in Loc. Gleanings Lanes, and 

 Ches. i, 253. 



1 A number of local place-names are 

 collected in Mr. G. Shaw's Oldham Notes 

 and Gleanings, i, 101, &c. 



2 4,7 3 6, including 32 of inland water, 

 according to the census of 1901 ; of this 

 Oldham Below Town has 1,946 acres, 

 and Oldham Above Town 2,790. The 

 increase is probably due to the inclusion 

 of the detached portion of Chadderton, to 

 the south of the town, which took place 

 in 1880. 



