SALFORD HUNDRED 



force. 93 In 1854 the gas and water works, established 

 by an Act passed in 1825,'* were purchased. 95 The 

 paving and lighting of the town were attended to, 

 and public baths were opened. 96 



Markets and fairs had grown up, 97 and in 1855 a 

 covered market was built by a private company. 

 This was in 1865 purchased by the corporation ; the 

 fish market, adjoining it, was built in i873. 98 The 

 Lyceum, in the hands of trustees, was erected in 1856 

 as a library and reading room ; " attached to it is a 

 school of science and art, erected in 1864, and en- 

 larged in 1 8 8 0-8 1 . 10 In the free library, art gallery, 

 and museum is a reference and lending library, and 

 an exhibition of pictures is held annually ; the build- 

 ing was opened from 1883 to 1887. A school 

 board was formed in 1871 ; 101 its offices were built in 

 1893. Alexandra Park was opened in i865. 1M 

 There are cemeteries at Greenacres, 103 Hollinwood, 

 and Chadderton. The Corporation Electric Tram- 

 ways and others provide services in the borough, and 

 connect it with Middleton and Ashton. 104 



The infirmary was built in 1870, and has been 

 several times enlarged. There is a medical mission 

 hall. 



The other public buildings include the county 

 court, post office, and theatres. 105 The workhouse is 

 in Rochdale Road. 



The 6th Volunteer Battalion of the Manchester 

 Regiment has its head quarters at Oldham ; 106 there 

 is also a squadron of yeomanry. 



The church of ST. MART stands 

 CHURCH on high ground east of the market-place 

 on an ancient site, but is a modern build- 

 ing belonging to the early part of the igth cen- 

 tury. In 1476, Ralph Langley, parson of Prest- 

 wich, built * a body of a church ' there. This 

 seems to impiy the existence of a chancel at that date. 

 The indenture between Rector Langley and the 

 masons he employed is still preserved in Prestwich 

 Church, and sets forth that the building is to be of 

 four arches on each side, of hewn stone, 1 2 ft. wide 

 between the pillars and 1 8 ft. high, with a width in 

 the nave of 20 ft., and a cross arch at each end, that 



PRESTWICH WITH 

 OLDHAM 



at the west * according for a steeple with two but- 

 tresses.' The aisles were to be I o ft. wide, and the 

 outer walls 1 2 ft. high, with five windows to the south 

 aisle, one at each end and three upon the side, and a 

 door and porch. The north aisle was to have four 

 windows, one at each end and two in the north wall, 

 and a door, but apparently no porch. Four of the 

 windows were to be of three lights and the rest of 

 two lights, and there were to be three buttresses to 

 the south aisle and four to the north. This work, 

 with later restorations 108 and additions, apparently 

 lasted till the beginning of the last century. 



Illustrations of the old church as it existed towards 

 the close of the i8th century 109 show a building con- 

 sisting of chancel with north and south chapels, nave 

 with north and south aisles, south porch, and west 

 tower, and a vestry added at the east end under the 

 chancel window in 1777." 



James Butterworth, writing in 1817, says that the 

 north wall had been built at three distinct periods, 

 the portion eastward from the tower to the fourth 

 buttress being the most ancient and containing the 

 original windows, * each window on the north side 

 being composed of two pointed arches and on the 

 south side of three, each compartment of equal height 

 divided by mullions and with trefoiled heads.' This 

 would tolerably well agree with the description of the 

 15th-century work set out in Langley's indenture, 

 and presumably refers to his work. It suggests that 

 the four three-light windows of the contract were all 

 in the south aisle. Butterworth goes on to say, ' from 

 the fourth to the fifth and from the fifth to the 

 sixth buttress ... are successive enlargements . . . 

 other marks of enlargements are visible in the interior, 

 which is a plain, simple, unadorned specimen of the 

 early (sic) gothic style consisting of a body and two 

 side wings or aisles.' The two chapels north and 

 south of the chancel, and at the east end of the aisles, 

 were clearly added after the completion of Lang- 

 ley's nave, which had eastern windows to both of its 

 aisles, but whether the chancel was of later or earlier 

 date than 1476 is uncertain. The chapel north of 

 the chancel was known as the Cudworth chapel, being 



93 E. Butterworth, op. cit. 231. 



94 The first Act was 6 Geo. IV, cap. 

 171. The original reservoirs were at 

 Strinesdale on the Yorkshire border ; but 

 many others have since been formed in 

 the hills. 



95 E. Butterworth, op. cit. 233. 



96 Ibid. 231-5. The baths were en- 

 larged in 1880. In 1894 new baths were 

 built at Waterhead. 



97 A 'sort of market' on Saturday 

 evenings, with standings in the main 

 streets, was held before 1790 ; but became 

 fully established about 1804. The fair 

 held on 2 May began probably in the 

 1 8th century ; that in Oct. a little later ; 

 while that on 8 July began in 1807 ; ibid. 

 1 60- 1. At present fairs are held on the 

 Thursdays after 2 Feb., 2 May, and 

 8 July, and the Wednesday after 1 1 Oc- 

 tober. 



98 The Public Health Act 1848 and 

 Local Government Acts 1858 and 1861 

 were adopted in part in 1863 ; LonJ. Gas. 

 4 Sept. 



99 It began in a very humble way in 

 1839, a few young men, chiefly of the 

 working classes, starting it to provide a 

 library, news room, and evening classes. 

 In 1845 the institution was removed from 



Queen Street to Clegg Street, near the 

 Town Hall. Funds for the present build- 

 ing in Union Street were raised by an 

 exhibition in 1854. The Butterworth 

 Library was presented by James I'latt, 

 then president ; Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1868), 

 i, 462. 



180 Ibid. Among smaller institutions of a 

 similar kind may be named the Glodwick 

 Mutual Improvement Society's building, 

 erected in 1857, Werneth Mechanics' 

 Institute, opened 1867, and the Hollin- 

 wood Working Men's Club and Institute, 

 built in 1868. The Horsedge Assembly 

 Rooms, formerly the Working Man's Hall, 

 date from 1844. A Botanical Society 

 was formed about 1775 ; Oldham Notes 

 and Gleanings^ ii, 46. 



The followers of Robert Owen built a 

 Hall of Science, purchased by the Temper- 

 ance Society in 1852, and thenceforward 

 known as the Temperance Hall. 



101 Land. Gae. 22 Dec. 1871. 



102 For an account of the opening see 

 Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1868), i, 461. A 

 great boulder, found near Ashton Road, 

 is placed in it. 



108 Opened in 1857. 

 104 A tramway from Hollinwood to 

 Waterhead was opened in 1880, and a 



103 



steam tramway from Oldham to Rochdale 

 in 1885. 



104 The first theatre was opened in 

 1807 ; the new theatre in 1810. 



lu6 Bodies of volunteers were formed in 

 1798, and again in 1803, on fears of 

 French invasions ; E. Butterworth, op. cit. 

 144, 150. 



10 ? In J. Butterworth's Oldham (ed. 

 1817), 20-30, is quoted a local couplet : 

 ' Old I am Old is my name, 

 The oldest church in Christendom.' 



The popular belief was that it should 

 be called St. Paul's ; E. Butterworth's 

 Oldham (ed. 1856), 70. 



108 20 April 1558, injunction of the 

 Bishop of Chester to the residents and 

 inhabitants of Oldham to undertake 

 (amongst other things) the reparation of 

 the said chapel. 



109 Shaw, Oldham Notes and Gleanings, 

 ii, 67, 131. A gallery was erected, chiefly 

 for the singers, in 17034 ; Shaw, Oldham^ 

 235. For other notices of the singers at 

 that time see ibid. 225, 245. 



110 In a return for the visitation of the 

 Bishop of Chester in 1778 the rector of 

 Prestwich mentions Oldham Chapel as a 

 * very old edifice.' 



