A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



associated with the Cudworth family of Werneth Hall, 

 and contained a marble monument to John Cudworth 

 (d. 1652), with a long Latin inscription in the form 

 of question and answer. 111 The south chapel was 

 associated with the Radcliffe, Ashton, and Horton 

 families, and was probably erected by Edmund Ash- 

 ton of Chadderton in the beginning of the reign of 

 Henry VIII. 11 ' 



The old church was pulled down in 1827, and the 

 present structure erected between that date and 

 i83o lis in the Gothic style of the period. It con- 

 sists of a chancel 20 ft. wide by 14 ft. long, with 

 small north and south vestries, nave of six bays 90 ft. 

 by 26 ft., with north and south aisles each 17 ft. 

 wide, and west tower I oft. square inside with walls 

 5 ft. thick. There are galleries on three sides, ap- 

 proached by wide stone staircases at the west end of 

 the aisles north and south of the tower, and none of 

 the fittings of the old building has been preserved. 

 It has twice been restored, the last time being in 

 1897-9, when many improvements were effected in 

 the interior, including the removal of the old square 

 pews and the substitution of oak benches, and the 

 placing of stalls in the first bay of the nave. The 

 exterior is of stone, now gone black, and is of no 

 architectural merit. 114 



In the vestry is an old oak chest with three locks, 

 without date or inscription, but probably belong- 

 ing to the end of the 1 6th or beginning of the I7th 

 century. 



An octagonal font, formerly belonging to the 

 church, is now in the Oldham Museum. 115 



The churchyard, which is on the north, east, and 

 south sides, sloping from west to east, is paved with 

 flat gravestones, 116 but is in a neglected condition. 117 



There is a ring of twelve bells, 118 cast by Mears in 

 1830. They were rehung in 1897. In 1486 Ralph 

 Langley gave three bells to Oldham Chapel, 119 and in 

 1553 'four great bells' are recorded. 1 * In 1722 

 the four bells were recast, and two new ones added," 1 



but on the erection of the new church it was pro- 

 vided with an entirely new ring. 1 " 



The plate consists of a chalice of 1663, inscribed 

 with the initials c. H. and A. H., and with the maker's 

 mark H N over a bird ; another 1 7th-century chalice ; 

 a flagon of 1770, inscribed with date and church- 

 wardens' initials, and bearing the mark of Francis 

 Crump; a flagon of 1788, inscribed with the date 

 1790 and initials of churchwardens, maker's mark 

 TW ; a paten of 1789-90, inscribed with the names 

 of the minister (Rev. Thos. Fawcett) and church- 

 wardens, 1 790 ; two chalices of 1873, and two chalices 

 and two patens of 1877. 



The registers begin in 1558, and are contained in 

 eighty-one volumes. The earlier ones have been trans- 

 cribed by Mr. Giles Shaw. 1 ' 3 



The parochial chapel of St. Mary is 

 4DVOWSON of unknown antiquity." 4 In 1406, 

 on the complaint of the parishioners 

 of Prestwich, the Archdeacon of Chester ordered the 

 inhabitants of the chapelry of Oldham to contribute 

 towards the blessed bread at Prestwich, as also bread, 

 wine, and altar lights, the chapel at Oldham being 

 ' notoriously dependent ' upon the parish church."* 

 Thomas Wild, curate of Oldham, is mentioned in a 

 deed of 141 1," 6 but though he and other curates 

 probably retained their charge for life, their names 

 do not occur in the Lichfield books. In 1447 the 

 then Archdeacon of Chester addressed the chaplain 

 celebrating in Oldham Chapel, enforcing his prede- 

 cessor's decree as to the provision of blessed bread, 

 &c., on pain of suspension ; the chapelry then, as 

 now, comprised the townships of Oldham, Crompton, 

 Royton, and Chadderton." 7 It was found necessary 

 to issue similar orders from time to time ; " 8 but in 

 spite of the desire of the people of Oldham to make 

 their chapel a parish church, the parish has never been 

 divided, except for a few years under the Common- 

 wealth," 9 and though many ecclesiastical parishes have 

 been created from 1835 onwards, Prestwich still 



111 Given by James Butterworth, op. 

 cit. 



112 The Story of the ancient parochial 

 chapelry of St. Mary's, Oldham, by George 

 Perry-Gore (vicar), 1906, from which 

 much in the present account of Oldham 

 Church is taken. 



A complaint as to the Chadderton Chapel 

 and the encroachment by a parclose in the 

 time of Henry VIII may be seen in Raines, 

 Chantries (Chet. Soc.), ii, 274. 



118 A plan of the new church, published 

 by H. G. James, and signed by the archi- 

 tect, R. Lane, is dated 28 Oct. 1829. 



114 (Sir) Charles Barry submitted a 

 design for a new church, some of the 

 drawings for which are now in the pos- 

 session of the vicar. Barry would have 

 retained the old chancel and end chapels, 

 which are shown in his drawings, but 

 acquaintance with his Gothic churches of 

 that period makes it doubtful whether his 

 design, with its lofty clearstory, would 

 now be considered any more successful 

 than the one adopted. 



115 There is a description of the font, 

 and an account of its history subsequent 

 to the year 1829, in Trans. Lanes, and 

 Ches. Antiq. Soc. viii, 158-9. 



116 The oldest stone is dated 1672. 



117 An effort is being made by the 

 vicar to have it dedicated as an open space 

 under the control of the corporation. 



118 Oldham is one of three churches in 



Lancashire having 1 2 bells ; the others 

 being Ashton-under-Lyne and St. Nicho- 

 las', Liverpool. 



119 The people seem to have subscribed 

 ^24 for the bells ; they gave the money 

 to the rector, who undertook to buy the 

 bells and place them ready for ringing. 

 Should the cost be greater he was to de- 

 fray it, and if less, to return the sur- 

 plus. 



lao The king seized three ; his collector 

 could not obtain possession, and for a time 

 at least they remained safely in the church 

 tower ; Ducatut Lane. (Rec. Com.), ii, 

 163. 



Three bells were 'new cast' for the 

 steeple in 1617 for ^60 by William Old- 

 field of Nottingham ; Pal. of Lane. Plea 

 R. 319, m. 1 6 d. 



121 One of them is now in use at 

 St. Peter's, and another at St. James', 

 Oldham. 



122 Perry-Gore, op. cit. 



128 The earlier volumes (to 1661), in 

 which are many gaps, have been printed 

 in Oldham Notes and Gleanings, where also 

 may be seen extracts from the church- 

 wardens' accounts, beginning 1734; the 

 church ley, 1682, the constables' accounts, 

 1697 ; and the surveyors' accounts, 

 1765. 



124 Its existence seems implied in the 

 record of the baptism of John de Cudworth 

 in 1379. 



IO4 



125 The decree, preserved at Prestwich, 

 is printed by Booker, Prestwich, 252. 



126 Chadderton deed in Raines, Langley 

 Autobiog. (Chet. Soc. Misc. vi), p. viii. 



ia ? Booker, op. cit. 254. 



128 In 1488 and 1558 ; ibid. 257. By 

 the last decree Bishop Scott ordered the 

 inhabitants of Oldham to contribute their 

 share to the lights about the sacrament 

 and the sepulchre yearly, and the candles 

 on the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 

 in Holy Week used in ' the service, as it 

 is called, in tenebris ; ' also the wax can- 

 dles at the Purification ; they were also 

 to contribute to the nave and belfry of the 

 parish church, and the maintenance of the 

 cemetery there. 



Edmund Ashton of Chadderton in 1517 

 gave to trustees a messuage and close at 

 Oldham Pighill, near Horsedge Moor 

 out of which 41. 4</. was to.be paid yearly to 

 the clerk of Prestwich in lieu of the ' holy 

 bread silver' due from the people of Old- 

 ham ; Raines D. (Chet. Lib.), bdle. 4, no. 5 1 . 



129 There does not appear to have been 

 any statute passed to effect the separation, 

 but in the documents of the time Oldham 

 is uniformly treated as a separate parish 

 and rectory ; Plund. Mins. Accts. (Rec. 

 Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), i, 39 ; ii, 239. 



A petition to Parliament in 1664 for 

 the erection of Oldham into a parish, 

 complaining of the ' mendicant preachers ' 

 supplied by the rectors of Prestwich in 



