A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



1857 ;" St. Mary's '« and St. John Baptist's," both 

 in 1858 ; St. Philip's, i860 ;'« St. Michael's, 1864 ;'' 

 St. Gabriel's" and St. Stephen's," both in 1869. 

 The incumbents, who are styled rectors, are appointed 

 in five cases by bodies of trustees ; the Crown and 

 the Bishop of Manchester nominate alternately to 

 St. Mark's, the bishop alone to St. John's, the Dean 

 and Canons of Manchester to St. George's and 

 Holy Trinity, and Earl Egerton of Tatton to St. 

 Mary's. St. Michael's and St. Philip's have mission 

 rooms. 



A Methodist chapel existed in Hulme in 1842. 

 The Wesleyans had chapels in Radnor Street and 

 George Street. The Methodist New Connexion has 



one church, and the United Free Church two ; the 

 Primitive Methodists also have one. The Baptists 

 have a church in York Street with a mission chapel. 

 The Welsh Baptists formerly had one. The Congre- 

 gationalist church in Chorlton Road, Stretford, has 

 three dependencies in Hulme, their principal church 

 is Zion in Stretford Road, and there are two others." 



The Salvation Army has two stations. The Church 

 of United Friends has a meeting place ; the 

 Catholic Apostolic Church (Irvingite) also has one. 

 The Unitarians have a mission to the poor. 



The Roman Catholic Church of St. Wilfrid was 

 opened in 1842. The large convent and school of 

 Our Lady of Loreto is in this township. 



ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE 



Eston, 121 2 ; Ashton, 1277 ; Aston, 1278 ; Assh- 

 ton, Asheton, Assheton, 1292 ; Ashton-under-Lyme, 

 1 307 ; Assheton-under-Lyme, 1 345. Lyne, for Lyme 

 or Lime, seems to be modern. 



This single-township parish ' occupies the south- 

 eastern corner of the county, and has an area of 

 9,494 acres. The surface is hilly, particularly in the 

 east; a long ridge, attaining a height of 1,000 ft., 

 stretches from north to south near the eastern border, 

 various spurs shooting out to the west. These spurs 

 are separated from each other by the Medlock and its 

 tributaries, and by other streams flowing into the 

 River Tame, which forms the eastern and southern 

 boundary of the parish.' There are numerous bridges 

 over this river. The Millstone Grit series occurs in 

 the valley of the Tame and northward to Lees. 

 Westward the Lower and Upper Coal Measures follow 

 in sequence until on the western side of the parish 

 the Lower Red Sandstone of the Permian Rocks occurs 

 at Audenshaw and extends towards Droylsden and the 

 Manchester Waterworks. 



The population was thus returned in igoi : Ash- 

 ton Town, 43,890 ; Audenshaw, 7,216 ; Little Moss, 

 595 ; Woodhouses, 832 — 8,643 ; Knott Lanes, includ- 

 ing Alt, 1,037 ; Bardsley, 2,194 ; Crossbank, 1,077; 

 Lees, 3,621 ; Waterloo (with Taunton), 3,858 — 

 11,787 ; Hartshead (with Hazelhurst), 745 ; Hurst, 

 7,145; Mossley, 13,452; Stalybridge, 27,673 — 

 49,015; making a total of 113,335; but some 

 places outside Lancashire are herein included. 



The town of Ashton stands on an eminence over- 

 hanging the Tame, near the centre of the southern 

 boundary, and having Stalybridge ' immediately to the 

 east. From Ashton itself the principal roads branch 

 out, to Oldham on the north, Manchester on the west. 



Stalybridge on the east, and Mossley and Yorkshire on 

 the north-east. The town is for the most part laid 

 out in streets crossing each other at right angles, the 

 Oldham and Manchester roads giving the lines ; the 

 older portion, at the eastern end, where there is a 

 bridge over the Tame, shows less regularity. 



The first railway in the parish was that from Man- 

 chester to Sheffield, authorized in 1831. This is 

 now part of the Great Central system. It crosses 

 Audenshaw from west to east, and there are now two 

 stations, Fairfield and Guide Bridge ; at the former is a 

 junction with the company's line from Central Station, 

 Manchester, and from Guide Bridge one branch runs 

 east to Ashton (Park Parade) and Stalybridge, with 

 stations, while another branch goes north to Oldham, 

 with stations called Ashton (Oldham R6ad) and Park 

 Bridge ; and a third connects with the London and 

 North Western Railway Company's lines. This com- 

 pany opened a line from Manchester to Ashton in 

 1842, with stations at Droylsden (on the border of 

 Ashton and Droylsden), Ashton (Charlestown), and 

 Stalybridge ; and a branch goes south to the Stockport 

 line, with a station at Audenshaw. The same com- 

 pany's line from Stockport to Huddersfield runs through 

 Hooley Hill, Stalybridge, and Mossley, where there 

 are stations ; while the line from Oldham to Delph 

 crosses the northern corner of the parish, with a sta- 

 tion called Lees. 



The Manchester and Ashton Canal, begun in 1792, 

 goes east through Audenshaw, and passing along the 

 south side of the town of Ashton crosses into Cheshire 

 at Stalybridge. There are branches northward to 

 Oldham. 



The parish was formerly divided by custom into 

 four ' divisions,' * which were often styled townships. 



"^ The district was formed in 1858 ; 

 LonJ. Gax, 13 Aug. 



'5 For district see ibid. 2 Dec. 1859. 



»7 Ibid. 



*s A district was assigned to it in 1861 ; 

 ibid. 22 Nov. 



" For district see ibid. 30 Aug. 1864. 



«>Ibid. 10 Aug. 1869. 



*' Ibid. 20 May, 1870. 



<" A cottage meeting begun in 1 8 1 2, 

 followed hy Sunday-school and temperance 

 work, led to the building of a small chapel 

 in 1817 in Jackson's Lane. This, the 

 original of Zion Chapel, was enlarged four 

 years later, but the church was dissolved 

 for a time. Regular preaching was re- 



sumed in 1829, and Zion Chapel was 

 built in 1842 for the increasing congrega- 

 tion ; Nightingale, Lanes. Nonconf, v, 

 174-9. For Vine Street, begun in 1878, 

 see the same work, 179. 



^ Accounts of tile parish were printed 

 in 1822 by James Butterworth, and in 

 1842 by his son Edwin. A history of the 

 parish by William Glover was issued in 

 parts in 1884 and later years. An account 

 of the geology was given in 1839 by 

 Charles Clay, M.R.C.S. 



^ A full description of the bounds, from 

 an old document (wrongly dated 1643) 

 and from the 'walking' of 1857, whicli 



occupied eleven days, will be found in 

 Baines, Lanes, (ed. 1868), i, 428-9. 



° This place takes its name from Stayley 

 (otherwise Staveley or Staley) on the 

 Cheshire side of the river and the bridge 

 there, which is mentioned in 1621 ; Or- 

 merod, Ches. (ed. Helsby), iii, 868. 



■* In 1 617 the Fifteenth book shows the 

 following divisions : Ashton Town ; 

 Audenshaw, with Shepley, Little Moss, 

 Waterhouses, and Woodhouses ; Knott 

 Lanes, with Park, Alt Hill, Alt Edge, Lees, 

 Cross Bank, Thornley, and High Knolls ; 

 Hartshead, with Smallshaw, Hurst, Hazel- 

 hurst, Mossley, Luzley, Lanes, Lyme, 

 and More in New Ground ; Baines, Lanes. 



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