SALFORD HUNDRED 



ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE 



the mace, mayor's chain and badge, and silver loving- 

 cup."" 



STALrSRIDGE, chiefly in Cheshire, though tak- 

 ing its name from a former hamlet in Ashton, obtained 

 a Police Act in 1830,'" and was incorporated in 1857. 

 The boundaries were extended in 1 88 1 to include 

 Millbrook in Stayley and Heyrod in Ashton. It has 

 a council composed of mayor, eight aldermen, and 

 twenty-four councillors. The whole was included in 

 Cheshire in 1898."' 



MOSSLET,"^ formed from the three counties of 

 Lancaster, York, and Chester, has since i888 been 

 included in Lancashire for administrative purposes. A 

 local board was formed in 1 864,'" and a charter of in- 

 corporation was granted in 1885 ; the council consists 

 of mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen councillors. 



The church of ST. MICHAEL is at 

 CHURCH the present day of greater historical than 

 architectural interest. The site is ancient ; 

 the church stands at the east end of the town in 

 what was formerly a picturesque situation on rising 

 ground on the north side of the River Tame, and con- 

 sists of chancel with north vestry, nave with north and 

 south aisles, south porch, and west tower. The 

 present church is entirely modern, but is the direct 

 descendant of a building which appears to have been 

 erected at the beginning of the 1 5 th century (c. 1 4 1 3 ), 

 and which was repaired and enlarged about a hundred 

 years later, in the lifetime of Sir Thomas Ashton 

 (died 15 14), when a new tower was built. In Janu- 

 ary 1 79 1 this tower was struck by lightning and great 

 damage was done, necessitating a general repair of the 

 structure in the following year. In 1 8 1 7 the tower 

 was taken down and a new one erected (18 18), and 

 soon after the whole of the north side of the church 

 was rebuilt as at present. Whilst the work was in 

 progress (March 1821) a fire occurred, doing much 

 damage to the original building, which was only par- 

 tially repaired, the south side continuing in a more or 

 less ruinous state till 1840, when a general rebuilding 

 began, and in the course of a few years the whole 

 fabric underwent a complete restoration and recon- 

 struction, assuming its present aspect (1840—4). The 

 work is of a very elaborate description, with rich orna- 

 mentation in wood and plaster, and is a good speci- 

 men of the florid Gothic of the period. The east end 

 of the chancel was rebuilt in 1883, and three years 

 later the tower, which was in a dangerous state, was 

 pulled down and a new one built (1886—8). The 

 new tower, the total height of which is 139 ft. 6 in., 

 is 1 9 ft. higher than the former one, and 3 ft. longer 

 from east to west. 



The arcade is of seven bays with a clearstory, 

 and there are side galleries and one at the west 



end containing the organ. A highly-placed arch 

 structurally separates the two eastern bays from the 

 others, but the ritual arrangement of the chancel is 

 confined to the parts of the church east of the seventh 

 bay, in the fashion of the time in which the building 

 was erected. The roof is flat and panelled and of oak, 

 richly decorated with the arms of those who have 

 identified themselves with the building or patronage 

 of the church, and the chancel arch bears the royal 

 arms.'" 



There is some very good ancient stained glass in 

 the three windows of the south aisle, and in the west 

 window of the north aisle, belonging to the latter 

 part of the 15th century (c. 1460-70). It appears 

 to be only a small portion of the glass belonging 

 to the older church,"* and was till 1872 in the east 

 window of the chancel, when it was removed to its 

 present position in the south aisle. The glass now in 

 the north aisle was at that time put up in the tower 

 window, and there remained till the tower was pulled 

 down in 1886. It remained packed up till 1890, 

 when it was re-erected in its present position. The 

 first window from the east on the south side 

 contains figures of Sir John Ashton (d. 1428) and 

 his three wives. Sir Thomas Ashton and his three 

 wives, and the four sons and seven daughters of Sir 

 John Ashton,"' in the lower part of the lights. 

 The subject of the windows is the life of St. Helena 

 and the legends connected with her history, and 

 though much mixed up in places, and with many 

 pieces missing, the story is tolerably clear, and a very 

 fine piece of 1 5th-century work, the colours being 

 particularly rich. The window at the end of the 

 north aisle has figures of Kings Henry VI and 

 Edward IV."' 



In the vestry is an oak chest dated 1776, and in a 

 glass case near the pulpit is a black-letter Bible with 

 hook and chain. Near the north door is a mural 

 monument to the ' memory of John Postlethwaite 

 who sustained the highest orders of masonry without 

 becoming proud, and died 2 February 1 8 1 8, aged 70 

 years, preserved from indigence by the bounty of his 

 friends.' 



All the fittings are modern. 



The arrangement of the forms in the church in 

 1422 has been preserved."' On the north side of 

 the church seven forms at the upper end of the 

 church were appropriated, and six at the lower end ; 

 on the south side only six forms were allotted, the 

 remainder being for strangers and others. 



There is a ring of twelve bells,"" six belonging to 

 the year 1779, one to 1 790, and three to 1818. 

 The other two were added after the completion of 

 the new tower in 1888.'^' 



1'" These particulars have been taken 

 principally from the corporation's Manual 

 and the Lanes, Directory. 



^^ Stat. 9 Geo. IV, cap. 26. 



"' Loc. Govt. Bd. Order, P. 1416. 

 The town hall is in Lancashire. 



^^ Mossley was thus described by Dr. 

 Ailcin in 1795 : 'A considerable village, 

 with upwards of 100 houses, many of 

 them large and well built, chieBy of stone. 

 It is about three miles from Ashton, in 

 the high road to Huddersfield, with a 

 large chapel in the gift of or under the 

 rector of Ashton ' ; Country round Man- 

 cheiter^ 231. 



Two fairs were established in 1824, on 



21 June and the last Monday in October ; 

 Baines, Lanes. Directory, ii, 66"^. 



The Mechanics' Institute was built in 

 1858, and the town hall in 1862. 



1" Land. Gate. 26 Feb. 1864. 



ns Glynne visited the church in 1858, 

 and describes the interior as ' expensively 

 fitted up,' but ' heavy, though not with- 

 out grandeur.' Notes on the Churches of 

 Lanes. Dodsworth records that in his 

 time there was on the tower the name 

 Alexander Hyll, with a butcher's cleaver 

 and the five of spades. The story was that 

 Hill, playing cards, swore that if the five 

 of spades was turned up he would bnild a 

 foot of the steeple, and it did so ; J. E. 

 Bailey, quoting Dods. MSS. civ, fol. 116. 



347 



^1^ See J. Paul Rylands, * Lanes. Church 

 Notes and Trickings of Arms,' Trans. Hist. 

 Soc. xlii. 



"7 Ibid. 



^^ There is a detailed description of 

 the windows, with photographs, by the 

 Rev. G. A. Pugh, M.A., rector, in the 

 Trans. Antiq, Soc. xx, * The old glass 

 windows of Ashton-under-Lyne Parish 

 Church.' 



"9 See Ashton Customs R. (Chet. Soc), 

 1 1 2-1 5. 



^^ The only other churches in Lanca- 

 shire possessing twelve bells are St. Nicho- 

 las, Liverpool, and St. Mary, Oldham. 



121 Brief Hist. Sketch of Ashton-under- 

 Lyne Parish Ch. (1888), loc. cit. 



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