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Ashton under Lyne

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"ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE, a town, a parish, and a district, on the SE border of Lancashire. The town stands on the river Tame, at a convergence of canals and railways, 6½ miles E by N of Manchester. Its site is a rising-ground, from 30 to 40 feet high, on the N bank of the river; its environs are a low flat tract, reclaimed from the condition of a marsh, overlying rich strata of coal and sandstone, and studded with factories, villages, and mining-shafts; and many parts of both site and environs, previous to the introduction of the cotton trade in 1769, were bare, wet, and almost worthless. Pop. in 1841, 22,678; in 1861, 33,917. Houses, 6,460. The municipal borough includes also part of the parochial division called Audenshaw. Pop. in 1851, 30,676; in 1861, 34,886. Houses, 6,647. Electors in 1868, 967. Direct taxes, £14,798. Real property, £113,703. The parish consists of the four divisions of Ashton Town, Audenshaw, Knott-Lanes, and Hartshead; and includes the hamlets of Lees, Crossbank, Alt, Altedge, Althill, Taunton, Knott-Lanes, Wood-Park, Hazlehurst, Heyrod, Smallshaw, and Hartshead, the villages of Hooleyhill, Walkmill, Audenshaw, Littlemoss, Wood houses, North-Street, Hurst, Hurstbrooks, Mossley, and Mossley-Brow, and part of the town of Stalybridge. Acres, 9,300. Real property, £233,117. Pop. in 1841, 46,304; in 1861, 66,801. Houses, 12,962. The Earl of Stamford has about 2,030 tenants within the manor; and draws from it an income of upwards of £30,000."
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John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72)

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Archives & Libraries

Local Studies information is held at
Central Library,
Old Street,
Ashton under Lyne
OL6 7SG

They have made available a summary of the records, and finding aids that they hold.

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Bibliography

The following books contain useful information about the history of Ashton and the surrounding area.

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Churches

There are more than 30 churches identified in this place. Please click here for a complete list.
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Civil Registration

Tameside Register Office holds records of births, marriages and deaths since 1837.

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Description & Travel

Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council provide a range of information about the town.

A description of the town with a good selection of pictures.

Old pictures of Ashton.

You can see pictures of Ashton under Lyne which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

"LEES, a hamlet in the district of Knott Lane, parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, county Lancaster, 8½ miles N.E. of Manchester, and 2 from Ashton-under-Lyne, its post town. It is a station on the Oldham and Delph branch of the Manchester and Leeds railway. The village is situated on the road from Oldham to Huddersfield. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in the neighbouring factories, which are numerous and extensive. A short distance from the village is a chalybeate spring, called Lea Spa. It is joined with Crossbank to form a chapelry. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Manchester, value £150. The church, dedicated to St. John, is a stone structure, erected in 1742. There are National schools. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. Fairs are held in the spring and autumn."

"ASHTON UNDER LYNE, a parish and market town, parliamentary and municipal borough, in the hundred of Salford, in the county palatine of Lancaster, 6 miles to the E. of Manchester, 60 miles from Lancaster, and 194 from London. It is a station on the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, the London and North Western, and the Lancashire and Yorkshire railways. Although the name of this place does not occur in Domesday Book, it is mentioned in other ancient records, and appears to have been given by the Conqueror, with other manors in this part of the country, to Roger de Poicton. At a later period it belonged to the family of the Asshetons, several of whom were distinguished men. One of them was Sir John de Assheton, a statesman of great ability, and held in high honour by Edward III. About the commencement of the 16th century the manor passed to the Booths, one of whom was created Baron Delamere by Charles II. and his son was created Earl of Warrington, by William and Mary. In the middle of the 18th century the manor came, by marriage, to the Earl of Stamford, whose descendants still hold it. The parish derives its present importance and prosperity chiefly from the cotton manufacture, which was introduced towards the close of the 18th century. It is situated in a hilly district, with several rivers flowing through fertile and well-wooded villages, and contains within it important elements of manufacturing prosperity, abundance of coal, plenty of water, and clay for brick-making. The town stands on the northern bank of the river Tame. It is well built, with spacious streets, good shops, and several handsome mansions. There is a good supply of water, and the streets are lighted with gas. The townhall, which was built in 1840, is of stone, and of the Corinthian order of architecture. It comprises police offices, committee-rooms, court-rooms, and a large hall for public purposes.

"BARDSLEY, a chapelry, in the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, and hundred of Salford, in the county palatine of Lancashire, near Ashton. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Manchester, value £160, in the patronage of Hulme's Trustees."

"ALT, a hamlet in the district of Knott Lanes, in the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, hundred of Salford, in the county palatine of Lancaster."

"AUDENSHAW, one of the four districts of the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, hundred of Salford, in the county palatine of Lancaster, 3 miles to the S.W. of Ashton. Manchester is its post town. It comprises the hamlets of Hooleyhill, Walkmill, Littlemoss, Woodhouses, and North Street. The Ashton canal and the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire railway pass through Audenshaw. The population are engaged in the cotton and silk manufactures, calico-printing, machine-making, hat-making, &c. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Manchester, of the value of £150, in the patronage of the crown and the Bishop of Manchester."

"CROSSBANK, a hamlet in the district of Knott Lanes, parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, in the county of Lancaster, 1½ mile from Ashton-under-Lyne."

"HARTSHEAD, a division of the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, county Lancaster. It occupies the south-eastern portion of the parish, on the banks of the river Tame, and has a population of near 20,000. It comprises the six hamlets of Mossley, Stanrick-Hill-with-Luzley, Heyrod, Hazlehurst, Hurst, and Ridgehill-with-Lanes, and the thirteen villages of Blackrock, Broadcarr, Hartshead, Hazlehurst, Heyrod, Higher Hurst, Hurst Nook, Hurst Brooks, Luzley, Mossley, Mossley Brow, Ridgehill, and Scout."

"HOOLEYHILL, a village in the parish of Ashton under Lyne, and district of Audenshaw, county Lancaster, 3 miles from Ashton-under-Lyne."

"HURST, a hamlet in the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, county Lancaster. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Manchester, value £150, in the patronage of the crown and bishop alternately."

"KNOTT-LANES, formerly a district in the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, hundred of Salford, county Lancaster, 5 miles N.E. of Manchester. It contains the hamlets of Woodpark, Knott-Lanes, Cross Bank, Alt-Edge, and Lees, and the villages of Taunton, Waterloo, Hey, and Bardsley. This last-named place has greatly increased within the last twenty years, and is now a market town, with many good streets, which are well paved and lighted with gas. The rapid increase of this place is mainly owing to the extensive business done in the cotton manufactures, which afford employment to most of the inhabitants. It has a district parish church, and chapels for Wesleyans, Primitive and New Connexion Methodists, and several excellent schools. There are churches at Hey and Bardsley. The People's Hall was erected in 1850, in which balls, concerts, and public meetings are held. The Literary and Scientific associations also meet in this building. Near Bardsley House is an oak tree which at 2 feet from the ground measures over 16 feet in circumference, while its branches extend over an area of nearly 14,000 square yards."

"LANEHEAD, a hamlet in the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, county Lancaster, near Ashton."

"LEESFIELD, a village and ecclesiastical district in the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, county Lancaster, 2 miles from Ashton-under-Lyne, and 6 E. of Manchester. It is a modern place, situated near the river Tame and the Huddersfield canal. Many of the inhabitants are employed in the cotton-mills. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Manchester, value £140, in the patronage of the crown and bishop. The church is a modern edifice."

"LITTLEMOSS, a village in the parish of Ashton under Lyne, and district of Audenshaw, county palatine of Lancaster, about 3 miles from Ashton-under-Lyne."

"NORTH-STREET, a hamlet in the district of Audenshaw, parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, county Lancaster, 3 miles S.W. of Ashton. It is situated near the canal and the line of the Sheffield railway."

"SANDY-VALE, in the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, and a suburb of Ashton-under-Lyne, hundred of Salford, county Lancaster. It contains Hoyle's print and dye works."

"WALKMILL, a village in the district of Audenshaw, parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, county Lancaster, 3 miles S.W. of Ashton-under-Lyne, and 4 E. of Manchester, near the Huddersfield canal and the river Tame."

"WOODHOUSES, a hamlet in the Audenshaw division of the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, county Lancaster, 1 mile S.E. of Oldham."

John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales - 1870-2

LEES, or HEY, a chapelry in Ashton-under-Lyne and Rochdale parishes, Lancashire; contiguous to Yorkshire, and containing the village of Hey, ¼ of a mile N of Lees village, near Lees r. station, and 1½ mile E of Oldham. It was constituted in 1860; and its post town is Lees, under Manchester. Pop., 3,132. Houses, 669. Pop. of the Ashton portion, 653. Houses, 145. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Manchester. Value, £165. Patron, the Rector of Ashton. The church was built in 1742, as a chapel of ease to Ashton; and is a plain edifice. There are national schools.

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Historical Geography

In 1889 Stayley became part of Cheshire. In 1974 Ashton became part of Tameside Metropolitan Borough.

The division of Knott Lanes is bounded on the north by the parishes of Oldham and Saddleworth; by the division of Hartshead, in this parish, on the east; and by the said division, and the division of Audenshaw, on the south and west. It is in length from Birks, near Austerland in Saddleworth, to New Market below Taunton Fold, in the parish of Ashton-u-Lyne, about five miles: and in it's greatest breadth, from Boardmans edge to Fitton Hill, about two miles and a half. It contained about 1060 acres in 1618.
Taken from James Butterworths, Town and parish of Ashton-u-lyne,written in November 1823.

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History

Ian Rhodes is providing an archive of The Way We Were section from the Ashton Reporter.

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Maps

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View maps of Ashton under Lyne and places within its boundaries.

View a map of the boundaries of this town/parish.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SD937009 (Lat/Lon: 53.504453, -2.096924), Ashton under Lyne which are provided by:

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Newspapers

Ian Rhodes provides extracts from the Yesterdays column in the Ashton Reporter Group of newspapers describing events that took place 50 and 100 years ago.

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Poor Houses, Poor Law

The Workhouse site has an interesting description of Ashton workhouse.

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Probate Records

For probate purposes prior to 1858, Ashton was in the Archdeaconry of Chester, in the Diocese of Chester. The original Lancashire wills for the Archdeaconry of Chester are held at the Lancashire Record Office.

You can also see Family History Societies covering the nearby area, plotted on a map. This facility is being developed, and is awaiting societies to enter information about the places they cover.