Openshaw

"OPENSHAW, (or Andenshaw) a township in the parish of Manchester, hundred of Salford, county Lancaster, 3½ miles S.E. of Manchester, its post town. It is a station on the Sheffield and Lincolnshire railway. It is situated on the Manchester and Stockport canal, and on the road to Ashton-under-Lyne. There are extensive cotton mills and dye works, also a large railway carriage manufactory, which together afford employment to a large number of the inhabitants. The soil is of a clayey nature, alternating with sand, and resting on a subsoil of sandstone. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Manchester. The church, dedicated to St. Barnabas, has a square tower surmounted by aspire. The church was erected in 1838 at an outlay of £4,500. There are commodious National schools for both sexes, endowed with £500, and in which a Sunday-school is also held. The Wesleyans and Roman Catholics have each a place of worship. George C. Legh, Esq., is lord of the manor.