ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE. Ill ASHWATER. nd well-wooded villages, and contains within it impor- mt elements of manufacturing prosperity, abundance of jal, plenty of water, and clay for brick-making. The ywn stands on the northern bank of the river Tame. t is well built, with spacious streets, good shops, and everal handsome mansions. There is a good supply of -ater, and the streets are lighted with gas. The town- all, which was built in 1840, is of stone, and of the !orinthian order of architecture. It comprises police dices, committee-rooms, court-rooms, and a large hall >r public purposes. It is situated in the market-square, spacious and convenient place given by the Earl of tamford. There are three banks, one a local, and two ranch banks, and a savings-bank. The Mechanics' nstitute and the Church of England Institute have
- braries, reading-rooms, and classes for instruction,
.'here are now about 180 cotton manufactories in the iarish, in which above 10,000 persons are employed. 'ho collieries give occupation to about 2,000 persons, pther important branches of industry are those of iron- bunding, silk-weaving, hat-making, &c. The numerous rtreets of the parish are said to equal a length of 1-1 mlcs. Ashton was made a borough by the Reform Act, n 1832, and returns one member to parliament. It be- tame a municipal borough under a charter granted in September, 1847, by which it was divided into 4 wards, md is governed by a mayor, 8 aldermen, and 24 coun- cillors, with the style of the " mayor, aldermen, and jorough of Ashton." The boundaries of the parlia- mentary and municipal boroughs are not conterminous, .he latter being the more extensive ; accordingly, the Municipal borough comprises 6,665 houses inhabited by i population of 34,894, while the parliamentary has only 5,478 houses with a population of 33,925, against 29,791 in 1851, showing an increase of 4,134 in the decennial xiriod. There are 4 divisions of the parish which have !)een recognised from time immemorial : Ashton, Audenshaw, Knott Lanes, and Hartshcad. For local burposes there are many subdivisions. In the Knott Lanes district is the village of Lees ; in Hartshead, the lorough of Staleybridge, and the growing villages of .lossley and Mossley Bottoms. Polling for the county akes place here, and petty sessions are held. A union workhouse, large enough for 500 poor, was erected in 1850. There are now three churches and eight chapels of ease comprised in Ashton : St. Michael's, St. Peter's, and Christ Church. The original parish church, dedi- cated to St. Michael, was built before the close of the 13th century. The present structure is almost entirely new ; the tower and one side of the church being rebuilt in 1821, and the other side being rebuilt, find the whole fabric completely restored, in 1844. It is in the perpendicular style, richly ornamented with carved oak and brass work, and having a beautiful stained east window. The living is a rect.* val. 900, iu the dioc. of Manchester, and in the patron, "of the Earl of Stamford and Warrington. St. Peter's church, erected in 1821, is in the decorated style, having a hand- some embattled tower and a circular east window of stained glass. The living is a perpct. cur., val. 150, in the patron, of the rector of Ashton. Christ Church, erected in 1847, is a cruciform building. The living is a perpct. our.,* val. 150, in the patron, alternately of the crown and the Bishop of Manchester. The eight chapels of oase, or district churches, as most of them have lately become, are named after their respective districts, Au- lenshaw, Bardsley, Hurst, Leesfield, Lees or Hey, Mosslcy, Staleybndge, also called Old St. George's, Staleybridge New St. George's. These will he described under their several headings. There are three places of worship of the Methodist New Connexion ; two each for [ndepende"nts,WesleyanMethodists, Baptists, and Roman Catholics ; and one each for Independent and Primitive Methodists and Israelites. The charitable endowments for education and relief of the poor amount to 92 per annum. The old Manor Hall, seat of the Asshetons, is the most ancient building in the parish. It stands near St. Michael's church, and was certainly in existence before 1380. No traces of its fortifications remain. The field in front of it, called Gallows Meadow, was the place of summary execution by the feudal lords, who had lower of life and death over their serfs. Railway
- rains now run across this meadow, and warehouses are
juilt on it. Not far from the Old Hall are the old corn mills of the manor. A curious ceremony of unknown origin, called " the riding of the black lad," is still ob- served here. On Easter Monday the figure of a man in slack armour is carried on horseback tlu-ough the streets,
- aken down at the Old Cross and shot at. Some suppose
- he black lad to be a tyrannous Sir Rauf de Assheton,
whose name is commemorated in a rude rhyme still familiar to the common people. According to a less popular opinion, the custom was designed to celebrate
- he valour of Thomas de Assheton, who, at Neville's
Dross, in 1346, captured the royal Scotch tanner. The Huddersfield canal, part of the inland lino con- necting the Irish Sea with the German Ocean, passes through Ashton. Two other canals, one 8 miles, the other 6 miles in length, connect the town with Manches- ter. There are branch canals to Stockport and Oldham. There is an extensive moss or quaking bog near the town, in which whole oaks and fir trees are found depo- sited. The bed of moss is ten feet thick, and rests on a loamy soil capable of cultivation. It is under process of drainage and reclamation by the lord of the manor. Ashton supports a newspaper, called the Weekly Re- porter, and two magazines. It is the seat of a County Court and a Poor-law Union. The market is held on Tuesday and Saturday. Fairs are held on the 23rd March, the 29th April, the 15th July, and the llth November. ASHTON-UPON-MERSEY, a par. in the hund. of Bucklow, in the co. palatine of Chester, 3 miles to the N. of Altrincham. Manchester is its post town. It is situated on the river Mersey, which is here navigable, and the Bridgwator canal, which joins that river here. It comprises the two tnshps. of Ashton-upon-Mersey and Sale. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Chester, val. 608, in the patron, of the Rev. C. B. Sowerby, the incumbent. The church is dedicated to St. Martin. The Unitarians, Calvinists, and Wesleyans have chapels here. ASHTON, WEST, a tythg. in the par of Ashton Steeple, hund. of Whorwellsdown, in the co. of Wilts, 2 miles from Ashton Steeple. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Salisbury, val. 200, in the gift of W. Long, Esq., M.P., and lord of the manor, who re- sides at Ashton Rood, a splendid Gothic mansion, situated in this tything. The church, dedicated to St. John, is a neat modern structure, containing a stone pulpit, and a beautiful carved lectern. There is a National school and a middle school for girls, founded and supported by the incumbent. ASHURST, a par. in the hund. of Washlingstone, lathe of Aylesford, in the co. of Kent, 4 miles to the W. of Tonbridgo Wells, its post town. The river Mod- way flows through it. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Canterbury, val. 207, in the patron, of the Dowager Lady Amherst. The church is small ; but it attracted pilgrims in the middle ages by the fame of the wonder-working rood it was so fortunate as to pos- sess. Ashurst Park is the principal residence. ASHURST, a hmlt. in the par. of East Grinstead, and hund. of the same name, rape of Pevensey, in the eo. of Sussex, not far from East Grinstead. ASHURST, or ASHURST-NEAK-STEYNING, a par. in the hund. of West Grinstead, rape of Bramher, in the co. of Sussex, 3 miles to the N. of Steyniiig. Hurstperpoint is its post town. It is situated on the river Adur, which is navigable here. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Chichester, val. 268, in the patron, of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Ox- ford. ASHWATER, a par. in the hund. of Black Torring- ton, in the co. of Devon, 6 miles to the S.E. of Hols- worthy, its post town. It is watered by the river Carey. There are quarries of good freestone in the neighbour- hood. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Exeter,
