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Ashton-under-Lyne (pop. 43,200) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England.^[1] Historically a part of Lancashire, it lies on the north bank of the River Tame, on undulating land at the foothills of the Pennines. Ashton (as it is often shortened to) is 3.8 miles (6.1 km) south-southeast of Oldham, 6.1 miles (9.8 km) north-northeast of Stockport, and 6.2 miles (10.0 km) east of the city of Manchester.

Evidence of Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Viking activity has been discovered in Ashton-under-Lyne and its surrounding area. The "Ashton" part of the town's name probably dates from the Anglo-Saxon period, and derives from Old English meaning "settlement by ash trees"; but the origin of the "under-Lyne" element is less clear,^[2] and it possibly derives from the British lemo meaning elm or from Ashton's proximity to the Pennines.^[3] During the Middle Ages, Ashton-under-Lyne formed a parish and township centred on Ashton Old Hall which was held by the de Asshetons, the Lords of the Manor. Granted a Royal Charter in 1414, the manor spanned a broad rural area consisting of marshland, moorland, and a number of villages and hamlets.

Until the introduction of the cotton trade in 1769, Ashton was "bare, wet, and almost worthless".^[3] The factory system, and textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution triggered a process of unplanned urbanisation in the area, and by the mid-19th century Ashton had emerged as an important mill town at a convergence of newly constructed canals and railways. Ashton-under-Lyne's transport network allowed for an economic boom in cotton spinning, weaving, and coal mining, resulting in it being granted honorific borough status in 1847.

Imports of cheaper foreign goods led to the decline of Ashton's heavy industries during the mid-20th century, but the town has continued to thrive as a centre of commerce, and is "considered the hub of Tameside, providing the perfect setting for the town hall, council offices and 19th-century market hall".^[4] Ashton Market is one of the largest outdoor markets in the United Kingdom. The 13,000-square-metre (140,000 sq ft), two-floored Ashton Arcades shopping centre opened in 1995, and in 2006 IKEA opened what was then the tallest store in the country.

History

Evidence of prehistoric activity in the area is centred around Ashton Moss – a 107-hectare (260-acre) peat bog – and is the only one of Tameside's 22 Mesolithic sites not located in the hilly uplands in the north east of the borough. A single Mesolithic flint has been discovered in the bog,^[5][6] along with a collection of nine Neolithic flints.^[7] There was further activity in or around the bog in the Bronze Age. In around 1911, an adult male skull was found in the moss; it was thought to have belonged to the Romano-British period – similar to the Lindow Man bog body – until radiocarbon dating revealed that it dated from 1,320–970 BC.^[8][9]

The eastern terminus of the early medieval linear earthwork Nico Ditch is in Ashton Moss (grid reference SJ909980); it was probably used as an administrative boundary and dates from the 8th or 9th century. Legend claims it was built in a single night in 869–870 as a defence against Viking invaders.^[10][11] Further evidence of Dark Age activity in the area comes from the town's name. The "Ashton" part probably derives from the Anglo-Saxon meaning "settlement by ash trees",^[12][13] the origin of the "under-Lyne" element is less clear: it could derive from the British lemo meaning elm or else to Ashton's proximity to the Pennines.^[3] This means that Ashton probably became a settlement sometime after the Romans left Britain in the 5th century.^[14] An early form of the town's name, which included a burh element, indicates that in the 11th century Ashton-under-Lyne and Bury were two of the most important towns in Lancashire.^[15] The "under-Lyne" facet of the name was not widely used until the mid-19th century when it became useful as a means of distinguishing the town from other places called Ashton.^[16]

Ashton was not directly mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086, perhaps because only a partial survey of the area was taken.^[17][18] However, it is thought that St Michael's Church, mentioned in the entry for the ancient parish of Manchester in the Domesday Survey, was in Ashton. The town itself was first mentioned in the 12th century when the manor was part of the barony of Manchester.^[17] By the late 12th century, a family who adopted the name Assheton held the manor on behalf of the Barons of Manchester.^[19] Ashton Old Hall was a manor house, the administrative centre of the manor, and the seat of the Assheton family.^[20] With three wings, the hall was "one of the finest great houses in the North West" of the 14th century and antiquarian John Aikin described it as "a building of great antiquity".^[20] It has been recognised as important for being one of the few great houses in south-east Lancashire and possibly one of the few halls influenced by French design in the country.^[20] In 1414, the town was granted a Royal Charter allowing it to hold a fair twice a year and a market on every Monday,^[21][22] making the settlement a market town.^[23]

According to popular tradition Sir Ralph de Assheton, who was Lord of the Manor in the mid-14th century and known as the Black Knight, was an unpopular and cruel lord. After his death, his unpopularity led the locals to parade an effigy of him around the town each Easter Monday and collect money.^[24] Afterwards the effigy would be hung up and shot and then set on fire. It would then then be torn apart and thrown into the crowd.^[25] The first recorded occurrence of the tradition is in 1795, although the tradition may be even older;^[26] it continued into the 1830s.^[27]

The manor remained in the hands of the Ashton family – whose name had changed from Assheton over time – until 1514 when the line ended; it was later acquired by Sir George Booth and descended with the Booth family until 1758 when the Earls of Stamford inherited it through marriage. The earls held the manor until the 19th century.^[28] The lords' consistent absence was probably the stimulus for Ashton's growth of a large scale domestic-based textile industry in the 17th century.^[29] Pre-industrial Ashton-under-Lyne was centred around four roads: Town Street, Crickets Lane, Old Street, and Cowhill Lane. In the late-18th and early-19th centuries, the town was re-planned, with a grid pattern of roads. As a result, very little remains of the previous town.^[23] In 1730 a workhouse was established which consisted of a house and two cottages; it later came to be used as a hospital.^[30] The Ashton Canal was constructed in the 1790s to transport coal from the area to Manchester, with a branch to the coal pits at Fairbottom.^[31]

In Ashton, too, there lingers on a handful of miserable old men, the remnants of the cotton hand-loom weavers. No young persons think of pursuing such an occupation. The few who practice it were too old and confirmed in old habits, when the power-loom was introduced, to be able to learn a new way of making their bread.^[34]

—Angus Reach, Morning Chronicle, 1849

The cotton industry in the area grew rapidly from the start of the 19th century until the Lancashire Cotton Famine of 1861–1865.^[35] The growth of the town's textile industry led to the construction of estates specifically for workers. Workers' housing in Park Bridge, on the border between Ashton and Oldham, was created in the 1820s.^[36] The iron works were founded in 1786 and were some of the earliest in the north west.^[37] The Oxford Mills settlement was founded in 1845 by local industrialist and mill-owner Hugh Mason^[38] who saw it as a model industrial community.^[16] The community was provided with a recreational ground, a gymnasium, and an institute containing public baths, a library, and a reading room.^[39] Mason estimated that establishing the settlement cost him around £10,000 and would require a further £1,000 a year to maintain (today about £600,000 and £60,000 respectively) and that its annual mortality rate was significantly lower than in the rest of the town.^[40][41]

A poor supply of fresh water and dwellings without adequate drainage caused a cholera outbreak in Ashton-under-Lyne in 1832.^[42] In 1837 the Ashton Poor Law Union was established and covered most of what is now Tameside. A new workhouse was built in 1850 which provided housing for 500 people. It later became part of Tameside General Hospital.^[30] Construction on the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway (SA&MR) began in 1837 to provide passenger transport between Manchester and Sheffield. Although a nine-arch viaduct in Ashton collapsed in April 1845, the line was fully opened on 22 December 1845. The SA&MR was amalgamated with the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway, the Great Grimsby & Sheffield Railway, and the Grimsby Docks Company in 1847 to form the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR).^[43] In 1890, Ashton Old Hall was bought and demolished by the MS&LR to make way for the construction of new sidings.^[20]

In the late 19th century, public buildings such as the market hall, the town hall, the public library, and public baths were built.^[38] The baths constructed in 1870–1871 were funded by a donation from Hugh Mason.^[44] The Ashton-under-Lyne Improvement Act was passed in 1886 which gave the borough influence over housing and allowed the imposition of minimum standards such as having drainage.^[45] Coal mining was a secondary industry in the town compared to the textile industry, but in 1882 the Ashton Moss Colliery had the deepest mine shaft in the world at 870 metres (2,900 ft).^[46] Ashton's textile industry remained constant between 1865 and the 1920s. Although some mills closed or merged, the number of spindles in use increased.^[35][47] With the collapse of the overseas market in the 1920s, the town's cotton industry went into decline, and by the 1930s most of the firms and mills in the area had closed.^[35]

Ashton became a part of the newly formed Metropolitan Borough of Tameside in 1974.^[48] In May 2004, the Victorian market hall was ravaged by a massive fire and a temporary building called "The Phoenix Market Hall" was built on Old Cross Street on the opposite side of the old market hall.^[49] The market, which was described as the "heart of Ashton", was rebuilt and officially opened on 1 December 2008.^[50]

Geography

Ashton-under-Lyne stands on the north bank of the River Tame, above which it is elevated by around 35 feet (11 m).^[2] Described in Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) as situated on "on a gentle declivity",^[2] Ashton-under-Lyne lies on undulating ground by the Pennines, reaching a maximum elevation of around 1,000 feet (305 m) above sea level. It is 6.2 miles (10.0 km) east of Manchester city centre, and is bound on all sides by other towns: Audenshaw, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Mossley, Oldham and Stalybridge, with little or no green space between them. Ashton experiences a temperate maritime climate, like much of the British Isles, with relatively cool summers and mild winters.

Generally the bedrock of the west of the town consists of coal measures, which were exploited by the coal mining industry, while the east is mainly millstone grit. Overlying the bedrock are deposits of glacial sand and gravel, clay, and some alluvial deposits. Ashton Moss, a peat bog, lies to the west of the town and was originally much larger.^[56] The River Tame forms part of the southern boundary, dividing the town from Stalybridge and Dukinfield, and the River Medlock runs to the west. The Peak Forest Canal terminates at Dukinfield Junction on the Ashton Canal, which passes through the town.

Ashton's built environment is similar to the urban structure of most towns in England, consisting of residential dwellings centred around a market square and high street in the town centre, which is the local centre of commerce. There is a mixture of low-density urban areas, suburbs, semi-rural and rural locations in Ashton-under-Lyne, but overwhelmingly the land use in the town is residential; industrial areas and terraced houses give way to suburbs and rural greenery as the land rises out of the town in the east. The older streets are narrow and irregular, but those more recently formed are spacious, and consist of "substantial and handsome houses".^[2] Areas and suburbs of Ashton-under-Lyne include Ashton Moss, Cockbrook, Hartshead, Hazelhurst, Heys, Hurst, Limehurst, Luzley, Park Bridge, Ryecroft, Taunton, and Waterloo.

Landmarks

After the Ashton Canal closed in the 1960s, it was decided to turn the Portland Basin warehouse into a museum. In 1985, the first part of the Heritage Centre and Museum opened on the first floor of the warehouse.^[97] The restoration of building was complete in 1999; the museum details Tameside's social, industrial, and political history.^[98] The basin next to the warehouse is the point at which the Ashton Canal, the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the Peak Forest Canal meet. It has been used several times as a filming location for Coronation Street, including a scene where the character Richard Hillman drove into the canal.^[99]

The earliest parts of Ashton Town Hall, which was the first purpose-built town hall in what is now Tameside, date to 1840 when it was opened. It has classical features such as the Corinthian columns on the entrance facade. Enlarged in 1878, the hall provides areas for administrative purposes and public functions.^[100] It is a Grade II listed building.^[101] After the Ashton-under-Lyne municipal borough was abolished in 1974, the town hall was no longer required and became the home of the Museum of the Manchester Regiment. The museum exhibits relics related to the Manchester Regiment including five Victoria Crosses awarded to its members.^[102]

There are five parks in the town, three of which have Green Flag awards.^[103] The first park opened in Ashton-under-Lyne was Stamford Park on the border with Stalybridge; opened in 1873, the land was bought from a local mill-owner for £15,000 (£1,050,000 as of 2009)^[104] and further land was donated by George Grey, 7th Earl of Stamford.^[105] Hartshead Pike is a stone tower on top of Hartshead Hill overlooking Ashton and Oldham.^[106] The current building was constructed in 1863 although there has been a building on the site since at least the mid-18th century, although the original purpose is obscure. The pike may have been the site of a beacon in the late 16th century.^[107] It has a visitor centre and from the top of the hill it is possible to see the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, the Welsh hills, and the Holme Moss transmitter in West Yorkshire.^[108]

The Witchwood, in the St Petersfield area of the town, is a public house and has been a music venue since the 1960s; it has hosted acts such as Muse, The Coral, and Lost Prophets.^[109] In 2004 The Witchwood came under threat when the area went under redevelopment but was saved from demolition after a campaign by locals, and led by Tom Hingley, that drew support from musicians such as Bert Jansch, The Fall, and The Chameleons.^[110]

The main Ashton-under-Lyne War Memorial, located in Memorial Gardens, consists of a central cenotaph on plinth, surmounted by sculpted wounded soldier and the figure of "Peace who is taking the sword of honour" from his hand.^[111] It commemorates the 1,512 people from the town who died in World War I and the 301 in World War II.^[112] The cenotaph is flanked on both sides by two bronze lions. The plinth is decorated with military equipment representing the services, as well as bronze tablets listing the Roll of Honour from World War I. Commissioned by the Ashton War Memorial Committee, the statue was sculpted between 1919 and 1922 by John Ashton Floyd, and unveiled on 16 September 1922 by General Sir Ian Hamilton.^[111]

Transport

In 1732, an Act of Parliament was passed which permitted the construction of a turnpike from Manchester, then in Lancashire, to Salters Brook in Cheshire. The road passed through Ashton-under-Lyne as well as Audenshaw, Mottram-in-Longdendale, and Stalybridge. A Turnpike Trust was responsible for collecting tolls from traffic; the proceeds were used for road maintenance. The Trust for Manchester to Salters Brook was one of over 400 established between 1706 and 1750, a period in which turnpikes became popular.^[113] It was the first turnpike to be opened in Tameside, and driven by economic growth, more turnpikes were opened in the area in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Acts of Parliaments were passed in 1765, 1793, and 1799 permitting the construction turnpikes from Ashton-under-Lyne to Doctor Lane Head in Saddleworth, Standedge in Saddleworth, and Oldham respectively. Towards the end of the 19th century, many Turnpike Trusts were wound up as they were superseded by local government; the last in Tameside to close was the Ashton-under-Lyne to Salters Brook road in 1884.^[114]

The town of Ashton-under-Lyne became the focus of three canals which were constructed in Tameside in the 1790s because it was an important centre of coal mining and was in the Lancashire coalfield. The 1790s has been characterised as a period of mania for canal building in England. The first of these was the Ashton Canal which was constructed from 1792 to 1797; it was connected Manchester to Ashton-under-Lyne and had a branch to Oldham and cost about £170,000 (£13,000,000 as of 2009).^[104][115] The Peak Forest Canal was constructed from 1794 to 1805; it was originally planned as a branch of the Ashton Canal. It connected the Portland Basin with the Peak District and cost £177,000 (£11,000,000 as of 2009).^[104][116] The Huddersfield Narrow Canal was built from 1794 to 1811 and allowed cross-Pennine trade between Manchester and Kingston upon Hull; the cost of construction was £400,000.^[104][116]

The advent of the railways in the 19th century signalled the decline of the canal system. The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway Company was founded in 1836 with the purpose of building a line linking Manchester and Sheffield. The line was opened in stages and by 1845 was complete. It included a branch to the nearby town of Stalybridge.^[43] The new railways were quicker and more econcomical than the canals, and the waterways declined. The Hudderfield Canal was bought by the Huddersfield and Manchester Railway in 1844. Along with the Ashton and Peak Forest canals, the Huddersfield canal was later bought by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway Company.^[117] The company was amalgamated with the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway and the Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway in 1847 to become the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company.^[43] The canals remained in use throughout the 19th century on a smaller scale than in their heyday, but by the mid-20th century all commercial traffic had ceased. They were used for leisure craft and are still maintained and in good condition.^[118]

In 1881, a tramway with horse-drawn tramcars was opened between Stalybridge and Audenshaw, through Ashton-under-Lyne. The first tramway of its kind in Tameside, it was later extended to Manchester. The Oldham, Ashton and Hyde Electric Tramway Company, founded in 1899, operated 13 km (8 mi) of tram lines with electric tramcars. It was the first line around Manchester to use electricity. A line from Stalybridge to Ashton-under-Lyne was opened in 1903 and operated by the Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley and Dukinfield Tramways and Electricity Board.^[119] The first bus service from Ashton-under-Lyne ran in 1923 and the 1920s saw a period of decline for the tramways as they suffered from the competition from buses. The last electric tram service in the town ran in 1938.^[120]

The M60 motorway, cuts through the west end of Ashton (Junction 23). Regular rail services on the Huddersfield Line between Manchester (Victoria) and Huddersfield stop at Ashton-under-Lyne railway station in the town centre. An extension of the Manchester Metrolink was intended to go as far as Ashton, however due to a cutback in funding, plans have been scaled back and the line will only go as far as Droylsden.^[121] Ashton also has one of the busiest bus stations in Greater Manchester. It is planned to be developed and extended in the coming years. Many buses from Ashton go to the surrounding areas of Tameside, including Mossley, Stalybridge, Droylsden, Hyde and Dukinfield. There are also services to many parts of Manchester city centre, and also to many parts of Oldham including Saddleworth, Oldham itself, Royton, Shaw and Rochdale.

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