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Lancashire Roots

The Church of St. Michael and All Angels is the Parish Church for Ashton under

Lyne. 10 It is thought that there was a church on this site before the Norman

Conquest. The Domesday Book mentions a St Michael's Church in the east of

the ancient parish of Manchester,

although historians are doubtful

that this was the church in Ashton.

The church was dedicated to St

Michael and All Angels when it was

rebuilt in 1422, so it may have had

a different name before that. There

have been suggestions that it may

have been previously dedicated to

St Helen or Helena.

East window, St. Michael's Church. 1

The present building dates from the

fifteenth century, although much of

the structure was re-constructed in

Victorian times.

The church was built in the Perpendicular style with large windows. Buttresses

were required with this type of building as the large window area reduced the

strength of the walls.

St Michael's Church boasts some of the best examples of fifteenth century

stained glass left in Britain. There are eighteen panels illustrating the life of St.

Helena.

For those with a campanological bent, the tower, about 50 metres high (145

feet), has 13 bells.

10

It can be found on the 1828

Page | 19

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