lancashire roots moss 6.1 reformat
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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
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