St Stephen's Church is a parish church in Astley,

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

, England. It is an active Anglican church built in 1968 and part of Leigh deanery in the archdeaconry of Salford and diocese of Manchester. The church, together with St George's Church, Tyldesley and St John's Church, Mosley Common is part of the united benefice of Astley,

Tyldesley Tyldesley () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, southeast of Wigan ...

and

Mosley Common Mosley Common is a suburb of Tyldesley at the far-eastern edge of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it was anciently a hamlet in the east of the township of Tyldesley cum Shakerle ...

. Its origins are in Astley Chapel, a chapel of ease of Leigh Parish Church built in 1631 and its successor which was burned in an arson attack in 1961.

History

The first chapel, built and paid for by Adam Mort the wealthy owner of

Damhouse Damhouse or Astley Hall is a Grade II* Listed building in Astley, Greater Manchester, England. It has served as a manor house, sanatorium, and, since restoration in 2000, houses offices, a clinic, nursery and tearooms. History From medieval ti ...

who died in early 1631, was consecrated on 3 August in the same year by the

Bishop of Chester The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York. The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the ...

. It was the first chapel of ease of the mother church of Leigh, and dedicated to St Stephen, the first Christian martyr. The chapel was built of local brick on part of the common. The Reverend Thomas Crompton, appointed by Thomas Mort, was the first minister in 1632. The chapel stood for nearly 130 years until it was rebuilt after becoming dilapidated. The second, slightly larger chapel was built on the same site in 1760. Thomas Froggatt of

gave a contribution towards the cost of reconstruction. It was built of handmade brick and measured in length and in width. It could hold 170 people and had a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with four side and two end windows, and a small

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

and had an embattled western tower containing a single bell. The chapel was enlarged in 1834, 1842, and 1847. The second chapel was destroyed by fire on 18 June 1961 and it was decided not to rebuild it but relocate to a site on Manchester Road. The third St Stephen's Church was consecrated on 26 October 1968.

Clergy

The first minister was the son of William Crompton of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

and his successor was from

Shakerley Shakerley is a suburb of Tyldesley in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It was anciently a hamlet in the northwest of the township of Tyldesley cum Shakerley, in the ancient parish of Leigh. The boundary between ...

. They were both educated at Brasenose College, Oxford. 1632 Thomas Crompton, B.A. (ejected for nonconformity).
1683 John Battersby
1702 Roger Seddon, died 1716
1716 James Marsh, died 1728
1732 Thomas Mawdesley, died 1769
1769 Robert Barker
1822 Thomas Birkett
1838 John Wilkinson Edwards, B.A. died 1840
1840 Alfred Hewlett, D.D. died 1885
1885 James Alexander Maxwell Johnstone, M.A
1970s Jack Finney 1980s John Findon 2010 Jonathan Carmyllie ( Team rector of the united benefice of Astley, Tyldesley and Mosley Common)

References

Notes Bibliography *{{citation , last=Lunn , first=John , title=A short history of the township of Astley , publisher=Lunn , year=1968 Astley Astley

History

Clergy

See also

References