Grade II
Church of St. Thomas
Warrington Rd, Ashton
Description
The present Church of St Thomas on Warrington Road was built between 1891 and 1893, but it occupies a site with a much longer history of Anglican worship. A chapel of ease serving the ancient parish of St Oswald, Winwick, was recorded here by 1515. It was replaced in 1714, while a larger cruciform church was consecrated in 1746 and subsequently enlarged in 1782 and 1815. By the late nineteenth century, however, this Georgian building had become inadequate for Ashton’s rapidly growing population.
The old church was demolished in 1890 and the Manchester architect Frederick Henry Oldham was commissioned to design its replacement. Oldham produced a substantial Gothic Revival church capable of seating approximately 500 people. Construction began in 1891 and the completed building was consecrated on 6 July 1893.
In 1929–30 a new vestry was added to the church. It was designed by Henry Paley of the distinguished Lancaster architectural practice of Austin and Paley and cost £506. This addition completed the principal form of the building as it is known today.
St Thomas’s was designated a Grade II listed building on 7 December 1966, recognising both its architectural interest and its historical importance to Ashton-in-Makerfield. The listing also acknowledges the value of its historic fittings, stained glass, monuments and surviving material from the earlier church.
