Ashton upon Mersey is an area in

Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of in . It covers and includes the area of Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Urmston, Partington and Sa ...

, in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. It lies on the south bank of the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

, south of

Manchester city centre Manchester city centre is the central business district of Manchester, England, within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way, which collectively form an inner ring road. The City Centre ward had a ...

and immediately adjoins Sale to the east. It gives its name to the Ashton upon Mersey ward, which covers the main part of the former village. Ashton upon Mersey lies within the historic county boundaries of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, and became part of Greater Manchester in 1974.

History

A 4th century

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of 46 Roman coins was discovered and is one of four known hoards dating from that period discovered within the Mersey basin. In the 18th century, it was thought that Ashton upon Mersey might have been the site of ''Fines Miaimae et Flaviae'', a Roman station next to the River Mersey. However, this was based on the '' De Situ Britanniae'', a manuscript forged by

Charles Bertram Charles Julius Bertram (1723–1765) was an Englishmen, English expatriate in Kingdom of Denmark, Denmark who "discovered"—and presumably wrote—''The Description of Britain'' (), an 18th-century literary forgery purporting to be a mediaeval ...

, and there is no evidence to suggest any such station existed. "Ashton" is Old English for "village or farm near the

ash tree ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae, and comprises 45–65 species of usually medium-to-large trees, most of which are deciduous trees, although some subtropical species are evergr ...

s", suggesting that Ashton upon Mersey is of Anglo-Saxon origin. St martins ashton upon mersey

The township is first mentioned in 1260. The first building of St Martin's Church dated from 1304, but a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantry chapel, a b ...

on the same site is believed to have existed since the 9th century. Ashton-on-Mersey School is located in the area.

Governance

There is one main tier of local government covering Ashton upon Mersey, at

metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of districts of England, local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan distr ...

level: Trafford Council. The council is a member of the

Greater Manchester Combined Authority The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is a combined authority for Greater Manchester, England. It was established on 1 April 2011 and consists of 11 members: 10 indirectly elected members, each a directly elected councillor from one ...

, which is led by the directly-elected

Mayor of Greater Manchester The mayor of Greater Manchester is the directly elected metro mayor, mayor of Greater Manchester, responsible for strategic governance in the region that includes health, transport, housing, strategic planning, waste management, policing, the G ...

Administrative history

Ashton upon Mersey appears to have historically been part of the

ancient parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Bowdon, but it had become a separate parish by 1350. The new parish contained two townships, called Sale and Ashton upon Mersey, although the Ashton township contained numerous detached portions of the parish of Bowdon within it. Ashton formed part of the

Bucklow Hundred The hundred of Bucklow was an ancient division of the historic county of Cheshire, in northern England. It was known to have been in existence at least as early as 1260, and it was formed from the earlier Domesday hundreds of Bochelau and Tun ...

of Cheshire. From the 17th century onwards, parishes were gradually given various civil functions under the

poor laws The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief in England and Wales that developed out of the codification of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws in 1587–1598. The system continued until the modern welfare state emerged in the late 1940s. E ...

, in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, including Ashton upon Mersey, the civil functions were exercised by the townships rather than the parish as a whole. In 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so the Sale and Ashton upon Mersey townships (the latter including the detached parts from Bowdon) became separate

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

es. When elected parish and district councils were established under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

, Ashton was initially given a parish council and included in the Altrincham Rural District. These arrangements were short-lived; the parish was made a separate urban district a few months later in 1895. On 1 October 1930, the Ashton upon Mersey Urban District was abolished and the area was absorbed into Sale Urban District. Ashton upon Mersey therefore no longer had a separate council after 1930, although it continued to have a nominal existence as an

urban parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

within Sale Urban District (which became a

municipal borough A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1935). The Ashton upon Mersey civil parish was eventually abolished in 1936 when the Sale parish was enlarged to cover the whole borough. In 1931 (the last census before the civil parish was abolished), Ashton upon Mersey had a population of 9,704. Ashton upon Mersey was administered as part of Sale from 1930 until 1974, when the borough of Sale was abolished and the area became part of the new metropolitan borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester.

Notable citizens

Lascelles Abercrombie Lascelles Abercrombie, (9 January 1881 – 27 October 1938) was a British poet and literary critic, one of the " Dymock poets". After the First World War he worked as a professor of English literature in a number of English universities, ...

(1881–1938), poet and professor of English * Sir Patrick Abercrombie (1879–1957), architect, noted for the redevelopment of post-war London * J. George Adami (1862–1926),

pathologist Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

and Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

Stanley Houghton William Stanley Houghton (22 February 1881 – 11 December 1913) was an English playwright. He was a prominent member, together with Allan Monkhouse and Harold Brighouse, of a group known as the Manchester School of dramatists. His best k ...

(1881–1913), playwright and author of '' Hindle Wakes'' *Vincent James, animator/cartoonist/illustrator, best known for his design and storyboard work on

Count Duckula ''Count Duckula'' is a British children's television series, children's animated comedy horror television series created by British studio Cosgrove Hall Films, Cosgrove Hall Productions and produced by Thames Television as a spin-off of ''Dang ...

and Philbert Frog *

Karl Pilkington Karl Pilkington (born 23 September 1972) is an English presenter, actor, voice-artist, producer and author. After working with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as producer on their Xfm radio show, Pilkington became a co-host of '' The Ricky ...

(b. 1972), author and radio and TV personality *

Andy Rourke Andrew Michael Rourke (17 January 1964 – 19 May 2023) was an English musician best known as the bassist of the 1980s indie rock band the Smiths. Regarded as one of the greatest bassists of his generation, he was known for his melodic and funk- ...

(1964–2023), bassist of

the Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

* Chris Sievey (1955–2010), better known for his comic persona

Frank Sidebottom Frank, FRANK, or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a Germanic people in late Roman times * Franks, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crus ...

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * * {{Authority control Areas of Greater Manchester Former civil parishes in Greater Manchester Geography of Trafford Sale, Greater Manchester

History

Governance

Administrative history

Notable citizens

See also

References