Christ Church celebrated 160 years of worship and praise on 17th June, 2008. We joined in the national Heritage Open Days once more (11-14th September) and opened our doors to allow people to discover more about our history and our plans for the future.

The building of Christ Church

It was decided in 1845, at a meeting held in the vestry of the Parish Church of St. Michael, to build a new church to serve the hamlet of Charlestown. The resolution was sent to higher authorities with the result that an Order in Council was issued from Buckingham Palace on the 6th March 1846, which authorised the establishment of the new parish and defined its boundaries.

In January, 1847, another meeting at the Parish Church  gave the task of collecting the necessary money to the  Rev. C.T.Quirk. He was a curate at the Parish Church who was already working in a mission room in Charlestown and was destined to become the first incumbent of the new church.

The first plans were drawn up but were considered too costly. A modified version submitted by Manchester architects Messrs. Dickson and Breakspeare, for a brick building with stone cornerings and no tower, was finally accepted.

On 17th June, 1848, the CHURCH was consecrated by Dr. Prince Lee who had become the first Bishop of Manchester in 1847. The site for the church and a school
was given by the Trustees of the Seventh Earl of Stamford and Warrington.

Rev. Quirk became the first incumbent with the status of Perpetual Curate. He advanced part of the £3,121 needed to pay for the building and two large bazaars were held in the Town Hall to meet this debt. No wonder Christ Church was for a while popularly referred to as “Quirk’s Church”

In 1897, a LYCHGATE was erected at the Oldham Road entrance in memory of the Rev. H.J. Palmer who had died in 1896. The churchyard was cleared in 1972, together with the grassing over of the Central school site. This has given Christ Church a rural aspect, unique among the places of worship in Ashton.

In 1863, a VICARAGE was built (behind where the present Vicarage stands). The architect was John Eaton (known locally as Colonel Eaton)
 

Further history about the Church of England is available from Lambeth Palace Library. It is the historic library of the archbishops of Canterbury and the principal library and record office for the history of the Church of England. The Library focuses on ecclesiastical history, but its rich collections are important for an immense variety of topics from the history of art and architecture to colonial and Commonwealth history, and for innumerable aspects of English social, political and economic history. It is also a significant resource for local history and genealogy.