Church of St Anne Chapeltown Turton
CONSECRATION OF THE NEW CHURCH AT TURTON - This church, which has been erected on a new site about 20 yards north-east from the place where the old chapel stood, was formally opened for divine service on 16th of July last and consecrated, in honour of St Matthew, on Saturday last, in the presence of several clergymen and a numerous congregation by the Right Rev. the Bishop of Chester. .... The land on which the church stands was the gift of John Kay Esq., lord of the manor of Turton and owner of the Tower and demesne lands there; and to the unremitting exertions of Mr Giles Ashworth, Mi George Millington, Mr Peter Cort and others, this church owes its origin. The plans, we understand, were made by Mr John Palmer of Manchester. The interior of the church is divided into three aisles by two rows of octagonal pillars, and galleries environ three sides of the structure, besides two small galleries on each side of the intended organ, at the west end, capable of containing upwards of 80 children. The edifice contains 1,067 sittings of which 403 are free and unappropriated, at a cost of about £3,000. A plain tower, surmounted by a spire, altogether 126 feet high from the floor, adorns the west end and is a conspicuous object from every part of the surrounding country. [Manchester Guardian 6 October 1841 page 2]
