St Pauls Church Ashton Road Oldham

St. Paul’s is an ecclesiastical parish formed Aug. 3, 1880; the church, in Ashton road, erected in 1880 at a cost of £5,247, is a building of stone in the Gothic style of the 13th century, from the designs of Messrs. Wild and Collins, architects, of Oldham, and consists of chancel, nave, aisles, organ chamber and an incomplete tower: the reredos, presented by John Taylor esq. of Fernholme, and the pulpit by the scholars of the Sunday school, are both of Yorkshire stone: the font, presented by the architect, is as nearly as possible a reproduction in red Mansfield stone of the old font now in the park and formerly in Oldham old church: the church was restored in 1887—9 at a cost of £950, and affords 575 sittings. The register dates from the year 1880. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £190, in the gift of the Bishop of Manchester, and held since 1880 by the Rev. Frederick Wareham B.A. of Trinity College, Dublin. The memorial stone of the Church was laid on Easter Monday, 1879, by Edward Hardcastle Esq. The architects were Messrs. Wild & Collins, Clegg Street, Oldham; and the builders J. & J. Whitehead, then of Marsden, but now of Oldham, who have recently erected the stone wall round the churchyard under the direction of Messrs. J. Collins & Son. The Church was consecrated by Bishop Fraser on Wednesday, May 27th 1880

OLDHAM - The new church of St. Paul’s, Ashton-road, Oldham, has been consecrated by the Bishop of Manchester. Messrs. Wild & Collins, of Oldham, are the architects. The church is in the thirteenth-century style of English architecture, and on plan consists of nave, aisles, chancel, organ-chamber, clergy and choir vestries, with a contemplated tower and spire at the west end of the south aisle, for which the foundations have been put in. The walls are built of Yorkshire parpoints, with Warwick stone dressings, backed up with Highmoor rubble. The roofs throughout are open timbered, and varnished. The benches are of pitch-pine, varnished, and provide accommodation for 550 worshippers, exclusive of twenty-four seats in the chancel for the choir. The floors of the aisles are flagged with Rochdale flags, and the chancel floor is laid with ornamental tiles. The reredos, which has been presented by Mr. John Taylor, of Fernholm, is of Caen stone, with carvings emblematic of the four Evangelists in the head of the side panels, the centre panel having the head of Christ, with a crown of thorns. The pulpit is also of Caen stone. The church is warmed on the low-pressure hot-water system, with Wagstaff’s saddle boiler. The contractors have been:—For foundations, Mr. Joseph Stevens ; for masons’ work, Messrs. J. & J. Whitehead, of Marsden; joiners’ work, Messrs. Chas. Schofield & Co. ; plumbing and glazing, Mr. John Bardsley; slating, Mr. Daniel Lees ; plastering, Mr. James Hall ; heating apparatus, Mr. Giles Shaw; gas-fittings and communion-rail, Messrs. Gentle & Falconer; reredos, Messrs. Joseph Bonehill & Co., of Manchester; pulpit and font, Mr. James Hilton, of Manchester ; chancel tiling, the Campbell Brick and Tile Company, Stoke-on-Trent. The Communion- table has been made and presented by Mr. Samuel Mellor. [Builder 3 July 1880 page 30]

Consecrated by the Bishop of Manchester on 26 May 1880

Reference        British Architect 28 May 1880 Page 263
Reference        Builder 3 July 1880 page 30