This is a long post but very important to me. My ancestor, Benjamin Broadbent, was baptized in the parish church at Ashton-under-Lyne in 1799 and emigrated to the US with his family in 1841.
When we discovered how close it was to Huddersfield where we were meeting friends, we contacted the vicar who was gracious in giving us a tour and inviting us to a service.
Thanks also to my aunt, Paula Walker, who researched and gave us genealogy on the family.
3.37 miles, some rain.
Richard’s ReLive for the day is here: https://www.relive.com/view/vMq5wAAyMQO
This ferry disembarked at 6:45 am giving us time to see a beautiful sunrise.
This train employee was very busy. He watched the clock and when it was time for the train to leave, he would wave the paddle and blow his whistle. Then he would move to the next lane and begin the procedure again. Trains were regular—every couple of minutes.
We were early for our appointment at the church so we stopped in at the market to get a coffee.
The market has been operating since 1413 and now spills outside the building to some surrounding streets. Besides selling everything you could possibly want, the market is also a meeting place for local residents to get together.
The church is an imposing structure in the skyline of Ashton-under-Lyne.
Vicar Paul Monk was preparing for a service at 12:30 and Heritage Days this weekend. Busy times, but he made time for our visit.
The church is mentioned in the Domesday book from William the Conqueror’s time. The parish was dedicated to St. Michael when it was mentioned in the 1291-2 papal bull Taxation.
The white ceiling arch is considered original.
The altar stained glass window features St. George, but the dragon is obscured by the altarpiece.
The three-piece pulpit is one of only four in England. These windows lowest pulpit is used for announcements. The middle pulpit is used for scripture readings. The highest pulpit is used for preaching. Paul said he is not a fan of this arrangement, and prefers to use a music stand in the aisle.
The church pews are unusual in that they face the pulpit with some pews having their back to the altar.
Paul said school children often come for a field trip and he enjoys sitting in while the teacher instructs the students. He enjoys turning this angel that decorates the pulpit stairway as an entertainment for the students. (Richard loved this story that shows Paul’s playful and somewhat irreverent style).
The church has several windows dedicated to the history of St Helena, mother of Constantine. These windows are recognized for their value as medieval art and survived the church fire of 1821. Many of the windows date to 1499.
Cristina was the minister who was in charge of much of the service at 12:30. Although she used to be a Methodist minister, she had changed to the Church of England.
Martin Hulse was one of the congregants who greeted us after the service. It turns out he has spent time in Sunnyvale, California and knew our home area. He was quite a character.
This is the baptismal font for the church.
The local Tameside Library contains copies of parish records from around the region. My friend Simon made an appointment for me to check some genealogy questions. Librarians Gillian and Joy were a great help.
Richard watched the luggage while sitting in a local cafe very near the church. The square also made a central meeting place for Simon to pick us up.
Jade was the friendly employee at the local cafe. Not only did she welcome Richard to stay, she was interested in our story and offered suggestions and commentary on the area. Although they closed before our ride arrived, she arranged another nearby place for us to wait out of the rain.
We had a wonderful Indian dinner near Emma and Hayley’s home in Slaithwaite. (l-r) Jan, Emma, Hayley, Simon, Richard.
8 Responses
HA! Love the picture of Richard preaching the sermon! But….he looks more like Moses?
I am so excited that you are now at the point on your trip when you can do a little genealogy digging. I know you mentioned you won’t have much time, but still…
Also wanted to mention I am watching another British mystery which is “set” in Ireland; however there is a clip in which the actors are interviewed, and one said they had planned to film in Ireland, but for some reason stopped in Wales, and discovered Wales looked so much like Ireland they decided they could stay there and not travel to Ireland after all. I think you plan on visiting Wales, so it would be interesting to see if you feel the same way. Love your pictures and stories! Kathy
Richard and the vicar both have a wry sense of humor so when he asked Richard if he wanted to go up in the pulpit, you could not hold Richard back!
Wales is green like Ireland, but we are in the mountains now (not quite like the Sierras) so it’s not the same. Ireland had rock walls, both shale and limestone, and hedgerows, but Wales has so far had bigger trees and not so many walls. We’ll see if I change my mind as I see more country.
Incredible! What a beautiful place with such a long & rich history. I was so excited to go through this post. To think that your ancestor, Benjamin, was in that very building 226-ish years ago is just awesome. I am not surprised, at all, to see dad up on the pulpit. 😆
I had such a wonderful day here. Of course Dad was up for the challenge of preaching! He and Paul were very well suited to egg each other on.
Yes, and thinking about it, I can see that the resemblance of Ireland and Wales is really dependent on which part of Ireland you are comparing to which part of Wales. I just thought it interesting that the crew of that mystery saw so much resemblance between them.
I agree with Julia – what a feeling it must be to be in the exact same spot where an ancestor was baptized all those years ago. It would give me chills. I am happy to see you and Richard are having such a wonderful trip, rain and all.
This day was a highlight for me as you well know how satisfying it is to find a tidbit of your ancestral search. As to similarities between Wales and Ireland, I’m still thinking on that.
Neat that you are connecting with the family history. As always, people are so kind and generous with you. Your trip is so varied with what you do and experience day to day! Dan
I love the small towns, the interactions, and the surprises we have along the way. Variety is the spice of life!