HARTSHEAD, a division of the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, county Lancaster. It occupies the south-eastern portion of the parish, on the banks of the river Tame, and has a population of near 20,000. It comprises the six hamlets of Mossley, Stanrick-Hill-with-Luzley, Heyrod, Hazlehurst, Hurst, and Ridgehill-with-Lanes, and the thirteen villages of Blackrock, Broadcarr, Hartshead, Hazlehurst, Heyrod, Higher Hurst, Hurst Nook, Hurst Brooks, Luzley, Mossley, Mossley Brow, Ridgehill, and Scout.

HURST, a hamlet in the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, county Lancaster. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Manchester, value £150, in the patronage of the crown and bishop alternately.

MOSSLEY, a hamlet in the district of Hartshead, and parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, hundred of Salford, county Lancaster, 2 miles N. of Stalybridge, and 9 E. of Manchester. It is a station on the Manchester and Leeds section of the London and North-Western railway. It is situated on the Huddersfield canal, near the river Tame, and under Hartshead Pike. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in the cotton and woollen mills. Near Hartshead Pike is a lofty circular tower, surmounted by a spire. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Manchester, value £127, in the patronage of the Rector of Ashton. The church was built in 1755, and enlarged in 1786. There is a place of worship for New Connexion Methodists. Fairs are held on the 21st June, and the last Monday in October, for cattle.

STALYBRIDGE, a chapelry, township, market and post town in the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, hundred of Salford, county Lancaster, 2 miles W. of Ashton, and 8 N.E. of Stockport. It is connected by branch lines with the London and North-Western, the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, and Lancashire and Yorkshire railways. It is a prosperous manufacturing town, situated upon the Tame, under a hill called "Wild Bank," which rises 1,300 feet above sea-level. This place derives its name from the Staveleighs, a family who resided here, and from the bridge over the river, which has recently been rebuilt at an expense of £4,000, and connects the county of Lancaster with that of Chester. The growth of the town has been rapid since 1776, when the first cotton-mill was erected here. The streets are paved and lighted with gas, and there is an abundant supply of good water. The staple trade is in cotton-spinning, but it, and the cloth trade, once predominant, have declined. Large quantities of firebricks are manufactured. The population of the borough is probably nearly 27,000. It contains a townhall, lock-up, savings-bank, news-room, and two commercial branch banks. The Huddersfield canal passes in the vicinity. There are five churches in the borough, St. Paul's, St. John's, Dukinfield, St. George's, Holy Trinity, and the old chapel of the place, St. George Cockerhill. Market day is Saturday. A fair is held on 5th March."

Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868

HURST, Lancashire Historical Description

Hurst, a populous village and an ecclesiastical parish in Ashton-under-Lyne parish, Lancashire.

The village lies in the Hartshead division of the parish, is under the Local Government Act, and is governed by a local board. The local board district also comprises the villages of Higher Hurst, Hurst Nook, and Hurst Brook. Higher Hurst village stands near the L. & Y. R. station of Ashton-under-Lyne, about half a mile N of that town, is a populous place, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Ashton-under-Lyne.

The staple trade is cotton spinning and collieries.

The infantry and cavalry barracks, erected in 1843 at a cost of £42, 500, are a short distance to the E.

The ecclesiastical parish was constituted in 1846. Population, 6071. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Manchester; gross value, £300 with residence. Patron, alternately the Crown and the Bishop. The church was built in 1849, and enlarged in 1862. There are Primitive and New Connexion Methodist chapels, and a police station

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

©Antony Lambert