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Ashton-under-Lyne (pop. 43,200) is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population had increased to 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manchester. Evidence of Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Viking activity has been discovered in Ashton-under-Lyne. The "Ashton" part of the town's name probably dates from the Anglo-Saxon period, and derives from Old English meaning "settlement by ash trees". The origin of the "under-Lyne" suffix is less clear;〔 it possibly derives from the British ''lemo'' meaning elm or from Ashton's proximity to the Pennines.〔 In the Middle Ages, Ashton-under-Lyne was a parish and township and Ashton Old Hall was held by the de Asshetons, lords of the manor. Granted a Royal Charter in 1414, the manor spanned a rural area consisting of marshland, moorland, and a number of villages and hamlets. Until the introduction of the cotton trade in 1769, Ashton was considered "bare, wet, and almost worthless".〔Wilson (1870–1872).〕 The factory system, and textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution triggered a process of unplanned urbanisation in the area, and by the mid-19th century Ashton had emerged as an important mill town at a convergence of newly constructed canals and railways. Ashton-under-Lyne's transport network allowed for an economic boom in cotton spinning, weaving, and coal mining, which led to the granting of municipal borough status in 1847. In the mid-20th century, imports of cheaper foreign goods led to the decline of Ashton's heavy industries but the town has continued to thrive as a centre of commerce and Ashton Market is one of the largest outdoor markets in the United Kingdom. The , two-floored Ashton Arcades shopping centre opened in 1995 and an IKEA store in 2006. ==History== Evidence of prehistoric activity in the area comes from Ashton Moss – a peat bog – and is the only one of Tameside's 22 Mesolithic sites not located in the hilly uplands in the north east of the borough. A single Mesolithic flint tool has been discovered in the bog,〔Nevell (1992), p. 25.〕〔Nevell (1992), p. 11.〕 along with a collection of nine Neolithic flints.〔Nevell (1992), p. 30.〕 There was further activity in or around the bog in the Bronze Age. In about 1911, an adult male skull was found in the moss; it was thought to belong to the Romano-British period – similar to the Lindow Man bog body – until radiocarbon dating revealed that it dated from 1,320–970 BC.〔Nevell (1992), p. 71.〕〔Hodgson & Brennand (2004), p. 44.〕 The eastern terminus of the early medieval linear earthwork Nico Ditch is in Ashton Moss (); it was probably used as an administrative boundary and dates from the 8th or 9th century. Legend claims it was built in a single night in 869 or 870 as a defence against Viking invaders.〔Nevell and Walker (1998), pp. 40–41.〕〔Nevell (1992), pp. 77–83.〕 Further evidence of Dark Age activity in the area comes from the town's name. The "Ashton" part probably derives from the Anglo-Saxon meaning "settlement by ash trees",〔Nevell (1997), p. 32.〕 the origin of the "under-Lyne" element is less clear: it could derive from the British ''lemo'' meaning elm, or may refer to Ashton being "under the line" of the Pennines.〔Lewis (1848) pp. 90–96.〕〔 This means that Ashton probably became a settlement some time after the Romans left Britain in the 5th century.〔Nevell (1992), pp. 84–85.〕 An early form of the town's name, which included a ''burh'' element, indicates that in the 11th century Ashton and Bury were two of the most important towns in Lancashire.〔Nevell (1992), p. 88.〕 The "under Lyne" suffix was not widely used until the mid-19th century when it became useful for distinguishing the town from other places called Ashton. The ''Domesday Survey'' of 1086 does not directly mention Ashton, perhaps because only a partial survey of the area had been taken.〔Nevell (1991), p. 17.〕〔Redhead, Norman, in: Hartwell, Hyde and Pevsner (2004), p. 18.〕 However, it is thought that St Michael's Church, mentioned in the Domesday entry for the ancient parish of Manchester, was in Ashton. The town itself was first mentioned in the 12th century when the manor was part of the barony of Manchester.〔 By the late 12th century, a family who adopted the name Assheton held the manor on behalf of the Gresleys, barons of Manchester.〔Nevell and Walker (1998), p. 47.〕 Ashton Old Hall was a manor house, the administrative centre of the manor, and the seat of the Assheton family.〔Nevell and Walker (1998), p. 54.〕 With three wings, the hall was "one of the finest great houses in the North West" of the 14th century.〔 It has been recognised as important for being one of the few great houses in south-east Lancashire and possibly one of the few halls influenced by French design in the country.〔 The town was granted a Royal Charter in 1414, which allowed it to hold a fair twice a year, and a market on every Monday,〔Nevell (1991), p. 60.〕 making the settlement a market town.〔Nevell (1993), p. 146.〕 According to popular tradition, Sir Ralph de Assheton, who was lord of the manor in the mid-14th century and known as the Black Knight, was an unpopular and cruel feudal lord. After his death, his unpopularity led the locals to parade an effigy of him around the town each Easter Monday and collect money.〔Griffith (1898), p. 380.〕 Afterwards the effigy would be hung up, shot, and set on fire, before being torn apart and thrown into the crowd.〔Griffith (1898), p. 381.〕 The first recorded occurrence of the event was in 1795, although the tradition may be older; it continued into the 1830s.〔Griffith (1898), pp. 379, 382.〕 The manor remained in the possession of the Assheton family until 1514 when its male line terminated. The lordship of the manor passed to Sir George Booth devolving through the Booth family until the Earls of Stamford inherited it through marriage in 1758. The Booth-Greys then held the manor until the 19th century,〔Nevell and Walker (1998), p. 48.〕 whose patronage, despite being absentee lords, was probably the stimulus for Ashton's growth of a large-scale domestic-based textile industry in the 17th century.〔McNeil & Nevell (2000), p. 54.〕 Pre-industrial Ashton was centred on four roads: Town Street, Crickets Lane, Old Street, and Cowhill Lane. In the late-18th and early-19th centuries, the town was re-planned, with a grid pattern of roads. As a result, very little remains of the previous town.〔 In 1730 a workhouse was established which consisted of a house and two cottages; it later came to be used as a hospital.〔Burke and Nevell (1996), p. 123.〕 The Ashton Canal was constructed in the 1790s to transport coal from the area to Manchester, with a branch to the coal pits at Fairbottom.〔Nevell (1993), p. 99.〕 Domestic fustian and woollen weaving have a long history in the town, dating back to at least the Early Modern period. Accounts dated 1626 highlight that Humphrey Chetham had dealings with clothworkers in Ashton.〔Frangopulo (1977), p. 25.〕 However, the introduction of the factory system in the 19th century, during the Industrial Revolution, changed Ashton from a market town to a mill town. Having previously been one of the two main towns in the Tame Valley, Ashton-under-Lyne became one of the "most famous mill towns in the North West".〔McNiel and Nevell (2005), p. 54.〕 On Christmas Day 1826, workers in the town formed the Ashton Unity, a sickness and benefits society that was later renamed the ''Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds''. From 1773 to 1905, 75 cotton mills were established in the town. On his tour of northern England in 1849, Scottish publisher Angus Reach said: The cotton industry in the area grew rapidly from the start of the 19th century until the Lancashire Cotton Famine of 1861–1865.〔Nevell (1993), p. 35.〕 The growth of the town's textile industry led to the construction of estates specifically for workers. Workers' housing in Park Bridge, on the border between Ashton and Oldham, was created in the 1820s.〔Nevell and Walker (1999), p. 49.〕 The iron works were founded in 1786 and were some of the earliest in the north west.〔Nevell and Roberts (2003), pp. 19, 22, 31–32.〕 The Oxford Mills settlement was founded in 1845 by local industrialist and mill-owner Hugh Mason〔Nevell (1993), p. 151.〕 who saw it as a model industrial community.〔 The community was provided with a recreational ground, a gymnasium, and an institute containing public baths, a library, and a reading room.〔Nevell (1993), p. 152.〕 Mason estimated that establishing the settlement cost him around £10,000 and would require a further £1,000 a year to maintain (about £600,000 and £60,000 respectively as of ), and that its annual mortality rate was significantly lower than in the rest of the town.〔Nevell (1994), pp. 44–45.〕 A poor supply of fresh water and dwellings without adequate drainage led to a cholera outbreak in the town in 1832.〔Nevell (1993), p. 132.〕 The Ashton Poor Law Union was established in 1837 and covered most of what is now Tameside. A new workhouse was built in 1850 which provided housing for 500 people. It later became part of Tameside General Hospital.〔 Construction on the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway (SA&MR) began in 1837 to provide passenger transport between Manchester and Sheffield. Although a nine-arch viaduct in Ashton collapsed in April 1845, the line was fully opened on 22 December 1845. The SA&MR was amalgamated with the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway, the Great Grimsby & Sheffield Railway, and the Grimsby Docks Company in 1847 to form the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR).〔Nevell (1993), p. 127.〕 In 1890, the MS&LR bought the Old Hall and demolished it to make way for the construction of new sidings.〔 In the late 19th century, public buildings such as the market hall, town hall, public library and public baths were built.〔 A donation from Hugh Mason funded the construction of the baths constructed in 1870–1871.〔Nevell (1993), p 23.〕 The Ashton-under-Lyne Improvement Act was passed in 1886 which gave the borough influence over housing and allowed the imposition of minimum standards such as drainage.〔Nevell (1993), pp. 149–151.〕 Coal mining not as important to the town as the textile industry, but in 1882 the Ashton Moss Colliery had the deepest mine shaft in the world at .〔 Ashton's textile industry remained constant between 1865 and the 1920s. Although some mills closed or merged, the number of spindles in use increased.〔〔Nevell (1993), p. 37.〕 With the collapse of the overseas market in the 1920s, the town's cotton industry went into decline, and by the 1930s most of the firms and mills in the area had closed.〔 Ashton became a part of the newly formed Metropolitan Borough of Tameside in 1974.〔Nevell (1993), p. iii.〕 In May 2004, a massive fire ravaged the Victorian market hall, and a temporary building called "The Phoenix Market Hall" was built on Old Cross Street on the opposite side of the Old Market hall. Described as the "heart of Ashton", the market was rebuilt and officially opened on 1 December 2008. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ashton-under-Lyne」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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