Ashton under Lyne, Lancashire, Poor Law Union

History
The first workhouse was located on Dungeon Street (now Market Street) in Ashton. A parliamentary report of 1777 recorded a parish workhouse in Ashton under Line (sic) with accommodation for up to 64 inmates. A cottage on The Stocks in Tintwistle once served as the parish workhouse. In 1849-50, a new union workhouse was built on a site at Chamber Hills to the north-east of the town, on what is now Fountain Street. It accommodated about 500 inmates and cost around £10,000. The building was constructed of stone from the nearby Barrack quarries Ashton under Lyne Poor Law Union was formed on 3rd February 1837

Parishes
The constituent parishes were: Ashton under Lyne (all parishes) Ashton under Lyne St Michael, Lancashire, Ashton under Lyne Christ Church, Lancashire ,Ashton under Lyne St Peter, Lancashire ,Denton, Lancashire,  Droylsden, Lancashire,  Haughton.

Cheshire: Dukinfield, Cheshire, Godley, Hattersley , Hollingworth,  Matley ,  Mottram in Longendale, Cheshire,   Newton -in Mottram, Cheshire, Stayley  ,  Tintwistle, Cheshire.

Later Additions (all from 1894): Alt, Audenshaw, Lancashire ,   Bardsley, Lancashire, Crossbank , Hartshead , Hurst  ,  Leesfield, Lancashire , Little Moss , Mossley,  Stalybridge, Cheshire, Waterloo , Woodhouses.

Workhouse records
Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre, Central Library, Old Street, Ashton-under-Lyne OL6 7SG. The union's records were pulped during the Second World War with the exception of the Union Constitution (1837) and Guardians' Minutes (1837-1930).

Overseers of the poor accounts, including bastardy, pensioner payments, etc., 1745-1813 Ashton-under-Lyne (Lancashire : Borough) Microfilm of original records at the Astley Cheetham Public Library in Stayleybridge, Cheshire. Contents: item 6. Overseers records, 1745-1760 -- item 7. Overseers records, 1805-1813.

Web Sites
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?AshtonUnderLyne/AshtonUnderLyne.shtml