Astley

History

Astley is of Old English derivation, and means "East Leigh", a reference to its position in relation to Leigh. Leigh is derived from leah, meaning a "wood", a "clearing" or a "meadow". The earliest written record of Astley was in documents dated 1210 when it appeared as the Middle English Asteleghe. Other archaic spellings include Asteleye (1292) and Astlegh (14th and 15th centuries). Evidence for the presence of Anglo-Saxons in the sparsely populated, heavily wooded and isolated region is provided by place names incorporating the Old English suffix leah, such as in Leigh, Tyldesley, Shakerley and Astley. Astley emerged during the Early Middle Ages as a township in the parish of Leigh. It was mentioned in documents in 1210, when Hugh of Tyldesley, Lord of the Manors of Tyldesley and Astley, granted land to Cockersand Abbey. In 1212, he was recorded as tenant of Astley Hall, the manor house for both Astley and Tyldesley, located just inside the Tyldesley township. After his death, his son Henry inherited the manors. He was succeeded by his son, another Henry, who, when he died in 1301, divided the lands between three of his six sons. It is from this division that the manors of Astley and Tyldesley were separated. Tyldesleys lived at the Astley manor until April 1353 when Richard Radcliff bought it for 100 marks. The Radcliffs remained there until 1561 when William Radcliff died childless and the land passed to his half-sister Anne, who married Gilbert Gerard. In 1606 Adam Mort bought the manor house and land in Astley. He was a wealthy man who built the first Astley Chapel as a chapel of ease for the parish church in Leigh. The chapel was consecrated in 1631, the year that he died. He built a grammar school that stood for over 200 years until 1833, when it was…

Geography

At (53.5008°, −2.4454°), and northwest of central London, Astley is on the northern side of the Chat Moss bog, about above sea level. It forms a continuous urban area with Tyldesley to the north, Astley is west-northwest of Manchester city centre, and north of the Bridgewater Canal, which straddles the village's southern hinterland from east-to-west. Astley Moss is crossed by the Astley Brook and Moss Brook, tributaries to the Glaze Brook and the River Mersey. The underlying geology consists of the Permo-Triassic New Red Sandstone in the south, and the Middle Coal Measures of the Manchester Coalfield to the north. The upper soils are a mixture of clay and sand, with a subsoil of clay. The isolated hamlet of terraced houses at Gin Pit was built by the Astley and Tyldesley Collieries Company. Peace Street, Lord Street and Maden Street were named after directors of the company.

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  23,753
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  22,962
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  21,384
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20,941
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,880
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  18,672
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  16,751
• European Goldfinch

  Carduelis carduelis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15,726

Most recent

• M 3.4 — 2025-12-03
  0 km ESE of Carnforth, United Kingdom
• M 2.7 — 2023-06-28
  2 km SE of Cheadle, United Kingdom
• M 3.6 — 2022-05-30
  2 km ESE of Prees, United Kingdom
• M 2.6 — 2014-10-28
  2 km NNE of Hucknall, United Kingdom
• M 3.2 — 2013-08-25
  23 km W of Cleveleys, United Kingdom
• M 3.6 — 2011-01-03
  5 km S of Masham, United Kingdom