Audenshaw, Tameside, England, United Kingdom

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Audenshaw is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, 4.9 miles (7.9 km) east of Manchester. Historically part of Lancashire.

The name derives from Aldwin, a Saxon personal name, and the Old English suffix shagh meaning "Woodland". Nico Ditch, an early-medieval linear earthwork possibly built as a defensive barrier against Vikings, runs through the area. Medieval Audenshaw was a division of the township of Ashton in the county of Lancashire. Audenshaw expanded as a centre for textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian era with inhabitants employed in hat-making, cotton-spinning, calico-printing, and silk-weaving. In 1974, Audenshaw Urban District became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside.

History Nico Ditch, a medieval linear earthwork, runs through the area. Stretching 6 miles (9.7 km) from Ashton Moss in the east to just east of Stretford in the west, the origin of the ditch is unclear. According to legend, it was completed in a single night by the inhabitants of Manchester, as a protection against Viking invaders in 869–870, and that it was the site of a bloody battle between Saxons and Danes and that Gorton and Reddish got their name from the battle, "Gore Town" and "Red-Ditch". Despite the legend, the U-shape of the ditch – as opposed to the usual V-shape of military earthworks – and the absence of an associated bank indicates that Nico Ditch was probably a boundary marker. Although it is thought to be earlier, the earliest documented reference to Nico Ditch is in a charter detailing the granting of land in Audenshaw to the monks of the Kersal Cell. In the document, dating from 1190 to 1212, the ditch is referred to as "Mykelldiche", and a magnum fossatum, Latin for "large ditch".

In 1877, part of the original village of Audenshaw was demolished to make way for the three Audenshaw Reservoirs. Also destroyed to allow the construction of the reservoirs was a section of Nico Ditch.

Governance The coat of arms of the former Audenshaw Urban District Council, which was granted by the College of Arms in 1950. The arms are emblematic of Audenshaw's history and geography, incorporating in its design references to industry.

During the Early Middle Ages Audenshaw is supposed to have been a thanage held by Saxons, but following the Norman conquest of England fell within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire, and noted as a division of Ashton, an ancient township and parish within the hundred of Salford. The division of Audenshaw spanned the village of Audenshaw, and the outlying settlements of Danehead, Hooleyhill, Littlemoss, North-street, Walkmill, Waterhouses and Woodhouses. This arrangement persisted until the creation of Audenshaw's first local authority, a local board of health in 1870. Audenshaw Local Board of Health was a regulatory body responsible for standards of hygiene and sanitation in the locality. Under the Local Government Act 1894, the area of the local board became the Audenshaw Urban District, a local government district in the Ashton-under-Lyne Poor Law Union and administrative county of Lancashire. Under the Local Government Act 1972, the Audenshaw Urban District was abolished, and Audenshaw has, since 1 April 1974, formed an unparished area of the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, within the Metropolitan county of Greater Manchester.

Audenshaw is represented in Parliament by the Denton and Reddish constituency. Since its creation in 1983, the constituency has been held by the Labour Party, At 53°28′27.5″N 2°6′44″W (53.4743°, −2.1122°), 160 miles (257 km) north-northwest of central London and 5 miles (8 km) east of Manchester, Audenshaw stands at the head of the Dane valley. Guide Bridge is an area of Audenshaw.

Transport Audenshaw was once served by a mainline railway station. The station closed in 1950. The town is now served by a tram stop on the East Manchester line of the Manchester Metrolink, providing services westbound to Eccles and MediaCityUK and eastbound to Ashton-under-Lyne.

The bus 220 runs between Manchester city centre and Stalybridge, via Openshaw, Audenshaw and Dukinfield. The bus 221 runs between Dukinfield and Manchester city centre, via Audenshaw and Openshaw. The bus 345 runs between Ashton-under-Lyne and Denton, via Dukinfield and Audenshaw. The bus 347 runs between Ashton-under-Lyne and Haughton Green, via Guide Bridge, Audenshaw and Denton.

Economy Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the main occupation in Audenshaw was that of farming. The earliest recorded agriculture in the Tameside area was in Audenshaw in the period 1190–1212. As was the case in neighbouring Denton, in the 19th century most of Audenshaw's residents were occupied in the hatting industry, the manufacture of cotton and silk, and calico printing.

According to the 2001 UK census, the industry of employment Audenshaw's residents aged 16–74 was 20.3% manufacturing, 18.7% retail and wholesale, 10.1% property and business services, 9.0% health and social work, 8.2% construction, 6.8% transport and communications, 6.3% education, 6.2% public administration, 5.2% finance, 3.8% hotels and restaurants, 0.9% energy and water supply, 0.4% agriculture, 0.1% mining, and 4.0% other. Compared with national figures, the town had a relatively high percentage of residents working in manufacturing (14.8% in England).

The census recorded the economic activity of residents aged 16–74, 2.2% students were with jobs, 3.0% students without jobs, 4.7% looking after home or family, 6.5% permanently sick or disabled, and 2.7% economically inactive for other reasons.

Landmarks There are nine Grade II listed buildings in Audenshaw*. These include two lodges which were originally a single barn, a trough and pillar, and St Stephen's Church. The church was constructed in 1846, at a cost of £2,900 (equivalent to £300,000 in 2023) and provided space for a congregation of 750.

Ryecroft Hall, a Grade II listed building, was donated to the people of Audenshaw by the local Member of Parliament, Austin Hopkinson, in 1921.

The war memorial at the entrance to Audenshaw Cemetery is also a Grade II listed building and commemorates the 140 men from Audenshaw who lost their lives in World War I. Standing 15 feet (4.6 m), it features a bronze statue of a soldier standing on top of a square column; the sculptor was Percy George Bentham. There are slabs of black granite on the fours sides of the column with the names of the deceased. Unveiled in 1920 before a 10,000 strong crowd, it cost £1,300 (£60,000 in 2023).

Education There are two nursery schools, five primary schools, and one secondary school in Audenshaw. Opened in 1932 as Audenshaw Grammar School for Boys, Audenshaw School is now the only secondary school in the town. In 2008, the school was the most successful in the borough in terms of proportion of pupils attaining five or more A*–C grades at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) including maths and English (64% in Audenshaw School compared with the average of 41.8% for Tameside and 47.6% for England) and most points per pupil at A-level. It is a specialist technology college. Until 1964, secondary education was also provided by Poplar Street Primary School which was built in 1914, although its primary school still exists.

Sport The Audenshaw Greyhound Racing and Sports Ground existed from the turn of the 20th century, initially as an athletic and coursing ground and then as a trotting track, speedway dirt track and greyhound racing track until 1934. This is not to be confused with the Athletics stadium that existed on the south side of the Manchester Road. Audenshaw is also home to the historic rugby club Aldwinians RUFC, once captain by England's rugby union captain from 1956 to 1958, Eric Evans MBE.