Ashton-under-Lyne

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 Brittonic-originating word lemo meaning elm or from Ashton's proximity to the Pennines. In the Middle Ages, it was a parish and township and Ashton Old Hall was held by the de Asshetons, lords of the manor. The town became a market town from 1414, when the manor was granted a royal charter.

The introduction of the cotton trade in 1769 transformed Ashton both economically and geographically, with the town being replanned in a grid. 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.