History

The History and Heritage of St Michael's

Welcome to our church. We would like to show you around and tell you a little bit about its history


St. Michael's is an open, inclusive church in which all are welcome to join our pilgrim journey in the Way. It is a place of worship and prayer, of care and community. We are glad you are here and hope that you enjoy your visit  


Until the early twentieth century Ashton, including Lea and Ingol, was served by one church – St Andrew’s. Canon Wiseman, the Vicar, appreciated the need to serve the growing population in the southern part of the parish and initiated the building of a new church at the junction of Egerton Road and Tulketh Road with a school and hall further down Tulketh Road.


The parish of St Michael and All Angels was created from the parish of St Andrew (1836) in 1929, the church being built between 1908 and 1915, replacing a mission church established in 1883. The church was built on the very edge of the parish between a leafy, middle class suburb and the terraced housing surrounding Preston Dock. Socially the parish was unusually mixed and retains this character to the present day. ln 1993 the parish was united with the parish of St Mark, Preston. The altar and other items from St Mark‘s church were brought to St Michaels and installed in the Lady chapel which was re-dedicated to St Mark on St Mark‘s Day in 2001. St Mark‘s church has since been re-developed into housing. Ashton on Ribble is a leafy suburb on the west of the city of Preston. It is relatively prosperous with houses ranging from small terraced properties to large Victorian and Edwardian houses and incorporating the redeveloped Docks area. The St Mark‘s area of the parish, in contrast, is urban, developed from the1850‘s with terraced housing and industrial sites. Within the parish is part of the University of Central Lancashire (UClan), one of the largest campuses in the UK. Consequently much of the terraced housing is rented property
Hubert J. Austin

Building St Michaels


The church was designed by the Hubert J. Austin and Harry Paley of Lancaster.



The First Tablet is dedicated to Canon Wiseman who helped found the building in 1906


The foundation stone, which can be seen from the car park at the east side of the church, was laid in 1906 and the first part of the building was consecrated on 2 July 1908. Seven years later the west end of the nave was finished and dedicated in July 1915. 


Rumour has it that St Michael’s would have been a candidate to become Preston Cathedral if the newly-formed diocese had been based in Preston rather than Blackburn.

The Church itself

Look out for the carving of St Michael on the church porch as you walk in


The main entrance was remodelled as part of the re-ordering in 2007-08 when the pews were removed, disabled access was improved and modern, portable church furniture was installed to create a flexible space for church and community use. 

The font is used regularly for services of baptism or christening.

It has a high nave with clerestory windows and bold timber roofing and octagonal columns separating the aisles from the nave.


and look out for the carved angels

The oak pulpit was given in memory of Mrs Eliza Birley in 1913. Mrs Birley, wife of William Birley, cotton manufacturer, lived at the Larches and was the greatest benefactor of our church. The carvings depict the Northumbrian saints: Oswald, Aidan, Cuthbert and Chad

The marble reredos (decorated screen) behind the altar obscures the lower part of the east window. It was given by Mrs Eliza Birley in 1912. 

The organ was built by Henry Ainscough of Preston in 1934. 


The east window, designed and made by H J Stammers of Buckinghamshire, has the central theme of the Holy Trinity and is dominated by the figure of Christ in Majesty. It was dedicated on 30 June 1968. 

The Lady Chapel was renamed St Mark’s Chapel when the parishes were combined.

Enter the side chapel through an oak screen in the south transept, erected in 1924 in memory of the 57 men of the parish who lost their lives in the 1914-1918 War.

The window above the altar is in memory of Jane, wife of Alderman John Ormrod of Preston, who lived on Egerton Road and died in 1919. It depicts the caring and supporting role of mothers – St Anne and Mary, Mary and Jesus, St Elizabeth and John the Baptist and Hannah and Samuel, with symbols of peace, purity, hope and charity and the coat of arms of the diocese of Manchester. 



On the south wall are two other memorial windows: one for Stephen Ward, who died in 1918, showing St Alban, St Michael and St George and the other for John Gardner (died 1912) and Eliza his wife (died 1916). This depicts Faith, Hope and Charity. 


The banner embroidered with the names of the fallen of both parishes was created by Susan Salt in 2018 to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War.


If you look carefully you will see the name of one servicewoman. Wren Marie Breakell was killed when the troopship she was sailing on from Mombasa to Colombo was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1943. You can read more about her on our A Church Near You website.


The war memorials from St Mark’s church, Preston were installed in 1992 when the two parishes were combined. 


The oak reredos behind the altar in the chapel was erected in 1953 in memory of the 27 people of the parish who died in the Second World War.


In the south aisle of the nave is a window to the memory of Alderman John Ormrod JP who died in 1929. It portrays St Peter, St Paul and St Barnabas. 


We thank Meg Davies, Mike Darwell, Ben Jenkins and Richard Shepherd for permission to use their photographs.


You can read more about the history of our church and parish in

St Michael and All Angels – a history by Dr Alan Crosby (revised 2017) price £2.50


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