St Mary, High Crompton,Lancashire Genealogy

Parish History
High Crompton St Mary is an ecclesiastical parish founded in 1872 within the Rochdale deanery of the Diocese of Manchester. The church was one of three parishes in the Crompton/Shaw township.

About 620AD the Saxon King of Northumbria sent an army to conquer Mercia. As they marched they founded a string of villages (“tons”)-Royton,Ashton etc-Crompton was one of these.”Crom,crumb” is Anglo –Saxon for crooked and describes the local topography. Shaw derives from “sceaga”, Anglo-Saxon for a wood.

After the Norman conquest, the area was given to Roger de Picaventis, maternal nephew of William the Conqueror. By the 13th Century, the De la Legh family (more Normans) had acquired the land. This family changed its name to de Crompton.

Until the Industrial Revolution the area was sparsely populated and consisted of woods, moors and bogs. The local economy depended on sheep for woollen manufacture with small coal pits for fuel and stone quarries for building materials. To encourage wool production a law existed between 1675 and 1816 requiring all bodies to be buried in woollen garments.

Shaw and Crompton grew in 19th Century to be a major centre of cotton spinning and textile manufacture. In its heyday there were more than 48 mills .By 1871 the population was 7032, growing to 14750 by 1921 Shaw and Crompton are situated on the Lancashire Yorkshire border, Currently the locals refer to the area as Shaw in contrast to former times when it was generally known as Crompton. At one time going to Shaw was synonymous with going to church as there was not much else there.

Church Records
Parish registers for St. Mary's Church, High Crompton, 1878-1950 Microfilm of original records at the Manchester Archives Central Library in Manchester, England. Crompton is a township in Prestwich parish. The church is located in High Crompton, one of three villages in Crompton township.Manchester Archives Central Library call no.: L275.

Census Records
http://www.1881pubs.com/ for details of public houses in the 1881 census

Maps and Gazetteers
England Jurisdictions 1851 has earlier parishes for Shaw and Crompton preceding the formation of the parish.

Web Sites
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53008 British History online Crompton