TONGE
Tonge, 1392, usual; Tong, 1482.
This township occupies, as its name implies, a
tongue of land between the Irk on the north and its
affluent, the Wince Brook, on the south. The area
is 392 acres. The surface is mostly above the 300 ft.
level—360 ft. is reached at Mills Hill (fn. 1) —sloping down
to the streams named. The population in 1901 was
included with Middleton. (fn. 2)
The principal roads are those branching out from
Middleton, to the east to Oldham and to the southeast to Hollinwood and Failsworth. Dwelling-houses
have spread out along these roads, so that the township has long been a suburb of Middleton, to which
borough it was added for local government purposes
in 1861. (fn. 3) In 1894 Tonge lost its status as a township
or civil parish, and became completely merged in
Middleton. (fn. 3a)
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company's
line from Manchester to Rochdale passes through
the eastern side, with a branch to Middleton, opened
in 1857. From this the part of Tonge called Middleton Junction takes its name, though the junction itself
is in Chadderton. Middleton station is in Tonge.
A light railway is laid along the road from Middleton
to Oldham. The Manchester and Rochdale canal
touches the eastern border.
In this township there were only fifteen hearths
liable to the tax in 1666; no house had more than
two. (fn. 4)
Manor
Originally TONGE seems to have been
a part of Alkrington, and is not called
a manor. It was, therefore, part of the
Prestwich lands, and does not come into notice for
some time after these lands had descended to the
Langleys of Agecroft. In 1390 a Henry de Alkrington
died, holding of the king by knight's service two messuages and certain lands in Alkrington called Tonge. (fn. 5)
From the inquisition and subsequent pleadings it
appears that Henry was descended from Thomas the
son of Adam de Prestwich, whose daughters and
heirs left no legitimate offspring. (fn. 6) It would appear
that Thomas had a natural son named Henry
for whom he made provision by granting this outlying part of his manor of Alkrington. Henry's son
Henry died, as stated, in 1390, leaving a son Henry,
only eighteen months old. (fn. 7) He proved his age in
1412, and had livery of his lands; (fn. 8) afterwards he
took Tonge as his surname, and his descendants continued in possession until the 18th century.
Henry de Tonge in 1437–8 laid claim to the
Prestwich inheritance, but illegitimacy was asserted
as a defence. (fn. 9) He died before 1470, when his son
Richard had to claim his inheritance against Thomas
Langley of Agecroft, who had expelled him. (fn. 10) The
suit was still proceeding in 1482, when John Langley
and Richard Tonge stated their claims. (fn. 11) In 1498
Richard assigned a portion of his lands in Tonge to
feoffees in view of the marriage of his son Thomas
with Margaret daughter of Thomas Newton; he died
two years afterwards, holding various lands of the
king as Duke of Lancaster, by knight's service. His
son and heir Thomas was then eighteen years of age. (fn. 12)
Thomas duly proved his age in 1504. (fn. 13) Three
years later it was awarded that Robert Langley and
his tenants in Alkrington should enjoy common of
pasture in Tonge Moor, but turbary was denied except to certain tenants named. (fn. 14) In 1527 Thomas
Tonge granted to Robert Langley a part of the moor,
with common of pasture, turbary and marl. (fn. 15) The
next of the family known is John Tonge, the son of
Thomas, who died in 1551, holding various lands in
Tonge of the king by the hundredth part of a knight's fee;
Richard his son and heir was
only two years of age. (fn. 16)
Richard died at the end of
1568, being still in wardship; he left a son Christopher, two years of age, about
whose legitimacy there was
some doubt, and apart from
whom the heirs were Richard's sisters Ellen, Jane, and
Dorothy, aged twenty-one,
nineteen, and nineteen years. (fn. 17)
Tonge. Azure a bend between two cotises argent and six martlets or.
Christopher's right must have been established, for
he held possession of the estates in Prestwich, Middleton, Tonge, and Alkrington. (fn. 18) In 1590 he made
provision for the jointure of Jane daughter of William
Bamford, whom he married. He died 10 February
1600–1, and was buried at Middleton. Richard the
son and heir was not quite three years old. (fn. 19) In
1631 he paid £10 after refusing knighthood. (fn. 20) From
this time little can be said of the family, except the
details in the pedigree; (fn. 21) its members do not appear
to have taken any conspicuous part in the Civil War
or the Revolution. Richard Tonge, who died in
1713, bequeathed his newly-purchased lands in Hopwood to his elder son Jonathan, subject to an annuity
of £20 a year to his wife Alice, and a sum of £500
to his younger son Thomas, then a minor. (fn. 22) In spite
of this bequest he appears to have died insolvent, and
the executors refusing to act, administration of his
estate was granted to creditors. By his second
wife he left two sons, Jonathan and Thomas, of
whom the latter had issue. The son Jonathan
in 1725 demised his estate to his brother Thomas,
with instructions to sell it. (fn. 23) In the following year it
was purchased by John Starky of Heywood, (fn. 24) whose
grandson James Starky in 1846 left it to his relatives, Mrs. Hornby of St. Michael's, and Joseph
Langton of Liverpool. (fn. 25) The trustees of the late
Charles Langton are stated to be the present lords
of the manor and chief landowners.
Tonge Hall passed through several hands. About
1890 it was purchased by Mr. Asheton Tonge of
Alderley, stated to be a descendant of the old family. (fn. 26)
The hall, a picturesque fragment of a black and
white timber and plaster house standing on a low
stone base, is now completely dismantled, and in a
sad state of decay and dilapidation. The house was
originally of much greater extent, and a drawing of
the building as it was about 1845 (fn. 27) shows that the
whole of the west end, including a projecting porch
and gable in front of the present brick-faced portion
of the principal elevation, has been destroyed.
The house is situated on high ground above the
valley of the Irk, facing north, and overlooking the
town of Middleton. It was probably erected in the
latter part of the 16th century, and is an interesting
specimen of the timber architecture of the county.
What remains consists of the central and eastern
wings, two stories in height, which preserve their
original timber and plaster construction on the north
and east sides. The south and west sides have been
rebuilt in brick. The exterior timber-work consists
of roughly-shaped beams and posts with a filling-in of
square quatrefoil panels. The continuous repetition
of the quatrefoils, broken only by the shallow plaster
coves which mark the lines of the first floor and
eaves, gives a somewhat rich and ornamental appearance to the building, though the detail is poor. The
oak pegs are left projecting about an inch all round
the panels, and form a characteristic feature of the
building, which, however, has a very dilapidated
appearance, the gables being without barge boards,
the windows without glass, and portions of the front
of the house boarded up. In other parts the walls
are broken through, and open for anyone to enter.
The west end of the principal or north elevation has
been refaced in brick in front where the porch originally stood, and there is some brick patching in other
parts of the front of the house. The roofs are
covered with grey stone slates, and the chimney shafts
are of brick set diagonally on a square base.
Plan of Tonge Hall
The interior is in an even worse state than
the outside, and very little of interest remains.
The principal apartment, or great hall, which is paved
with stone flags, occupies the whole of the west (or
what was the centre) wing, but has been divided in
later times unequally across its length by a partition.
It measures about 27 ft. in length and 21 ft. in width,
and had a large bay window 9 ft. square at the north-east
end. The position of the screens seems to be indicated
by the present passage at the west end of the room,
which is now separated from it by a brick wall. The
usual arrangement of the great hall was, however,
probably not strictly adhered to. The fireplace is at
the west end, in the position of the screen, and blocking up any way to the passage, except on the north
side. The ceiling is crossed by four massive beams.
When the building was occupied as a farmhouse the
part of the hall on the south side of the partition
was used as a kitchen, and modern windows and a
door were inserted in the south wall. The bay
window with the portion of the great hall on the
north side of the partition is now a separate apartment. The east wing contains a square staircase,
with solid oak steps, and seems to have had originally
two rooms, one on each side of a central chimney.
One of these rooms, however, has again been divided,
and a small apartment, measuring about 12 ft. by 11 ft.,
formed. This parlour, which has a window on the
east side, is panelled all round with 18th-century
wainscot, and has had a picture over the fireplace, half
of which still remains. In the room at the back
there is still a good 17th-century oak table. There
are five rooms on the first floor, but they offer no
points of interest, and there is a cellar under the front
portion of the east wing. There was apparently a restoration or alteration of the house
in 1703, that date, with the initials R T A
(Richard Tonge and Alice his wife) being on
three lead spout-heads in different parts of the
building. The initials r. t. were also on a
latch-plate in one of the barns, and in yellow
stain on one of the leaded quarries of the windows. The house was tenanted by a farmer
for some years previous to 1890; since then it
has been unoccupied, and allowed to decay.
During its occupancy as a farm modern windows were inserted on the south and east sides,
and a new brick porch built at the south-east
corner. The owner recently offered it as a
gift to the town of Middleton for use as a
museum, but the offer was not accepted. (fn. 28)
The inquisitions show that the Radcliffes of Smithills
held land in Tonge of the king, but no details are
given. (fn. 29) About 1400 William del Dam and Margery
his wife had lands in Tonge. (fn. 30) Richard Assheton of
Middleton died in 1618, holding land in Tonge of
the king by knight's service, as part of the manor of
Middleton. (fn. 31)
Several places of worship have during the last
century been erected in Tonge. In connexion
with the Established religion St. Michael's, in the
west, was built in 1839, and rebuilt in 1902; the
rector of Prestwich is patron; and St. Gabriel's,
Middleton Junction, was built in 1885, the Bishop
of Manchester collating. In connexion with the
former is the iron mission church of the Holy Innocents.