It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Ashton-under-Lyne, the archdeaconry of Rochdale and the diocese of Manchester.

[3] Since 1776 there has been a chapel of ease dedicated to Saint George on the north bank of the River Tame overlooking its main crossing point.

In 1835 the incumbent approached Lord Stamford, the patron of the living, to provide land for a new church on a different site.

[4] The foundation stone was laid on 3 September 1838, the same day as the foundation stone for Sharpe's St John's Church at Dukinfield, by Lord Viscount Combermere, a former Grand Master of the local Masonic Lodge.

The west gallery was not removed until 1976 when the interior of the church was divided by a brick wall.

Its plan consists of a seven-bay nave with north and south aisles under one roof, a small single-bay chancel and a west tower.