We are an award winning independent restaurant opened by Chef Mandie and her partner Rich in 2017. Simply put, we look to provide a cosy and friendly restaurant serving excellent, freshly prepared dishes using local produce and suppliers.
Mandie began her career as a chef in 1993 and was classically trained in the French tradition and has previously worked in some of Manchester and Cheshire’s finest restaurants. She specialises in fish, seafood and cuisine from all around the Mediterranean Basin, Moroccan tagines and Greek kleftikos appear regularly on our specials boards alongside Spanish and French favourites.
Our logo features our take on the indalo, a prehistoric ‘old cross’ and thought to be a magical symbol, found painted in Andalusian caves by the Iberian people at least as far back as 4500 years ago. The indalo is said to represent a man dancing with a rainbow and is considered locally to be a charm to protect from evil.
Why Old Cross? This building is one of the oldest surviving structures in Ashton-under-Lyne and although the address for the Old Cross Tapas & Grill is 77 Penny Meadow, our front door opens onto Old Cross Street, an ancient thoroughfare leading directly to Ashton’s old heart; the original medieval market place, now called St Michaels Square.
The market ground featured a succession of market crosses for hundreds of years, the last of which, dated 1798, was relocated and now stands in Stamford Park. The exact spot the cross stood has a stone plaque set into the road at the junction of Old Street and Old Cross Street.
The Old Cross
Above: Ashton's last market cross, which stood at the bottom of Old Cross Street at the junction of Cross Street and Crickets lane, in what was Ashton's ancient market place, now called St Michael's Square. It was possibly relocated to what would become Stamford Park (est. 1873), when the 'new' market opened in front of the Town Hall in 1829. The inscription reads: "Erected by Thomas Walker, Jack Knight, Robert Lees, Constables, 1798”.
The exact spot where the cross stood in the northern corner of St Michael's Square, is marked by a flat inscribed stone laid the road, as can be seen in the photo above. "Site of old cross" is inscribed on the stone. A cross stood at that spot since at least 1413, when Ashton was issued a royal charter granting market rights by the second monarch of the House of Lancaster, Henry V (aka Henry Monmouth), which made it officially a 'market town’, allowing it to hold two fairs each year and a market every Monday. However, some historians are convinced there was an earlier charter granted as early as 1284, by Edward I (aka Edward Longshanks).
A replica cross in St Michael's Square stands on a roundabout, close to the plaque in the middle of Cross Street. It reads 'Replica of the OLD CROSS erected 1723 in St Michael's Square. The original of which is sited in Stamford Park". My best guess is the original, now in Stamford Park, was erected in 1723 (to replace earlier crosses that had stood in the same place for centuries) in St Michael's Square. It was moved to the area that is now Stamford Park and re-erected in 1798.
It's heartening that when I visited it to take its photo, the replica had been dressed with the traditional British traffic cone. Some ancient customs are thankfully never forgotten.
Please phone Mob: 07841 434662 to book a table. Or, for any other enquiries, use our contact form here: