Gastrell noted, citing a 1722 certificate: 'Here is 16li. left towards a School in Sale and Ashton [the two townships within the parish], 2 parts to Sale and 1 to Ashton. [The] Int[erest] goes for teaching 2 children belong[ing] to Sale, and one to Ashton, paid by [the] Trustees, Mr Siddall and [Mr] Williamson', Gastrell, Notitia Cestrienses, I, 312. D. Robson, Some Aspects of Education in Cheshire in the Eighteenth Century, Chetham Soc., 3rd. ser., vol. 13 (1966), gives date of foundation 1667.