THE rich history of a picturesque village will be celebrated as part of a national heritage festival.

St Anne’s Church, in Turton, and St James Church, in Edgworth, will be marking the national Heritage Open Day by giving visitors a chance step back into the past.

Highlights will include “find your grandma’s wedding”, where visitors can explore the church registers and discover if any of their relatives were married there.

There will also be a chance to view vestments and silverware.

There will also be items from the centenary celebrations of St James, Edgworth, the daughter church of the original parish church. The volumes from the Humphrey Chetham Library, complete with their security chains, have been brought down from Turton Tower to be on on displayed.

It is one of only two of the original chain libraries that were created as part of Chetham’s legacy still in existence. It is a rare chance for visitors to see the chain library in its original setting.

Situated just behind St Anne’s is one of the oldest known football pitches in the world. Turton FC used the ground from the season 1874-75.

There will be displays about the history of the ground and the local clubs that have played there.

The local Barlow Institute has recently completed a project which involved compiling biographies of the over 300 local soldiers who fought in the First World War.

These will be on display alongside the unusual village war memorial which is part of the pulpit.

This was installed in 1919 as a memorial to those of the Parish killed in the Great War. Plaques now list the names of Turton men killed in both World Wars, and the Turton District British Legion flag is laid up nearby.

There will also be an exhibition of the publications of the Turton Historical Society, and presentations and displays by the Friends of Turton Tower.

The pupils of the local Turton and Edgworth C E Methodist Primary School will also be involved.

A spokesman from the organising committee, said: “Heritage Open Days are England’s biggest heritage festival involving 40,000 volunteer and celebrating history, architecture and culture nationwide.

“A small group at St Anne’s Turton with St James Edgworth have worked with the wider community to bring together an event that will celebrate various aspects of both church and village heritage.

“There will be the opportunity to explore the varied aspects of life in and around Turton,situated at the edge of the Manchester Diocese and on the fringe of the West Pennine Moors.”

The event will run from 11 am until 3pm on Saturday, September and 12.00 until 3.00 on Sunday September 11.