Birch, or Birch-St-Mary, an ecclesiastical parish formed from Bury and Middleton parishes, Lancashire, near the L. & Y.R., 2 miles WNW of Middleton. It was constituted in 1842, includes the township of Hopwood, and has a post and money order office under Heywood; telegraph office, Hopwood. Population, 4882. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Manchester; gross value, £200 with residence. Patron, the Rector of Middleton. The church is a Gothic structure, built in 1828 at a cost of £4000. There is a working-men's club, founded 1890.
