of Chester in 1814. The present church dedicated to St John the Baptist was consecrated in 1879. The church, designed by Austin and Paley, is built out of Runcorn stone. It measures and the square tower rises to . The fabric of the church has suffered from mining subsidence. The New Bent or Chowbent Chapel, the earliest Nonconformist chapel in Atherton, was built in 1721 and opened in 1722. The chapel was built by the Presbyterian congregation after it was expelled from the first chapel. A mission occupying a barn in Hindsford was replaced in 1901 by St Anne's Church designed by Austin and Paley. It has since been converted to residential use. St Michael and All Angels at Howe Bridge was built in 1877. There are chapels of the Wesleyan, Baptist, Independent Methodist, and Primitive Methodist denominations; a Congregational Church at Howe Bridge was opened in 1904. Roman Catholics celebrated mass in a loft behind the Star and Garter public house on Tyldesley Square until Sacred Heart Church opened in Hindsford in 1869. The site was given by Lord Lilford and building materials were donated by John Holland, manager of Yew Tree Colliery in Tyldesley. It served the growing Catholic population in Hindsford and Tyldesley. Sacred Heart closed in 2004, and its parish together with St Richard's in Mayfield Street which opened in 1928, Holy Family in Boothstown, St Ambrose Barlow in Astley, St Gabriel's, Higher Folds in Leigh were united as a single community with St Margaret Clitherow as its patron. Sport Swimming baths opened in Mayfield Street in 1902 and a swimming club was formed. The baths closed in 2005 and the Atherton & Leigh Amateur Swimming Club moved to the new Leigh Sports Village facility in 2008. Atherton has two semi-pro football teams, the oldest of which is Atherton Collieries A.F.C., formed in 1916, who play in the Northern Premier League. Others are Atherton Laburnum Rovers F.C., members of the North West Counties Football League and Atherton Town FC. Atherton Cricket Club was formed in 1872 and has played in the Bolton and District Cricket Association since 1921. Public services Atherton is policed by the Greater Manchester Police force from Atherton Police Station, which covers Atherton, Tyldesley, Astley and Mosley Common, and is one of 5 subdivisions within the Wigan division. It is part of the L division, which covers the entirety of Wigan borough. The