There has been a church on the top of Sparrow Hill looking down on the River Roch since the 12th Century. The first vicar, Geoffrey, the Dean of Whalley, was appointed in 1194. The building that you see today is much changed from that original structure. Much of it dates back to Saxon times but there have been further revisions. There is an unsuported legend that St. Chad, to whom the church is dedicated, visited Rochdale in 669 or 670.