In the early 1800's, it was becoming evident that the rapid growth of towns, a consequence of the Industrial Revolution, was fast outrunning the provision of church buildings. Accordingly, in 1818 the Church Building Society was founded with large subscriptions from the King and others. The largest gift was that of £1,000,000 by the government as a thanksgiving for the victory at Waterloo, followed by another's 1/2 million pounds on 1824. An ambitious programme of church building was set in motion, and one of the beneficiaries was the village of Tildesley (as it was then known) in the parish of Leigh.
Unlike neighbouring Astley, Chowbent, Tildesley had no church building of its own. Sensitive to the needs of the village, the Church Commisioners promised £17,000 to build a church and Thomas Johnson, the owner of the Banks Estate, gave a plot of land on which to build it. The foundation stone was laid on St.George's Day 1822, and the building itself was completed two and a half years later, in November 1824. It was built to the designs of Sir Robert Smirke R.A. In the early pointed style, once popular in the eleventh century.
(excerpt taken from The Parish Church of St George Tyldesley - A Brief History -)