It was not until 1714, when the chapel was rebuilt, that we have any record of the actual building. Nothing is known of the building which preceded it, although we know from the Winwick Register Book of 1696-1716 that the chapel was "much out of repair" by the end of the l7th century.

The new chapel was rebuilt on Sir William Gerard's ground and he leased out the chapel yard. The site was conveyed in 1745 and the chapel was consecrated in 1746. The Consecration Deed, now in the Wigan Record Office at Leigh, was written on a large sheet of parchment, nearly three feet wide by two feet six inches deep. It is dated 24 September 1746 and reads:

"IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN, WEHERAS there hath been immemorially (as 'tis said) in this place within the Manor of Ashton in the Parish of Winwick-County of Lancashire and our Diocese of Chester A CHAPEL or Aedifice used as and for a Chapel of 'Ease subject unto and supplied with curates bt the Rector of the Parish church of Winwick aforsaid..........WE SAMUEL by divine permission Bishop of Chester..........do CONSECRATE this Chapel foe a chapel of 'Ease..........by the name of the Chapel of SAINT THOMAS THE APOSTLE in Ashton."

The Chapel had been rebuilt in the form of a cross, with transepts the same size as the chancel and the nave. It continued to serve the people of Ashton until 1782 when it was found to be too small to accommodate the congregation.
On 28 September 1782 a faculty was obtained to enlarge the Chapel. This was done by setting back the East wall twelve feet and erecting a gallery over the alter. The alterations were to be paid for by selling the pews to the members of the congregation "at the best price that can be had."

The minister at this time was Rev. Edward Edwards. Two years later in 1784 he gave land and with the aid of local subscription built the vicarage, complete with stables, cowhouse, coalhouse and schoolroom. The purpose of the schoolroom is not clear. Robert Raikes of Gloucester had started the first Sunday School in 1780 and Mr Edwards may have been following his example. It may have been for the education of his own children. Another possibility is that he may have run a small school to prepare young men for university entrance.

In 1815 the Chapel was again found too small, and at a Vestry meeting held in the Chapel on Thursday 16 February, it was decided to enlarge it on the South-West, North-West and South East corners, and to build a vestry adjoining the South Wall. It was also decided to take down the old West Gallery, and replace it with a new Gallery extending the whole width of the enlarged chapel. In the middle of the new West Gallery, and at the back, a space was to be "elevated and formed into an Orchestra for the singers." The North Gallery was to be extended and joined to the new West Gallery, and the pulpit and reading desk were to be removed and replaced near the South Wall of the Chapel. The same method of paying for the enlargements was authorised and in the Wigan Record Office there is a poster announcing a sermon to be preached on July 21st 1816 by the Rev. James John Hornby. At the foot appeared the note that the pews in Ashton Chapel were to be sold by auction at the Gerrard Arms Inn on Monday 22 July at four o'clock in the afternoon.

The interior of the old Church after the enlargements was unique. The pulpit, flanked by two huge reading desks, one for the minister, the other for the clerk, was located in the middle of the south side of the Church. The seats in the western half of the church faced towards the East, those in the Eastern half towards the West, and those in the North transept towards the South. There was no longer any chancel. The alter a Queen Anne table with a marble top, was hidden away under the huge East Gallery, and all the people in the Eastern half of the church sat with their backs to it. The pulpit was the one centre of attraction, and the congregation could by this arrangement of pews very well see and hear the preacher. They also had the dubious advantage of being able to see each other, for in the middle of the church those facing East and those facing West had only one dividing partition and book rest between them.