Richard Ashcroft psychedelic music and drugs. They also became a part of the Britpop movement. The band split in 1995, and around this time Ashcroft wrote a collection of songs he intended to release as his first solo album. However, by 1997 he had changed his mind and asked McCabe to return (alongside new member Tong), reforming The Verve and releasing the very successful album "Urban Hymns". Ashcroft was at the forefront of the band's popularity, receiving an Ivor Novello Award for his songwriting and being referred to by the press as "the unmistakable face of the Number One rock band in
Mark Ashcroft to 1996 as a member of the academic staff of St Paul's College, Kapsabet, one of the theological colleges of the Anglican Church of Kenya; he was a tutor between 1986 and 1989, and its principal between 1990 and 1996. In 1996, Ashcroft returned to England. He was rector of Christ Church, Harpurhey from 1996 to 2009, and also area dean of North Manchester from 2000 to 2006. In 2004, he was made an honorary canon of Manchester Cathedral. In 2009, he was appointed the Archdeacon of Manchester. On 22 June 2016, it was announced that Ashcroft would become the