A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



The Congregationalists have a church at Todmor- 

 den. m 



The Baptists have long held an influential position 

 in the Todmorden district ; they have several 

 churches. A meeting house was erected at Shore in 

 1777 for the General or Arminian Baptists. 114 



The Society of Friends also has long been estab- 

 lished here, the history going back to the 1 7th 

 century. 



There is a Unitarian Church, built by Samuel, 

 John, and Joshua Fielden. 



The small Roman Catholic church of St. Joseph 

 was opened in 1868. 



In 1471 the Abbot of Whalley allowed the inhabi- 

 tants of Butterworth and Hundersfield the use of the 

 chapel which they had lately built at LITTLE- 

 BOROUGH, provided no injury was done to the 

 mother church of Rochdale. 114 The inventory of 

 1552 shows that the chapel was but poorly fur- 

 nished. 116 It was repurchased by the inhabitants for 

 4 or. 117 A plan of the seating in 1556 has been pre- 

 served. 118 In this place also there was no maintenance 

 for the curate beyond the contributions of the people, 

 but the list of curates is fairly continuous from I 58o. 119 

 The Commonwealth Commissioners in 1650 recom- 

 mended that it should be made a parish church. 110 In 

 1717 the inhabitants contributed 10 a. year for the 

 curate's stipend; 1 * 1 and in 1747 a subscription was 

 made to meet a grant from Queen Anne's Bounty 

 which enabled a tenement in Shaw to be purchased. 1 " 

 The old building, having long been dangerous, was at 

 last pulled down, the present church of the Holy 

 Trinity being erected in 1820 on an adjacent site. 123 

 It has since been enlarged by the addition of a chancel 

 in 1889. The vicar of Rochdale presents the in- 

 cumbents, who have been styled vicars since the 

 Vicarage Act of 1866. The following is an imper- 

 fect list of them since 1582 : m 



oc. 1582-93 William Greaves 



oc. 1602 Richard Knowles 



oc. 1 604 Joseph Marcroft 115 



oc. 1622 Poston" 6 



oc. 1627 William Walker 



oc. 1641 Robert Dunster 



oc. 1647 Isaac Allen lfr 



oc. 1649 Thomas Bradshaw, M.A. (Caius Coll., 



Camb.) lw 



oc. 1669 Thomas Parry 

 oc. 1671 Thomas Guy 

 oc. 1694-6 Edmund Thornley, B.A. (Jesus Coll., 



Camb.) 



1727 John Kippax 

 oc. 1730 Joseph Sutcliff 

 1745 John Keighley m 

 1769 Barton Shuttleworth, B.A. 

 1794 John Rutter 

 1816 Thomas Steele, B.A. (St. John's Coll., 



Camb.) 13 



1 845 Thomas Sturgess Mills 

 1864 Thomas Carter, M.A. (Queen's Coll., 



Oxf.) 



1872 Alfred Salts, LL.D. (St. John's Coll, 

 Camb.) 



The following additional churches have been 

 erected during the last century : St. John's, Small- 

 bridge, i834; m St. James' the Apostle, Wardle, 

 1858;"' St. James's, Calderbrook, 1870; St. An- 

 drew's, Dearnley, 1895 ; St. Barnabas', Shore, 

 1901. The vicar of Smallbridge presents to Wardle, 

 but the patronage of the others is vested in the 

 Bishop of Manchester, except that the present vicar 

 of Littleborough presents to Calderbrook during his 

 incumbency. 



A school was built in 1700 near Pike House. 133 



The Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, New Con- 

 nexion, and Free Methodists have churches at Little- 

 borough ; and the last-named have a church also at 

 Smithy Bridge. 



The Congregationalists have churches at Little- 

 borough, Smallbridge, and Calderbrook. 134 



The Baptists have a church at Littleborough. 



At the same place is the Roman Catholic church 

 of St. Mary of the Annunciation, founded in 

 l8 79 . 13S 



118 The history begins in 1835 ; Patmos 

 Chapel, built for the Methodist New 

 Connexion in 1816, was purchased in 

 1 841. See B. Nightingale, Lanes. Noncon- 

 formity, iii, 279-81. 



114 A. Taylor, Engl. Gen. Baptists, 179, 

 272, 389. 



115 Raines in Notitia Cestr. ii, 132, 

 133 ; see the Pike House evidences in 

 Raines MSS. iv, 61, where a view of the 

 chapel in 1815 is given. An earlier 

 sketch (1770) may be seen in Fish wick, 

 Rochdale, 189. 



116 Cb. Goods, 49 ; Robert Turnagh 

 served this chapel as well as Todmorden. 

 Bernard Hamer was priest there in 1547 

 and 1550, but was dead in 1554; ibid. 

 52. Roger Lynney is said to have been 

 the curate in 1517 ; Fishwick, op. cit. 

 195. 



W The price named in Raines* Chan- 

 tries (277) is 131. 4</. The deed of sale 

 is in the Raines MSS. i, 203. 



118 Printed by Fishwick, op. cit. 190, 

 191. An encroachment by James Halli- 

 well of Pike House, who brought in a 

 new seat, was defeated in 1628 ; Notitia 

 Cestr. ii, 133, 134. 



119 John Chetham was curate in 1563, 



but the name is erased in the 1565 list ; 

 Visitation Lists at Chester. Edmund 

 Hopwood, literate, was licensed as ' reader' 

 in 1576, so that there was probably no 

 ordained curate at that time ; Pennant's 

 Account-book. In 1610 the chapel was 

 among those ' maintained by the inhabi- 

 tants;' Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv, 

 12. 



120 Common-w. Cb. Sur<v. p. 20. An 

 increase of ,40 was given to the minister 

 in 1650 out of Lord Byron's sequestered 

 tithes ; Plund. Mint.Accts. \, 85. 



m Gastrell, Notitia, ii, 1 3 5 ; it is stated 

 to have been fixed when the seats were 

 arranged in 1556, and to have been still 

 paid in 1849. In 1717 the chapel was 

 used for baptism, but the names were 

 entered in the parish church books, and 

 all surplice fees went to the vicar. The 

 registers of Littleborough begin in 1758. 



122 See the subscribers' names, ibid. 

 135 note. 



123 Fishwick, op. cit. 193, 194. 



124 The list is taken mostly from Fish- 

 wick, op. cit., 196-201, where biographi- 

 cal notices may be seen. 



135 Cited in 1611 for not wearing a 

 surplice, and in 1620 for not observing a 



fast day ; Fishwick, op. cit. The will of 

 James Stott of Littleborough, was proved 

 before him in 1617; J. P. Earwaker's 

 note. 



126 Misc. (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 

 i, 67. 



12 7 Shaw, Bury Classis, 32, 209 ; he 

 was a preacher then, but ' unsettled." 



128 Ibid. 215. 



189 The church papers at Chester Dioc. 

 Reg. begin with him. 



180 He compiled a hymn book in 1816, 

 which was extensively used in the dis- 

 trict. 



181 Land. Gaa. 30 Nov. 1844, for 

 district. 



132 Land. Gaz. n March 1859. 



133 Gastrell, Notitia, ii, 137. 



134 The history of that at Calderbrook 

 begins in 1823 ; a chapel, known as 

 Summit, was built in 1833. A church 

 was formed at Smallbridge in 1828; the 

 present building was opened in 1866. 

 At Littleborough a room was hired in 

 1869, and a chapel was built in 1876 ; 

 Nightingale, Lanes. Nonconformity, iii, 

 249. 



135 Kelly, Engl. Cat A. Miss. 252. 



234 



