CHAPTERS IN THE HISTORY OF ECCLES
By
T. SWINDELLS

MONTON CHAPEL AND MONTON CHURCH

One of the most important dates in the history of Nonconformity in England is the 24th of August, 1662, when two thousand ministers of the Established Church were deprived of their livings for refusing to make open profession of their consent and assent to everything contained in the Book of Common Prayer, in accordance with the instructions contained in the famous Act of Uniformity. This took place rather more than two years after the restoration of Charles II. had taken place amidst the rejoicings of the Royalist section of the population. Amongst those who refused to conform was the Rev. Edmund Jones, who, along with a number of devout members of his con­gregation, left the Eccles Parish Church. There is very little reliable information showing how the expelled ones celebrated Divine Worship in the ten years that intervened between 1662 and the Declaration of Indulgence. These were years of persecution, and it would be necessary that services would have to be conducted in secrecy. In all probability, where weather permitted, services would be held on a remote part of Barton Moss, which in those days extended as far as the Worsley Road. When the weather was too bad for outdoor services they would be held in some secluded barn. But in spite of all difficulties and discouragements the Rev. Edmund Jones remained true to his little band of faithful men and women; and his name appears along with eleven others, all Nonconforming Ministers, who solicited liberty from the Bishop to preach in void Churches and Chapels. He died in 1674, aged forty­eight. Calamy, in his abridgement of Baxter’s History of his Life and Times describes Jones as “a man of very able parts, an able scholar, naturally very rhetorical “; and Henry Newcome, the ejected Fellow of the Manchester Collegiate Church, for whom Cross Street Chapel was built, said of him, “he was a true-hearted serious man, and a faithful minister.” In all probability the persecutions to which he was subjected, and the anxiet,ies attendant on his position had much to do with the shortening of a useful life. He was buried in Eccles Churchyard by the Rev. John Tilsley, who was three times ejected from Deane. Mr. Jones was succeeded by the Rev. Roger Baldwin, who had been ejected from Rainford, near Penrith. During Mr. Baldwin’s ministry the persecutions to which Nonconformists were subjected were relaxed, and he was allowed to preach in a large barn connected with Monk’s Hall. It was during this period that the celebrated Preebyterian minister, of Coley, near Halifax, the Rev. Oliver Heywood, visited Eccles, on June 3rd, 1691. In his journal he says:-

“Preached in their meeting house, a large barn, to a full assembly, then we went to Eccles Church.”

The first year of the reign of William and Mary witnessed the passing of the Act of Toleration, and the Monk’s Hall congregation immediately set about the provision of more extensive and convenient premises. For this purpose a piece of land, a portion of a field called Greenfield was purchased from Peter Ormerod, and the first Monton Chapel was built thereon. It was of only modest proportions, for the whole cost, including the erection of a stable, was only about £150.

It is doubtful whether Mr. Crompton ever conducted service in the new Chapel, and if he did it must have only been for a short period of time. The next minister was the Rev. Jeremiah Aldred, who was a well-known character amongst the Nonconformists of Lancashire and Cheshire. He was a great friend of Matthew Henry, who in all probability preached in the modest building at Monton. Under Mr. Aldred the congregation appears to have increased in numbers, and we are told that five hundred persons attended service on several occasions. Although Monton was the only dissenting place of worship in the district, the population must have been small in numbers and widely scattered over a large area. The fact that anything approaching to five hundred persons were connected with the chapel consequently is strong evidence of the popularity of the new form of faith in the Eccles district. This popularity in itself was sufficient to account for the action of a Church and King mob in 1715. Feeling on behalf of the old Pretender ran very high in the Manchester district, and on the Chevalier’s birthday, June 10th, a mob of supporters, headed by Tom Syddall, a blacksmith, attacked the windows of a number of houses occupied by leading Dissenters in the town, and then turned their attention to the Dissenters’ Chapel in Cross Street, which they wrecked, leaving only the walls standing. The following day they walked to Monton and attacked the chapel. The pews and pulpit were burnt, the bell was thrown into a neighbouring pond, and other damage was done. This was of course in open defiance of the law and Government of the day, and for these and other similar misdeeds Syddall and several other leaders were arrested and tried. They were ordered to be placed in the pillory and afterwards imprisoned at Lancaster; but Syddall was released by a large number of Jacobites. He afterwards joined the forces organised on behalf of the Pretender, and took part in Preston fight, where he was taken prisoner. For his disloyal conduct he was tried and executed. The Government paid compensation to the congregations of the demolished places of worship, that of Cross Street receiving £1,500, and the one at Monton £140. The necessary repairs were made, the bell was taken from its watery bed and restored to its place, and the services were renewed, never again to be interfered with by members of other churches. It is probable that during Mr. Aldred’s ministry the views of the minister and congregation underwent a gradual falling away from the Presbyterianism of the earlier Dissenters, and a move was made in the direction of Unitarianism. The change was facilitated by the nature of the original trust deed, which provided for freedom on the part of preacher and congregation alike.

In 1729 the Rev. John Chorley succeeded Mr. Aldred. He was well known in Dissenting circles, having been tutor in the family of Sir Robert Dukinfield, of Dukin­field, whose daughter he married. He settled at Monton and for many generations his descendants were connected with the Chapel. In 1764 the congregation decided to build a parsonage for the use of the ministers, and in a list of subscribers towards that object are included many names still connected with the chapel and district. The most familiar of them are Royle, Taylor, Leigh, Lansdale, Barlow, and Aldred. The Rev. Richard Bolton, who was at Monton for two years read a paper before the Royal Society, in which are a number of interesting references to the chapel and the neighbour­hood. He gave the number of the congregation as totalling 360 persons; and supposed that the situation of Monton was unhealthy on account of its proximity to a large moss. The people he also said were principally engaged in agriculture, and were remarkable for their diligence, sobriety, and long life. Mr. Bolton died in 1773, and in the course of the next twenty-five years five ministers occupied the Monton pulpit. Otherwise there was nothing of importance to record. The move in the direction of Unitarianism was continued, and in the closing decade of the eighteenth century Unitarianism was openly preached.

In 1797 the Rev. Robert Smethurst commenced his long ministry at Monton. Five years later the chapel was rebuilt; and in 1813 Unitarianism was legalised by the repeal of the law which made the denial of the Trinity a penal offence. Prior to the repeal of this Act any minister preaching the Unitarian faith was liable to prosecution and severe punishment. Mr. Smethurst died in 1846, and his long term of office at Monton fell short of the half-century by about one year. In the course of that long period of time many changes took place in the Eccles district owing to the establishment of important business undertakings. The immediate neighbourhood saw little change, and in 1847 the population was small and scattered. In the short history of Monton, pub­lished by the Rev. T. Elford Poynting, there are printed some extracts from the funeral sermon preached by the Rev. J. G. Roberts after Mr. Smethurst’s death, which show the high esteem in which he was held. He said “The loss of your pastor is somewhat like losing a member of your own household. Very few of you can have been heads of families when he first came to take charge of the congregation here assembling. Most of you must have begun your acquaintance with him as long as you can remember. You found him the minister and friend of your parents; you have seen him joining with your parents in dedicating to God your brothers and sisters; most of you in your infancy he has held in his arms for a like purpose; you have grown up with feelings of reverence and affection for him, and the friend of your parents has become your friend .  .  .  .  .  .  .A visit from him was like so much pleasant sunshine; he put me in good spirits if I was not so before; he increased my cheerfulness if I was already cheerful. Along with this cheerfulness there was a simple, childlike trust in God as the ever present, ever watchful father of our spirits. It was a plain and simple Gospel which he preached; but it was a Gospel which furnished him with his rule of conduct whilst living, and proved sufficient for his support and comfort in death.” Another Act of Par­liament of first importance to Unitarians was passed during Mr. Smethurst’s residence at Monton. This was the Dissenters’ Chapels Bill, which received Royal Assent in 1844, and which secured to congregations the rights of ownership in their places of worship. For nearly half a century after the rebuilding of the chapel very little was done in the way of extension or alteration; the last half of the nineteenth century was marked by a long series of changes. These may be said to have begun in 1848, when an infant day school was established. The principles upon which it was managed led to it taking a high place amongst local educational institutions, especially after it became regarded as a school for older children in addition to infants. Amongst those who have taught in the school none have shown greater powers, and none have been held, in higher respect than is the present headmaster, Mr. H. Tyson, whose twenty-five years of service in that capacity will be very shortly celebrated. Under his guidance many scholars have laid that solid foundation of elementary education, which is so essential to later scholastic success; and not a few after attaining positions of trust and responsibility have declared their indebtedness to Mr. Tyson. About 1850 many altera­tions were made in the old Chapel, and in 1851 the chapel yard was walled and railed round. In 1856 an organ was built, an organ chamber being erected by Mr. John Booth. The next important change was the erection of the Memorial Schools by Mr. Booth, Mr. Silas Leigh and his sisters. Following these changes came the greatest of the series, the replacing of the plain old chapel by the fine church which now accommodates the congregation. The new church was opened in 1873, and in 1897 the congregation celebrated the bicentenary of Monton Chapel.