A Baptist Church in Eccles, Lancashire, 1831-1842

Introduction

At the beginning of the nineteenth century Eccles was a small village and Patricroft could hardly be said to exist. Most of the area was open farmland and this was still true when the railway arrived in 1830, and even when the first six-inch Ordnance Survey map was printed in 1848. But the population grew rapidly through the nineteenth century: major industries had been established, and by 1900 the area was almost wholly built up.  The development of population and land use have been described by several authors.^[1]

Anecdotal evidence suggests that in the pre-Reform era, Eccles was a by-word for lawless and indecent behaviour;^[2] it is also true that by the mid-nineteenth century living conditions were notoriously squalid, at least in the built-up central area.  The development of sanitation, improved housing, public street lighting, and dignified public buildings belong to the post-1870 period.^[3]

Most of the improvements in the quality of urban life in the later nineteenth centuries are credited to the rise of Liberal philosophies strongly though not exclusively associated the Nonconformist churches. In fact church provision in general was seen as a measure of progress towards social stability.  But in our area, progress was slow.  The established church was St Mary's, in Church Street, Eccles; its parish covered an area of about 70 square miles (Figure 1).  New Anglican churches were built in outlying districts, at Walkden (1838), Barton (1843), Worsley (1846), Hope (1861) and Irlam (1866), but in the densely populated central area of Eccles not until 1868, at Patricroft.^[4]

With so little church provision, we would perhaps expect a major proliferation of nonconformist chapels, but if that occurred, it is not documented. The Unitarian chapel at Monton was an old foundation (1697); the Wesleyan chapel in Barton was opened in 1796, and an Independent chapel in Patricroft in about 1800. These and the few others known to have existed by 1848 are shown on the map in Figure 2. Yet already by 1841 the population of Eccles township alone was almost 34000, and Barton 11000.^[5]  The known churches and chapels in those areas could not have seated more than 2000 people at most.  By Victorian standards it was an ungodly place.

It is therefore particularly interesting that a documentary record exists of a dissenting congregation, located at the centre of the area, and in the middle of this dark period.  It is the register of births, for a Baptist church,  for the years 1831–1837. It turns out to be a very small church, but the record is of interest for at least two reasons: the members of the congregation are identified sufficiently, so that with the help of other public records it is possible to say something about their origins and social position; and there is a possibility that this particular congregation had some continuity with a later church which adhered to an exceptionally well defined and exclusive discipline.^[6] It may eventually be possible to confirm this one way or the other. Meanwhile this paper concentrates on the earlier church.

© Roderick D. Cannon.