Dukinfield Moravian Church
Encyclopedia
Dukinfield Moravian Church was founded in Dukinfield
, Cheshire
, England in 1755 following a period of evangelistic work in the area by Moravians from 1742. It now stands within the Tameside
Metropolitan Borough, Greater Manchester
.
, Vicar of Ossett
in Yorkshire, who was a keen supporter of the Moravian Church. Ingham was an associate of John Wesley
from his Oxford days and had encountered the Moravians on Wesley’s voyage to America. Ingham recommended that Taylor seek help from the Moravians so in 1742, the Brn George Prosky and David Heckwälder paid Taylor a visit. This meeting initiated work that led to a Moravian Society being formed in 1743. This Society was attached to the parish church but followed Moravian practices for edification and evangelism.
In May 1751 the foundation stone of the first Moravian chapel in Dukinfield was laid on Old Road. This was to serve the Moravian Society. However, following a request from the Society’s leader, James Greening, Bishop Johannes von Watteville visited Dukinfield and on 26 April 1755 accepted the Society’s request to become a fully fledged congregation of the Moravian Church. At the same time, the Bishop introduced the man chosen to be Dukinfield’s Minister, Francis Oakley of St John’s College, Oxford.
In the eighteenth century, the Moravian Church had settlements which were largely self-contained communities. The settlements usually had a chapel, a Single Brethren’s House, a Single Sisters’ House, a Widows’ House, schools and an inn. Single members would live, work and worship together in their communal Houses. A settlement might have its own doctor, bakery, shop, farm, shoe makers, glove makers and carpenters. The congregation was organised into Choirs, eg, the Married Choir, the Single Sisters’ Choir, the Great Girls’ Choir and the Little Girls’ Choir, each of which was a sub-community serving Christ in its own way.
The chapel at Dukinfield was intended to form the centre of such a settlement. A burial ground was purchased. A house near the chapel was handed over to Sr Wyring from Fulneck and her band of ten women and girls for use as the Single Sisters’ House. A Brethren’s House with five members was begun in rooms belonging to one Alice Brown. In 1758 larger Houses were built and consecrated, the Sisters on the North side of the church and the Brethren on the South. In 1761, a girls’ school was started by the Widow Grundy and in 1769 a boys’ school was started with ten pupils. In May 1764 the chapel was enlarged and was crowded at its re-opening. At the Easter
dawn service
in the burial ground
on 26 March 1769, a crowd of two thousand people attended; despite the fact that some of the onlookers were drunk, the service proceeded peacefully.
Dukinfield was vigorous in its mission work, establishing preaching stations in Padfield, Hayfield, Bullock Smithy (ie, Hazel Grove), Mobberley, Macclesfield and Manchester. The work at Mobberley produced some tension with Methodist preachers, for Moravians did not accept the Methodist doctrine that sinners could be sanctified until they became perfect; rather, they would always be sinners requiring grace. Work at Clarksfield in Oldham ultimately led to the creation of Salem Moravian Church
in 1825.
With the transfer of the Dukinfield estates
to the Astley
family, it became impossible to secure the leases needed to expand the Dukinfield Settlement further. Accordingly, the ‘Provincial Helper’ or superintendent of the Moravian work in Britain, Br Benjamin La Trobe, found new land at Fairfield
in Droylsden on a 999 year lease. On 17 May 1785 the Single Brethren moved to the new settlement. On 10 June 1785 the whole of the congregation gathered at Dukinfield for a Farewell Lovefeast and on 15 June the new chapel at Fairfield was consecrated.
By 1820 the chapel was in a state of disrepair. On 19 May 1826 the foundation stone of a new chapel was laid and this building was opened on 19 November. In 1827 an organ was added at a cost of £110. In 1836 the Minister’s House was built at a cost of £326. Gas lighting for the chapel was provided in 1841 at a cost of £15 5s and in the same year a heating stove was installed.
Br Charles E Sutcliffe, who was Minister from 1852 to 1870, was a powerful evangelical preacher and his sermons attracted many new members. The 1826 church building proved inadequate and so on 6 August 1859 the foundation stone of a new chapel was laid by Br Lees of Hey. Many members from Fairfield and Salem also attended this service. On 9 May 1860 the new building was opened. The building had cost £1,120 but by the end of the year both the land purchase and building costs had been fully met. In 1867 a larger organ was placed in a new organ loft over the vestry at a cost of £400. This organ was itself replaced by 1881.
Some Dukinfield Moravians moved to the Westwood
area of Oldham and, with others from Salem, became the nucleus of a new congregation there in 1865.
In 1907 the church was renovated. Pews were installed instead of benches. A new boiler was provided at a cost of £350. In 1908 a Provincial Synod was held in the renovated church. Two Anglican Bishops attended this Synod to discuss closer relations with the Moravian Church.
Following the First World War the congregation continued to develop, with a range of social activities such as the Men’s Institute, Football Club, Cricket Club, Dramatic Society and Musical Concerts as well as worship and witness.
In 1956, the Dukinfield congregation started a new base on Yew Tree Lane. A chapel was opened there in 1973 and the Old Road site sold.
.
Br Hindley was Member of Parliament for Ashton from 1835 to 1857. He had been educated at the Moravian school in Fulneck
, Yorkshire and had served as a teacher at the Church’s academy in Gracehill
, Northern Ireland. He had planned to become a Moravian minister but on his older brother’s death had to take over the family cotton business. His great achievement in the House of Commons was to pass a Bill reducing the working hours in cotton mills for men, women and children from fifteen hours a day to ten.
The Dukinfield School so strongly supported by the Hindley family proved very successful. In 1866 there were 400 children on the roll. In 1923 the school was handed over to the Borough Education Committee but the church retained access to the building for use as a Sunday School.
In 1917 an explosion at a nearby ammunition works did £165 worth of damage to church property. Many residents took to farm land in the area, fearing further blasts.
Dukinfield
Dukinfield is a small town within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies in central Tameside on the south bank of the River Tame, opposite Ashton-under-Lyne, and is east of the city of Manchester...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England in 1755 following a period of evangelistic work in the area by Moravians from 1742. It now stands within the Tameside
Tameside
The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after the River Tame which flows through the borough and spans the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge. Its western...
Metropolitan Borough, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...
.
Settlement to 1785
From 1740 evangelists led by one David Taylor had been at work in Lancashire, Cheshire and Derbyshire and an evangelical congregation had been established in Dukinfield. Taylor became acquainted with Revd Benjamin InghamBenjamin Ingham
Benjamin Ingham , was born and raised in the Yorkshire and Humber region of England. He earned his B.A. degree from Oxford, and was ordained at age 23. Methodist connections from Oxford led to a colonial mission in America where he developed a keen interest in the Moravian church from fellow...
, Vicar of Ossett
Ossett
Ossett is a market town within the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on junction 40 of the M1 motorway, half-way between Dewsbury, to the west, and Wakefield, to the east. In the 2001 census, it was classified as part of the West Yorkshire...
in Yorkshire, who was a keen supporter of the Moravian Church. Ingham was an associate of John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
from his Oxford days and had encountered the Moravians on Wesley’s voyage to America. Ingham recommended that Taylor seek help from the Moravians so in 1742, the Brn George Prosky and David Heckwälder paid Taylor a visit. This meeting initiated work that led to a Moravian Society being formed in 1743. This Society was attached to the parish church but followed Moravian practices for edification and evangelism.
In May 1751 the foundation stone of the first Moravian chapel in Dukinfield was laid on Old Road. This was to serve the Moravian Society. However, following a request from the Society’s leader, James Greening, Bishop Johannes von Watteville visited Dukinfield and on 26 April 1755 accepted the Society’s request to become a fully fledged congregation of the Moravian Church. At the same time, the Bishop introduced the man chosen to be Dukinfield’s Minister, Francis Oakley of St John’s College, Oxford.
In the eighteenth century, the Moravian Church had settlements which were largely self-contained communities. The settlements usually had a chapel, a Single Brethren’s House, a Single Sisters’ House, a Widows’ House, schools and an inn. Single members would live, work and worship together in their communal Houses. A settlement might have its own doctor, bakery, shop, farm, shoe makers, glove makers and carpenters. The congregation was organised into Choirs, eg, the Married Choir, the Single Sisters’ Choir, the Great Girls’ Choir and the Little Girls’ Choir, each of which was a sub-community serving Christ in its own way.
The chapel at Dukinfield was intended to form the centre of such a settlement. A burial ground was purchased. A house near the chapel was handed over to Sr Wyring from Fulneck and her band of ten women and girls for use as the Single Sisters’ House. A Brethren’s House with five members was begun in rooms belonging to one Alice Brown. In 1758 larger Houses were built and consecrated, the Sisters on the North side of the church and the Brethren on the South. In 1761, a girls’ school was started by the Widow Grundy and in 1769 a boys’ school was started with ten pupils. In May 1764 the chapel was enlarged and was crowded at its re-opening. At the Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
dawn service
Sunrise service
Sunrise service is a worship service on Easter. It takes the place of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran tradition of the Easter Vigil, and is practised mainly by Protestant churches...
in the burial ground
God's Acre
God's Acre is an ancient Germanic designation for a burial ground. In his poem "God's-Acre," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow attributes the term to ancient Saxons.-In Christianity:...
on 26 March 1769, a crowd of two thousand people attended; despite the fact that some of the onlookers were drunk, the service proceeded peacefully.
Dukinfield was vigorous in its mission work, establishing preaching stations in Padfield, Hayfield, Bullock Smithy (ie, Hazel Grove), Mobberley, Macclesfield and Manchester. The work at Mobberley produced some tension with Methodist preachers, for Moravians did not accept the Methodist doctrine that sinners could be sanctified until they became perfect; rather, they would always be sinners requiring grace. Work at Clarksfield in Oldham ultimately led to the creation of Salem Moravian Church
Salem Moravian Church
Salem Moravian Church was founded in Oldham, Lancashire, England in 1825 by John Lees. Br Lees, who lived in the Clarksfield area of Oldham, was associated with the Moravian Settlement at Fairfield in Droylsden.-History:...
in 1825.
With the transfer of the Dukinfield estates
Dukinfield Baronets
The Baronetcy of Dukinfield of Dukinfield, Cheshire was created in the Baronetage of England on 16 June 1665 for Robert Dukinfield, son of Colonel Robert Dukinfield.The Dukinfield family were seated at Dukinfield, Cheshire from the early 14th century...
to the Astley
John Astley (painter)
John Astley was an English portrait painter and amateur architect, known for his "patronage among a vast circle of fashion" as well as a fortune acquired through marriage.-Early life:...
family, it became impossible to secure the leases needed to expand the Dukinfield Settlement further. Accordingly, the ‘Provincial Helper’ or superintendent of the Moravian work in Britain, Br Benjamin La Trobe, found new land at Fairfield
Fairfield Moravian Church
Fairfield Moravian Church and its surrounding settlement was founded in 1785 by Benjamin La Trobe as a centre for evangelistic work in the Manchester area. Numbers 15, 28 and 30 Fairfield Square are Grade II listed buildings...
in Droylsden on a 999 year lease. On 17 May 1785 the Single Brethren moved to the new settlement. On 10 June 1785 the whole of the congregation gathered at Dukinfield for a Farewell Lovefeast and on 15 June the new chapel at Fairfield was consecrated.
Dukinfield congregation post 1785
Despite the removal of the settlement to Fairfield, the worship in Dukinfield continued and in July 1788, Br Samuel Watson was sent to serve as Minister. The Sisters’ House was re-opened and a girls’ boarding school was started in 1792. By 1802, Dukinfield was allowed to have its own communion service again and to elect a committee from the membership to manage its own affairs.By 1820 the chapel was in a state of disrepair. On 19 May 1826 the foundation stone of a new chapel was laid and this building was opened on 19 November. In 1827 an organ was added at a cost of £110. In 1836 the Minister’s House was built at a cost of £326. Gas lighting for the chapel was provided in 1841 at a cost of £15 5s and in the same year a heating stove was installed.
Br Charles E Sutcliffe, who was Minister from 1852 to 1870, was a powerful evangelical preacher and his sermons attracted many new members. The 1826 church building proved inadequate and so on 6 August 1859 the foundation stone of a new chapel was laid by Br Lees of Hey. Many members from Fairfield and Salem also attended this service. On 9 May 1860 the new building was opened. The building had cost £1,120 but by the end of the year both the land purchase and building costs had been fully met. In 1867 a larger organ was placed in a new organ loft over the vestry at a cost of £400. This organ was itself replaced by 1881.
Some Dukinfield Moravians moved to the Westwood
Westwood Moravian Church
Westwood Moravian Church was founded in 1865 in the Westwood area of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. By 1868 the church building was too small for its congregation, and a new structure was opened in 1869. This church was used for Moravian services until 2005 when the congregation sold it...
area of Oldham and, with others from Salem, became the nucleus of a new congregation there in 1865.
In 1907 the church was renovated. Pews were installed instead of benches. A new boiler was provided at a cost of £350. In 1908 a Provincial Synod was held in the renovated church. Two Anglican Bishops attended this Synod to discuss closer relations with the Moravian Church.
Following the First World War the congregation continued to develop, with a range of social activities such as the Men’s Institute, Football Club, Cricket Club, Dramatic Society and Musical Concerts as well as worship and witness.
In 1956, the Dukinfield congregation started a new base on Yew Tree Lane. A chapel was opened there in 1973 and the Old Road site sold.
Day School and Br Charles Hindley
In 1853 a Day School was created and opened on Easter Monday. This was organised under a Trust Deed which required religious education to be provided by the Moravian Minister. The cost of the school was about £1,500. Most of this money, and the land on which the school was built, was provided or raised by members of the Hindley family, led by Br Charles HindleyCharles Hindley
Charles Hindley was a Member of Parliament for Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire from 1835 until his death in 1857....
.
Br Hindley was Member of Parliament for Ashton from 1835 to 1857. He had been educated at the Moravian school in Fulneck
Fulneck School
Fulneck school is a small, independent boarding school, situated in the Fulneck Moravian Settlement, in Pudsey, West Yorkshire, England. It provides education for pupils between the ages of 3 and 18.-History:...
, Yorkshire and had served as a teacher at the Church’s academy in Gracehill
Gracehill
Gracehill is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies about 3 km from Ballymena and is in the townland of Ballykennedy . It is part of the Borough of Ballymena....
, Northern Ireland. He had planned to become a Moravian minister but on his older brother’s death had to take over the family cotton business. His great achievement in the House of Commons was to pass a Bill reducing the working hours in cotton mills for men, women and children from fifteen hours a day to ten.
The Dukinfield School so strongly supported by the Hindley family proved very successful. In 1866 there were 400 children on the roll. In 1923 the school was handed over to the Borough Education Committee but the church retained access to the building for use as a Sunday School.
Explosions
Opposite the church there stood a mill belonging to Messrs Tomlins and Bradbury. This was a cause of complaints from the church committee in regard to smoke from a low chimney, which was eventually raised, and noisy workmen who disturbed Sunday services. More serious perhaps was an explosion on 21 September 1854, which threw the mill’s steam boiler through the air towards the Minister’s House. Had the boiler not turned in mid-air, the house would have been flattened killing the people inside it.In 1917 an explosion at a nearby ammunition works did £165 worth of damage to church property. Many residents took to farm land in the area, fearing further blasts.
Ministers
- 1740-1742 David Taylor
- 1744-1746 John Hutchins
- 1746-1748 David Heckwalder
- 1748-1752 George Prosky
- 1752-1755 James Greening
- 1755-1756 Francis Oakley
- 1756-1763 George Prosky
- 1763-1764 Samuel Watson
- 1764-1764 Anton Seifferth
- 1764-1768 G Hauptmann
- 1768-1777 Samuel Watson
- 1777-1783 William Jackson
- 1783-1785 John Worthington
- 1785-1788 Served from Fairfield Moravian Settlement
- 1788-1793 Samuel Watson
- 1793-1799 Daniel Cowley
- 1799-1800 Ignatius Traneker
- 1800-1802 Ralph Shufflebottom
- 1802-1804 James Grundy
- 1804-1809 John Caldwell
- 1809-1811 Samuel F Church
- 1811-1824 James La Trobe
- 1824-1826 Thomas Bird
- 1826-1830 Benjamin Beck
- 1830-1833 John Smith
- 1833-1835 G Andreas Cunow
- 1835-1843 Joseph Shawe
- 1843-1845 Charles F Reichel
- 1845-1852 Christian F Hawke
- 1852-1870 Charles E Sutcliffe
- 1870-1873 John D Libbey
- 1873-1881 John W Scandrett
- 1881-1886 Charles B Ellis
- 1886-1896 Robert Hutton
- 1896-1916 William Titterington
- 1916-1920 C Jackson Shawe
- 1920-1925 R E Pritchett
- 1925-1931 S C Neath
- 1931-1932 L G Schofield
- 1932-1935 H P Connor
- 1935-1943 G A Mitchell
- 1943-1946 Handel Hassall
- 1946-1982 Tom McQuillan
- 1982-1993 Dorothy Moreton
- 1993-2003 Richard Ingham
- 2003+ Colin McIlwaine
External links
- http://www.moravian.org.uk/pages/congregations/dukinfield.html
- http://wikimapia.org/beta/#lat=53.4693312&lon=-2.0741227&z=19&l=0&m=b&v=8