Nonconformity in Salford
The Wesleyan chapel about 1900 [Z50/98/22[
Wesleyan Methodists
In 1672 Charles II issued a Declaration of Toleration for Protestants dissenting from the Church of England; this had the effect of some dissenting meeting houses registering with the Secretary of State. The Toleration Act of 1689 enshrined the right of protestants to dissent from the Church of England and, once again, encouraged meeting houses to register voluntarily with local quarter sessions| and Anglican church. Registration provided protection against persecution, laying a duty of protection upon magistrates and so was popular with nonconformists. Most registrations were made with quarter sessions until the middle of the 18th century, presumably due to the mutual antagonism of nonconformists and established Church. However, from that point registration with the Church, via the local archdeaconry |began to become the favoured method, because the archdeaconry Registrar would issue a licence at any time rather than during the days each quarter when the quarter sessions met.
Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service has a reasonable number of registrations of nonconformist meeting houses in both the Quarter Sessions and Archdeaconry of Bedford archives. Registration continued through the 19th century even though persecution faded away - this was because registered buildings were allowed to claim exemption from parish poor rates, were exempt from control by the Charity Commission and were allowed to be licensed to carry out marriages. These things meant that registration became almost compulsory in practice for well established nonconformist meetings. This is fortunate for the local historian because sometimes the only surviving references to a nonconformist meeting occur as registrations.
The first registration of a nonconformist meeting was in 1816 [ABN1/1] of the house of John Barber. This was either an unknown denomination (perhaps the Primitive Methodists| (see below)) or, given the coincidence of dates, perhaps the Wesleyan |chapel and the name Barber was substituted for Barrett in error for the person registering.
The Wesleyan chapel around 1900 looking towards the junction of wavendon Road and Broughton Road [Z50/98/20]
The first certain registration of the Wesleyan chapel was in 1854, by William Britten of Bow Brickhill [Buckinghamshire], baker, one of the trustees appointed to replace the original trustees in 1839 [ST1689/6]. To add to the confusion of the first registration, in 1827 [ABN1/2, ABN2/229 and ABN3/3] a recently built chapel was registered by John Stevens of Newport Pagnell [Buckinghamshire], minister. This man also registered chapels in Cranfield and Woburn and seems, from the evidence of those registrations, to have been a Wesleyan. This may, then, be either the first or the second registration of the chapel!
Interior of the Wesleyan chapel around 1900 [Z50/98/21]
Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service holds the early deeds for the Wesleyan chapel in Salford, which lies on the north side of Broughton Road, near the junction with Wavendon Road [ST1689]. In 1814 an unoccupied blacksmith's shop stood on the site. It had belonged to John Barrett, who died intestate and it was sold by his sister Elizabeth Clark to George Rock of Woburn for £38 [ST1689/2]. Two years later in 1816 Rock sold the shop, for £35, to the first Wesleyan trustees: John Bennett of Aspley Guise, Jethro Inwood and Samuel Burton of Newport Pagnell [Buckinghamshire], William Bennett of Wavendon [Buckinghamshire], James Millard, Henry Summerford and Samuel Emerton all of Salford. It was stated that the shop was to be pulled down and a meetinghouse erected on the site [ST1689/4]. This statement is at odds with photograph of the chapel [Z50/98/22] which shows the legend over the door: "Erected 1814". Either this statement was wrong or the deeds were retrospective and Rock actually gave the land to the trustees as soon as he bought it in 1814.
In 1889 a dispute arose with the neighbouring farm and John Tansley of Aspley Guise swore a statutory declaration that for the past fourteen years he had opened and fastened back a shutter on a window on the north side of the chapel which was now being blocked by a fence recently erected around a rick yard in the adjoining farm, built on what had hitherto been waste land [ST1689/8] - the result of this declaration and documents on the resolution of the dispute are, sadly, not held by Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service.
Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service has no further records of this chapel, due to its forming part of the Newport Pagnell Circuit. The service does have two editions of a book called The History of Our District, the first, of 1931 states that the chapel was still in use for public worship but the second edition, of 1960, states that it had been closed at some point in the past. As the modern photograph shows the building is now disused.
The former Wesleyan chapel in April 2007
Primitive Methodists
The Primitive Methodists in Salford are something of a mystery due to paucity of information. Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service holds a few volumes of circuit reports which mention Primitive Methodists at Salford, who formed part of the Leighton Buzzard Connexion. They are first mentioned in 1848 and a chapel was noted as being built in 1866. In 1875 Salford, along with a number of other local chapels, was moved into the Newport Pagnell Connexion, of which Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service holds no records. Interestingly the first edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch to the mile map of 1883 does not show a Primitive Methodist chapel in the parish.