Nonconformity in Willington

Willington Methodist Chapel in November 2006 

General

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.

These registrations, unfortunately, usually do not name the persuasion of nonconformity involved. The first record held by Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service registering a nonconformist meeting in Willington is from the Archdeaconry of Bedford and dated 1779 [ABN1/1 and ABN2/48]. The house being registered was occupied by Mary Wells and those registering were Thomas Wootton and James Lambe.

Congregationalists

The only reference to a meeting for Congregationalists| in Willington in records held by Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service is in 1829 when Cotton End Congregationalist minister John Holloway registered the house of John Day [ABN1/2, ABN2/243, ABN3/3 and ABN3/92]

Moravians

The Moravians| were a well established church in Bedford and they also had a meeting in Willington in the early 19th century. The only references to this in records held by Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service are registrations in 1811 [QSR1811/176 and QSM24 p.18] of the house occupied by Richard Sharpe, registered by Christian Frederick Ramler [or Ramsher] and Benjamin Trapp and in 1814, when the house was that in occupation of Mary Gurney and the person registering was Benjamin Trapp alone [QSR1814/176 and QSM25 p.52].

plans showing the west elevation of the Methodist chapel in 1987 [PCWillington18/22]

Wesleyan Methodists

By far the best represented nonconformist group in records held by Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service are the Wesleyans|. The first surviving registration of a meeting by them is 1823 when they met in the house of John Robinson and the registration was carried out by the minister, Aquila Barber [ABN1/2, ABN2/202, ABN3/3 and ABN3/51]. The chapel was built and was first registered in 1868 by John Relph, the Wesleyan minister of the Bedford Circuit. It was registered to conduct marriages in 1869.

Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service has notes compiled by staff on the Willington chapel [CRT130WILL3] from which it appears that the first time Methodists in Willington are mentioned in the Bedford Circuit book was in 1804, those referred to being: Thomas Thordy; Mary Thordy; Sarah Robinson; James Roberts; Thomas Penwright; Ann King and John Kendall. Although, as noted above, a meeting was registered in 1823, Willington nowhere appears in the list of churches taking collections for various causes between 1820 and 1841. From 1842 Willington givers are bracketed with those from Cardington leading to two possibilities - either that Methodism quickly fizzled out and had to be reintroduced later or that Willington members donating were always included with another meeting such as Cardington, indicating that Willington was not, at that time, a flourishing concern.

The chapel built in 1868 was first mooted in 1860 when the circuit gave leave for it to be built, subject to the landowner, the Duke of Bedford, giving the land. By 1864 the Methodist cause in Willington had around 20 members and in 1867 once more the circuit gave leave to erect a chapel if the Duke would grant a site. When he did so, the following year, the Duke stipulated that he would not sell land for the site but would grant one provided the chapel was only built of wood or iron. That chapel was in Station Road on the site of modern council houses. Later in the century it was moved across the road, on rollers, and encased in brick, giving the core of building which stands today. In 1986 the chapel was extended as the image below, taken from the plans [PCWillington18/22], shows