Dissent and Non-Conformity in Villages of the
South Nottinghamshire Wolds
February 2006 Meeting Report
Speaker - Howard Fisher
Our speaker outlined the main political background relating to Dissenters from the mid 17th Century up to 1700 and then explained that his choice of 1700 as starting date was that this was when the first evidence of Non-conformists meeting at Normanton-on-the-Wolds was available. His cut-off date of 1913 was the start of WW1 when many non-conformists went off to war and so many did not return. His interest in the subject was from a social history rather than a purely religious aspect.
He discussed what the Wolds villages were like, their populations and occupations, he showed some pictures of how the villages appeared from sketches and old photographs.
There was evidence of Independents meeting in Normanton-on-the-Wolds in 1700 who were associated with Castle Gate Chapel in Nottingham. In 1703 George Lowe’s house in Normanton was registered for worship by the Independents and it appears a meeting house was erected because an Indenture of 1783 states that the original meeting house was in a ruinous condition and that a decision was made to build a new one in Keyworth where the majority of the congregation lived. The building was erected in Keyworth in 1768 and we now know it as the Indian Nights restaurant. Over the years various alterations were made to it until it was decided to build a completely new chapel which opened in 1903 and which we see today as the United Reform Church in the village.
The Wesleyans built a chapel in Normanton-on-the-Wolds in 1797 having founded their meetings in Plumtree in 1790 when Isaac Hubbard’s cottage was used for preaching. They were supported in their first year by the very well known Nottingham Wesleyan, Thomas Tatham. We were shown a picture of the Normanton chapel as it was in 1900, a strange isolated little building, and its improvements were traced up to its closure and sale in 1966 when it was bought to be converted to a dwelling. We saw the Victorian interior as it was in 1966. The Wesleyans also had successful chapels at Wysall after meeting at various cottages in the village before building the first chapel in 1825, replaced by the present one in 1881.
The Primitive Methodists succeeded in Keyworth where the Wesleyans had previously failed and preaching started in 1818 with regular congregations from 1821. It is possible that Hugh Bourne, the founder of Primitivism visited the village although no direct evidence is available. Early meetings would be in cottages, barns or the open-air, but a chapel was built in 1828 in Old Lane. This building can still be seen towards the top of what we now know as Elm Avenue. The 1851 religious census showed a congregation of 100 adults in the evening and 60 children at the afternoon services. This chapel was superseded by a new building on Selby Lane in 1882.
The Baptists had a meeting in Keyworth from 1851 for several years but this was not very successful and eventually closed - the exact date has not been ascertained. It derived from Upper Broughton Baptist chapel which was founded by East Leake Baptists; they, in turn, had been evangelised from the Leicestershire chapel at Barton-in-Fabis. Upper Broughton also founded meetings at Widmerpool and Stanton-on-the-Wolds, whilst Wysall Baptists derived from East Leake.
A discussion followed about who the non-conformists were, based primarily on the Keyworth chapels, but also referring to those in the other Wolds villages where they interacted with Keyworth. The first Pastor of the Independent chapel was Revd. Hollingworth who left to go to Oakham under something of a cloud, being considered to have been imprudent. Others were mentioned including Thomas Greenwood who died the week after taking up the post, but the best known Congregational (Independent) pastor was John Bancroft Kaye who led the struggle to found a Board School in the village in 1871.
It was shown that the Primitive congregation was mainly working class people whilst the Congregationalists had a mix of the better off and the working class. The seat rent book of the Methodists of 1901/2 had been analysed to show the make up of the congregation. We were shown how the congregations entertained themselves at Christmas and other festivals, and the manner of discipline was considered. Finally we were shown how the movement of folk into and out of the village could be traced from the records of the chapels.