Overview

The Origins of Non-Conformity in Wymeswold

Wymeswold was traditionally a village where chapel congregations were strong. There have been Baptists, Quakers, and Methodists in the village, each with its own place of worship. There have also been smaller groups of Salvation Army members and Roman Catholics, who mostly worshipped outside the village. Each denomination has its own history.

During the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), a national Church of England became established, as the kingdom severed ties with Roman Catholicism and the Papacy in what became known as the English Reformation. But much of the medieval, Catholic, Church organisation persisted, with a  hierarchical organisation of archbishops, bishops, priests and cathedrals. There was, however, a new Protestant form of worship in the Book of Common Prayer. Everyone was expected to attend their parish church on Sundays and to conform to the state religion of the Queen. Very soon, however, there were dissenters, people who thought of themselves as ‘reformers’ and who did not agree with the organisation and worship styles of the new church.

On the one hand there were Roman Catholics, who supported the old church organisation based on the authority of the pope, with the Mass as the main form of worship. On the other hand, there were strong Protestants, who thought Elizabeth’s religious reforms did not go far enough. They wanted to abolish bishops, ritual and vestments in churches, and have a worship service based on Bible readings, sermons and prayers. These people were sometimes called the godly or Puritans, often by those who did not share their views. Some Catholics and many ‘Puritan’ Protestants attended their parish churches, but gradually – despite prosecution and fines – members of both groups began to stay away and form their own congregations. Catholics in particular were fined heavily for missing church, a crime known as recusancy. Radical Protestants began to set up their own independent congregations, which were seen as subversive by the government.

In Wymeswold, we have no evidence for Dissenters in the 16^th and early 17^th centuries. In a 1605 survey of the clergy, the vicar stated that all 351 villagers attended annual communion and that there were no non-conformists. But there are signs that some villagers at least were of the godly persuasion. The long-standing vicar Peter Rathbone (in post 1574-1616) was a godly type. While he was considered poorly educated and not licenced to preach by his church superiors, his will provides a long statement of firm Protestant faith. One of the wealthy farmers, William Leake, owned a Bible in 1625. Outwardly at least, the church, its clergy and the parishioners were conformist.

With the advent of the English Civil War Dissenting congregations appear in the records. In 1647, the Parliamentary Committee of Leicestershire dismissed Wymewold’s vicar, Richard Palmer. In his place they appointed a Puritan preacher. The ministers changed quickly. Robert Blunt, Savil Bradshaw, James Brecknock, John Seymour, Edward Hathaway, are all known to have served across the period 1647-60. John Barrett, dismissed in 1662 as vicar at Nottingham for refusing to conform to the Book of Common Prayer, had been ordained in Wymeswold in 1652 by the Wirksworth Classis (meeting of clergy), they presumably having sent a delegation there for a meeting.  As in all parishes, use of the Book of Common Prayer became unlawful, and religious liberty was allowed – so long as it conformed broadly to the religious clauses outlined in the Instrument of Government issued by Parliament in 1653.  In 1651, the first Wymeswold Baptists are documented, and it may be that Quakers first appeared.

After the Restoration (1660), Wymeswold’s Dissenters grew in number and variety. The vicar Edward Hathaway, appointed during the Commonwealth in 1658, conformed in 1662 but there are hints that he may have been in sympathy with godly ideas. However, he was succeeded by John Orme under whom non-conformists were presented to the church courts and fined. The Visitation of Bishop Robert of Sanderson in 1662 saw 54 Wymeswold parishioners presented for absenting themselves from church, some of whom at least were Dissenters (as opposed to staying away for less religious reasons). Fourteen of these absentees were presented for having children unbaptised and were probably Baptists or Quakers. In 1676, there were 80 Dissenters over the age of 16.

With the Act of Toleration of 1689, freedom to practice a Protestant religion was made law (Roman Catholics were excluded). The Dissenting congregations could legally practice their faith and build places of worship. Quakers and Baptists acquired property and founded congregations. In 1712, a return was made to the bishop showing that of 130 families in Wymeswold, 4 were Catholics, 18 were General Baptists, 7 were Particular Baptists and 6 were Quakers. They were joined by Methodists sometime around the 1780s.

In the 1832 census of Sunday schools, Wymeswold had 46 children at the Church of England school, 140 at the General Baptist, 115 at the Wesleyan and 20 at the Primitive Wesleyan schools. In the 1851 religious census, non-conformity dominated the religious life of the village. The four places of worship in Wymeswold made the following returns for March of that year. Of almost 500 adults who attended church on the day of the census, three quarters were non-conformists.

Linked with the non-conformist chapels was a British School founded in the village. In 1852, James Lawton, a Baptist, moved to Wymeswold to take charge of the school for a few years.

The non-conformist congregations declined after the 1880s, but Wymeswold still has an active Methodist church in the village. Members of other congregations go outside of the village to worship, Baptist churches being available at East Leake, Barrow-upon-Soar and Loughborough.

Roman Catholics, of which there was always a small number in Wymeswold, had their faith greatly restricted until the later 18th century. In 1676, only two ‘Papal Recusants’ over 16 years of age were found in Wymeswold, which may imply just one family. In 1712 there were 4 families. The Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1791 permitted Catholics to practice their religion without penalties, but full Emancipation did not come until 1829, when Catholics were permitted to practice their faith publicly, build churches and for individuals to hold public office. Their history remains elusive in Wymeswold, but St Mary of the Annunciation was built in Loughborough in 1834, and the small number of Roman Catholic villagers may have worshipped there. The diocese of Nottingham was founded in 1850 and included Leicestershire, and in this part of the county, the Roman Catholic family of De Lisle were active missionary neighbours.