1761 to 1773

John Chorley Knowles B.A. - 1761 to 1773

Mr Knowles had previously been a curate at Stockport. On his appointment to the chapel at Norbury he found road works in progress.

Great social changes were taking place during his ministry. Most of his congregation began to drift away to the 'boom town' of Bullock Smithy, which rapidly grew from a few dwellings near a smithy and a tavern called the Bullock Smithy Inn, into a ribbon of development stretching from Torkington Lane to Brewers Green.

The reason for this was the opening up, between 1760-65, of the new and faster route to London, via Macclesfield, Leek, Ashbourne and Derby, so avoiding the tortuous and often dangerous road over the hills to Buxton.

Mr Knowles must have felt the impact of these changes deeply because he wrote a book which was published in London in 1769 entitled 'Several Affecting Considerations Respecting the Unbenificed Clergy', which had as its theme the plight of those ministers, like himself, who found that they were left almost without any flock to administer. In some unfortunate cases they were also deprived of income.

He obtained a grant from Queen Ann's Bounty, which he invested in two portions of land in Adswood, both situated between Garners Lane and Cale Green. This increased his income by over £16 per year. Meanwhile Norbury as a community continued to decline.