1773 to 1815

Thomas Jennings M.A. 1773-1794

During the ministry of Mr Jennings, Bullock Smithy, whose inhabitants for the most part lived in the township of Bosden and thus came under the parish of Cheadle, began to expand.

In the Bosden valley (at the far end of Commercial Road) there was a mill, a bleach works and a finishing factory. On the site now occupied by the Hazel Grove public library Mr Henry Marsland had a silk finishing factory. There he opened in 1784 an independent Sunday School with three teachers and 140 scholars. A year later John Wesley's followers opened a Methodist chapel. The Methodist place of worship and the independent Sunday school were in the township of Bosden. Mr Jennings became concerned about the building of a chapel in the Norbury part of Bullock Smithy "wherein those who wished could worship God according to the rules of the established church," and although he "earnestly discussed" the matter with the Rector of Stockport nothing came of it.

Elkanah Hoyle M.A. 1795-1829

When he took up his duties at Norbury the 28 year-old Elkanah Hoyle had already been the head master at Stockport Grammar School for two years. He was a man of great energy and foresight. He faced the results of the exodus from the rural areas and the concentration of population in a new urban village. There, the life style of the local community was going through a great change. Gone for ever were the rural festivities at the chapel. The colourful rush gathering had been replaced by the Bullock Smithy wake, when for four days bull and bear bating, jack ass races, and other secular events took place.

Like his predecessor. he realised that a Church of England chapel was a necessity in Bullock Smithy, but at the same time he could not forsake his small congregation at the Norbury chapel, who, for the most part, consisted of the colliers and their families, who lived between Norbury Hollow and Windlehurst Road.

In 1805 he did increase the attendance there by obtaining permission from the Rector of Stockport to celebrate "the sacrament of the Lord's Supper", and Mr Maire, a partner in the firm of lawyers in Warrington who handled the Legh estate affairs, presented a chalice and paten to the Chapel for that purpose. These are still in use an our church.

In the same year he obtained a grant from Queen Ann's Bounty which he invested in Clough House Farm at the Torkington end of Threaphurst Lane,

His interest in children led him to try and revive the charity school and at the same time persuade Mr Legh to allocate the land, where is now the War Memorial park, on which to build a chapel.

Unfortunately, as the original agreement between Peter Legh and Mr. Howerd had been done on a handshake there were no legal documents. The Howerd family, taking advantage of this, claimed the school house and land as their own, and although Mr Hoyle pursued the matter for some years, he met with no success.

He failed, too, in his efforts to establish a church in Bullock Smithy. There were a number of obstacles in the way of building a place of worship, but the one that predominated was the lack of funds. Local collections could only have raised a meagre sum towards its total cost, such was the poverty among the artisan population.

⁽⁶⁾ George IV