A Methodist Church started in Reddish with 'Cottage Meetings' at Brook Green Farm which was situated behind what is now the Bulls Head Hotel. Many of these meetings were held above the Aspinal Smithy which was situated at the end of Brook Green Lane. The smithy was owned by John Aspinall from where it seems the name Aspinal originated. These meetings followed a series of visits to Stockport by John Wesley; he visited the town on 24 occasions during his ministry, the last being in 1790.
The cottage meetings became a focal point of Christian Fellowship and in 1800 the Stockport Circuit took charge of the small enthusiastic society. A circuit plan of this date list "Aspinal Smithy" with a fortnightly service. Challenging local disfavour the Church was registered in 1806 and the first Chapel opened in 1808 with 26 members. It was a family church and for the records of the society show family descent that can be traced to the present day.
The growth of Methodism in the area was such that the original building soon became too small, and a scheme was launched in 1875 to remedy this, resulting in the building of a Chapel which cost £3000, this was large enough to hold 350 people.
The Church continued its growth involving the congregation in much cultural activity, especially music and the Chapel Anniversaries, Choir Sermons and Sunday School Anniversaries which were highlights for miles around.
The need for larger Chapel became so important that, in 1906, Reverend Hugh Saunders was appointed to take charge and in 1907 he imitated the plans for a new Chapel. This resulted in the building of the Centenary Chapel in 1907; the building seated 850 people and crowned a century of Christian Witness in the area.
In 1912 a Grand Floral Bazaar was held to increase church funds and the Church continued to serve the area well.
In 1958 the 150th Anniversary of Aspinal Church was celebrated with a huge festival, the service was attended by many dignitaries, these included the Lord and Lady Mayoress of Manchester Alderman Leslie Lever and Mrs Lever, the Mayor and Mayoress of Stockport Alderman F. Cross and Mrs Cross, Chairman of Denton UDC Councillor. F. Ainsworth and Mrs Ainsworth, Chairman of the Manchester and Stockport Methodist District the Rev. J. Herbert Price, Superintendent of Stockport Tiviot Dale Methodist Church the Rev. G. Geoffrey Pinder and Circuit Stewards Mr. A. Smith and Mr. F. Larder. The Preacher for the services was Reverend R.L. Mitchell and the Gorton Philharmonic Orchestra was in attendance.
The Centenary chapel's size was beginning to cause concern as the expense of maintaining such a large church continued to grow. The Sunday school was damaged by fire rendering it almost unusable so a decision was taken to sell part of the land and to rebuild the church as a multifunctional building.
In 1971 the foundation stone was laid for the new church, this stone having been taken from the base of the front from the 1910 building. The new church was designed by Mr. T. Howcroft and the built by William Thorpe.
The last service in the Centenary Chapel took place on the 6th August 1972 when the preacher was Reverend G. Wakefield, this was followed on the 13th August by the first service in the new Church and in 1974 a Sunday School room was added so that the Sunday School could continue to be held during the morning service.
Church life continued in spite of the mixed feelings about the dual purpose building which "did not feel like a Church" to many of the older members. During the years that followed Mr Leslie Deakin joined with other to set up "Friends of Aspinal" in an effort to involve local people in the life of the Church. This group produced a Newsletter which was sold locally giving news of the activities of all groups within the Church Family.
Another innovation for the Church was joint fundraising, with all groups joining together in the organisation of Spring and Autumn Fairs, Arts and Crafts Competitions, Jumble Sales and many other events. Social evenings were held and enjoyed by the many members who attended.
A Shell Group was opened for the children and young people, again run by Leslie Deakin. This thrived for quite some time with lots of children from the neighbourhood joining in the fun and attending Church services.
The early nineteen brought more involvement with Aspinal Day School. Rev. Will Hunter served on the Board of Governors and worked with the Head Teacher to increase the spiritual aspect of school life.
It was during this period that the Boys Brigade was established. Mr Stephen Mather the Commanding Officer and Rev. W. Hunter was Chaplain. The Brigade continues but with a much smaller membership.
As the building was being well used the women demanded more suitable facilities for catering to upgrade the ancient cooker which was well past its best, so eventually a superb new kitchen was fitted, complete with a refrigerator which was luxury indeed!
Over more recent years the Sunday School numbers have decreased, as has the size of the congregation; this had led to the number of Ministers in the Circuit being reduced. The minister is now shared with three other Churches and Sunday Services being held around the area.
About the cache:
This is a micro cache, placed just outside the church building. You will need to bring your own pen/pencil and tweezers to extract the log.
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For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him at churchmicro.co.uk
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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