Oldham Preparative Meeting

The volume was found amongst Oldham Archives' uncatalogued collections. There was no indication of where it had come from. It is in good condition. Photocopying of this volume will not be permitted, but other reprographic methods may be considered upon application to the Archives Officer

<span class="wrapper"><p>Oldham Local Studies:</p> <p>Early Stages of the Quaker Movement in Lancashire by the Rev B Nightingale (RQ:E)</p> <p>Services for Truth with Friends of Oldham Meeting - A Souvenir of the Jubilee of the Friends' First Day School (RQ)</p> <p>A Retrospect of the Oldham Meeting of the Society of Friends by Joseph Ward (RQ) Memorial Inscriptions at Various Churches in Oldham by Oldham and District Historical Society (RI:RO:RQ)</p> <p>Friends' First Day School Library catalogue, 1873 (RQ:PK42) pamphlet</p> <p>Gravestones Remaining in the Society of Friends Burial Ground, Heyside (RQ:FWH:RFJ) pamphlet</p> <p>"Heyside and Quakerism" from Varley's Royton Annual, 1934 (RQ:FWH) pamphlet</p> <p>"Quakerism at Heyside" from Varley's Royton Annual, 1930 (RQ:FWH) pamphlet</p> <p>Friends Meeting House, Greaves Street, Marriage Certificate of John William Dixon and Alice Jane Gee, 26 Dec 1896 (RQ) pamphlet</p> <p>Friends Service Council, Oldham Work Camps - Reports, 1969 (RQ) pamphlet</p> <p>Society of Friends, Heyside, Burials 1665-1938: transcript and index microfiche</p></span>

Photocopying of these records might be permitted, depending on their size and condition. Please see a member of staff.

Accession 2000-015

Members of the Society of Friends (also known as Quakers) had been meeting in the Heyside area, as a dissenting group, from the 1650s. At a time of great persecution they gathered illegally in each others' homes, in places such as Brownlow Farm or a loom house at the top of Turf Lane. After the Act of Toleration in 1689, they began to meet in legally registered local accommodation.

Although the Quakers did not have a purpose-built Meeting House for the first 120 years, they did have a burial ground, given by one of the Meeting's founder members, James Sykes in 1665. As a dissenter, he was unable to bury his son, Sylvanus in consecrated ground, so he buried him in land of his own at the top of Turf Lane called Furthe New Field. From that time until the 1930s, this was the Quaker burial ground for the Oldham area.

The first Meeting House built for the purpose was constructed next to the burial ground in 1794. It served local Friends and groups from as far afield as Rochdale and Ashton. However, by the middle of the nineteenth century the Meeting was in decline. Local Quakers wanted to move in to the centre of Oldham to better-serve the needs of the expanding population there and a new Meeting House was built in Greaves Street in 1869.

Despite the small membership at Heyside, the Emmott family insisted on replacing the old Turf Lane Meeting House. In 1884, a more imposing structure was completed. However, it was only ever used for the occasional funeral and as a First Day School for local children.

In 1931, the Meeting House and burial ground were offered to Royton Urban District Council for a peppercorn rent, but they did not respond. Subsequently, the building was demolished in 1939. In the 1980s, the burial ground was offered to Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council. With financial assistance from the Manpower Services Commission it was turned in to a small park.