Description:In 1762 John Bourne, the Town Clerk of Newcastle, provided money for the building of a chapel at Lane End. By the 1790s the chapel and cemetery were in a dilapidated condition and too small to accommdate all the parishoners coming to the chapel for worship.
In 1792 the people of Longton obtained an Act of Parliament for 'Rebuilding the Chapel, and Enlarging the Chapel Yard of Lane End'. A copy of this Act survives in the Sutherland Papers, telling us about the history of the Chapel at Lane End at the end of the eighteenth century.
The document states that the Chapel was 'too small to contain the Number of Persons who reside within the said Chapelry'. In addition, the building had 'gone greatly to Decay, and become so ruinous' that worshippers could not 'without Danger, attend Divine Service therein'.
For the 'Convenience and Safety' of the people of Longton, the Act outlines that it was necessary 'that the Whole or the greatest Part of the said Chapel should be taken down, enlarged, and re-built'. The Chapel Yard or Cemetary was also 'too small for the decent Interment of the Dead' and the document states that it 'should be enlarged'.
Granville Leveson-Gower (1721-1803), Marquis of Stafford, is named in the document as a Trustee 'for putting this Act, and the several Powers herein contained, in Execution'. Sir John Edensor Heathcote, owner of the Manor of Longton was also named as a Trustee alongside the Marquis.
Each of the Trustees named were to subscribe 'of the Sum of Forty Pounds and upwards' to finance the work outlined in the Act. The names of the Trustees who donated money were to be recorded 'in the Book of Orders' so that the they would 'at all future Periods of Time be better known and remembered'.
The Trustees had numerous responsibilities outlined in the Act, including overseeing the construction of 'a Dwelling House and other Buildings and Conveneiences for the Use, Occupation, and Accommodation of the Curate or Clergyman' of the Chapel.
The Act also states that the new Chapel was to be named 'the Chapel of Lane End, and called the Chapel of Saint John the Baptist'.
To read more of the Act, including regulations concerning pews in the Chapel and the duties of the Curate and Chapel Wardens, click on the images on the left.