Methodist Records

Collection Policy

The national Methodist Church is divided up into districts and each district is divided up into circuits, with a number of churches belonging to each circuit. Greater Manchester County Record Offiec (with Manchester Archives) is an official repository for the Manchester and Stockport District and collects records of circuits and churches from the northern part of the District. Methodism was very strong in Manchester and the vicinity, with many churches being built during the course of the nineteenth century and many circuits being formed in all of the Methodist denominations. Manchester Archives holds records of around four hundred Methodist churches and over one hundred circuits. These records are drawn from an area that extends to Oldham in the north (but does not include Rochdale, Bury and Bolton which are in neighbouring districts), Altrincham in the south, Ashton-under-Lyne in the east and Eccles in the west. Records from certain outlying circuits are also collected, namely Glossop Circuit and High Peak Circuit, the latter covering the former New Mills and Whaley Bridge circuits and we also collect records from Romiley Circuit in Stockport.

Cheshire Record Office collects records from the most southern part of the District, covering the Alderley Edge and Knutsford Circuit and Macclesfield Circuit.

Stockport Archives collects records from the Stockport Circuit, Hazel Grove and Poynton Circuit and Bramhall Circuit.

Derbyshire Record Office collects records from Buxton Circuit.

Organisation of collections

The collections of Methodist records are based on circuits. A collection will include records of the circuit (if we have any), also records of any former circuits that amalgamated to form the new circuit and also records of churches belonging to the circuit or former circuits. This means that the reference number for a Methodist church or circuit has two components.

for example

M114 Manchester (South East) Methodist Circuit [name of the collection]

M114/1 Manchester (South East) Methodist Circuit [records of the circuit]

M114/2 Manchester (Higher Ardwick) PM Circuit [records of the circuit]

M114/3 College Chapel, Longsight [records of the church]

List of collections held by Greater Manchester County Record Office (with Manchester Archives)

• Altrincham Methodist Circuit (C18)
• Ashton-under-Lyne Methodist Circuit (L10)
• Cadishead Methodist Circuit (L40)
• Eccles Methodist Circuit (L28)
• Glossop Methodist Circuit (O5)
• Hurst Methodist New Connexion Circuit (L19)
• Hyde and Denton Methodist Circuit (C22)
• Manchester and Salford Methodist Mission (M196)
• Manchester and Stockport Methodist District (M202)
• Manchester ( Cheetham Hill and Prestwich ) Methodist Circuit (M235)
• Manchester (Chorlton and Moss Side) Methodist Circuit (M319)
• Manchester (Droylsden and Openshaw ) Methodist Circuit (M89)
• Manchester (Gravel Lane ) Wesleyan Methodist Circuit (L16)
• Manchester (Grosvenor Street ) Wesleyan Methodist Circuit (M314)
• Manchester (New Islington) Primitive Methodist Circuit (M307)
• Manchester (North) and Middleton Methodist Circuit (M80)
• Manchester (North East) Methodist Circuit (M60)
• Manchester ( Oxford Road ) United Methodist Circuit (M640)
• Manchester (South East) Methodist Circuit (M114)
• Manchester ( Stretford and Urmston) Methodist Circuit (M212)
• Manchester (Withington) Methodist Circuit (M67)
• Manchester (Wythenshawe) Methodist Circuit (M670)
• Methodist marriage registers (M275)
• Methodist marriage registers (M291)
• Mossley Methodist New Connexion Circuit (L30)
• New Mills Methodist Circuit (O8)
• Oldham Methodist Circuit (L26)
• Oldham Methodist New Connexion Circuit (L92)
• Prestwich and Broughton Methodist Circuit (L20)
• Romiley Methodist Circuit (C19)
• Saddleworth Wesleyan Methodist Circuit (L93)
• Shaw and Royton Methodist Circuit (L39)
• Stalybridge Primitive Methodist Circuit (C12)
• Stalybridge Methodist New Connexion Circuit (C14)
• Swinton Methodist Circuit (L51)
• Whaley Bridge Methodist Circuit (O7)
• Worsley Methodist Circuit (L167)

See the Pastfinder Catalogue for further details of these collections.