Places of Worship in Woodhead and Tintwistle
St. James, Woodhead.
Extracts from booklet published by Longdendale Heritage Trust.
Standing almost eight hundred feet up at the head of the Longdendale Valley, with fewer than forty people living within a four mile radius this must surely be one of the most desolate chapels in the country. It may already be well over 500 years old, since although 1487 is usually given as its foundation date, Sir Edmund Shaa, Lord Mayor of London, left money in that year to pay for a priest "in a chapel that I have made in Longdendale" who would sing his mass and say divine service for ever more.
Local rumour suggests that the fifteenth century building - probably wooden - was at Robin-i-Meers about three quarters of a mile further up the valley by the River Etherow; the dedication seems to have changed from the Blessed Virgin to St. James some time later, which might imply a new building. There are no graves before mid-eighteenth century in the present graveyard.
Extensive renovations were made to the exterior in 1910 and a number of old graves on the floor of the inside of the Chapel were removed and replaced by block flooring. A further addition was made in 1919 when Mr. Ben Crossland built the small outer porch as a memorial to the men of Crowden and Woodhead who gave their lives in World War One.
Tintwistle Independent Church.
Congregationalists are thought to have been meeting at Tintwistle since the 1660s. A new Chapel was built in 1763, and rebuilt in 1811 at a cost of £1,500. It is said that many Hadfield residents attended Tintwistle Chapel as it was easier to reach than the Parish Church in Old Glossop (especially in winter). In 1837 the building was enlarged to provide 200 seats and was re-roofed and re-seated again in 1889/90. The graveyard was extended in 1900. The chapel celebrated its 250th Anniversary in 1938 but has since been demolished and services now take place in the building in Old Road, Tintwistle which had been the Day School and Sunday School.
The church has its own war memorial.
Ebenezer Chapel, Tintwistle.
Echoes in Glossop Dale tells us that, a site having been obtained, Ebenezer Chapel was built in 1830. The reason why the chapel was erected at the extreme eastern end of the village, was that it might serve for both Tintwistle and Valehouse. Affectionately know as “Little Ebby” it had seating accommodation for 200 people.
The Chapel is now a private residence.
Christ Church, Tintwistle.
The Church was consecrated on Wednesday 11th October 1837. The cost of £2000 being raised by public subscription. The land was given by John Tollemache. The original Church had no chancel and this was built in 1860 on the site of the old vestry. The original pulpit was of a three tier design but a new one was bought in 1862 costing £6. Electricity was installed in 1935. In the Centenary year of 1937 the original communion table was replaced by a light oak rail and table, and in each corner of the chancel were two chairs of dark oak donated by Mr. & Mrs. Woodhouse when the Church was built. A small communion table lectern was given in 1944 by Mr. & Mrs. Wildgoose in memory of their son killed in the Second World War.
This Church is still in use today.
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Last updated: 12 December 2021