When City Speaks for County: The Emergence of the Town as a Focus for Religious Activity in the Nineteenth Century

The theme of this paper is an attempt to establish when the town emerged as a focal point for religious activity for a set district in the nineteenth century. I have some hesitations in setting about the task, for we are dealing here with attitudes, with what die French call l’histoire des mentalités, and it is not at all clear that all the evidence exists. I propose, however, to use three examples—circuit records from the Louth area of Lincolnshire, diaries (again from Lincolnshire), and a rather briefer case-study of Saint Mary’s church, Nottingham. Apart from the last, it may be agreed that these particular instances are not typical of Victorian England—that the towns are small and not industrialised, unlike Bradford or Bristol; and that the area is large and diversified unlike a county like Leicestershire where almost all roads lead to the county town. Nevertheless, both the enquiry and the range of evidence can be justified; and the conclusion—that the town emerged as a focal point for religious activities later than for other more secular functions—may be applicable to other areas.