Bolton - Religion

Religion

There is evidence from Saxon times of Christian churches and at the time of the Civil War a Puritan and nonconformist presence in the town. The Unitarians were among the early dissenting congregations which eventually included Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterian, Seventh Day Adventist and other denominations. Over 40 churches were built during the Victorian era but some are closed, demolished or put to other uses.

Today, the parish of Bolton-le-Moors covers a small area in the town centre, but until the 19th century it covered a much larger area and was divided into eighteen chapelries and townships. The neighbouring ancient parish of Deane centred around St Mary's Church once covered a large area to the west and south of Bolton, and the township of Great Lever was part of the ancient parish of Middleton.

The Parish Church of St Peter, commonly known as Bolton Parish Church, is an example of the gothic revival style. Built between 1866 and 1871 of Longridge stone to designs by Paley, the church is 67 ft (20.4 m) in width, 156 ft (47.5 m) in length, and 82 ft (25.0 m) in height. The tower is 180 ft (54.9 m) high with 13 bells. The first church on the same site was built in Anglo-Saxon times. It was rebuilt in Norman times and again in the early 15th century. Little is known of the first two earlier churches, but the third building was a solid, squat building with a sturdy square tower at the west end. It was modified over the years until it fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1866. Fragments of stone and other artefacts from these first three buildings are displayed in the museum corner of the present church.

St Mary's Deane, once the only church in a parish of ten townships in the hundred of Salford, is a church established in Saxon times. The current building dates from 1250 with extensions and restoration in the 19th century and is a Grade II* listed building.

The red-brick St George's Church was built between 1794 and 1796 when the Little Bolton area was a separate township. Built by Peter Rothwell it was paid for by the Ainsworth family. After the last service in 1975 it was leased to Bolton Council and became a craft centre in 1994.

The New Zakaria Mosque was the first mosque in Bolton and served the Muslim Community who arrived in Bolton from Pakistan and India in the 1960s. Hindus also settled in the town in the 1960s and their first place of worship was in the former St Barnabus Church that was converted to a Hindu temple.