St John the Evangelist, Wingates in the County of -- Lancashire --

St John the Evangelist
Wingates, Westhoughton

	St John the Evangelist, Wingates, Westhoughton

	St John the Evangelist: signboard

The following information comes from the booklet ‘Wingates Church 1859 – 1959 A Short History to mark the 100th Anniversary of Wingates Church’ by L.S. Harrison of Holden Stoops Farm, Wingates, July 1959.

The foundation stone was laid on 29 May 1858 and the building designed by architect George Shaw of Saddleworth was finished in June 1859. The Rt. Rev. Dr Prince Lee the Lord Bishop of Manchester consecrated the church on 30 June 1959. The first baptisms were performed on 10 July 1859 by William Goodall, Curate. Wingates was accorded parish status on 26 March 1860 incorporating parts of Lostock in Bolton Parish to the north, and to the south the area of Westhoughton in Deane Parish that lay north of the Bolton-Wigan railway. A vicar was appointed and the church licensed for marriages in late 1860 with the first wedding taking place on 1 December 1860 between William Fowell aged 27, bachelor of the Parish of St John’s, Hulme, Manchester, Joiner, and Barbara Davis, aged 25, spinster of Wingates Parish, Domestic Servant. The churchyard was consecrated for burials on 5 May 1866 with the first interment on 9 Jun 1866. of 18 years old James Holden of Wingates, buried by the Rev. George S. Hodges.

Vicars in the first 100 years

	St John the Evangelist: interior

	The Tyldesley family memorial. 45 victims of the 21 Dec 1910 Pretoria Pit disaster lie in St John's churchyard. Miriam Tyldesley lost her husband, four sons and her brothers James and Thomas Hurst, whose memorials are also in this churchyard