Tolpuddle Redresses History

Benny Hazlehurst, Vicar of Tolpuddle, writes:

On Wednesday 15th April at 6:30pm, almost 200 years of divided Christian witness in Tolpuddle were brought to an end!

In the Methodist Chapel a Covenant was signed by representatives of the Methodist Church and the Church of England, committing us to work and worship together in our witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bishop of Sherborne, Graham Kings, and the Chair of the Southampton District of the Methodist Church, Rev Dr Andrew Woods, helped to lead our celebration, which continued in the parish church after a procession from the chapel through the village.

The Covenant enables regular Methodist worship to resume in the village at the Parish Church 6 times a year on Sunday mornings, and 3 services each year at the Chapel around particular themes.

The relationship between the Chapel and the Parish Church has not always been a cause for rejoicing of course. As in many parishes, the emergence of Methodism was highly controversial, and the Church of England frequently made life very difficult for these "dissenters" as they were called. In Tolpuddle, this acquired greater significance with the story of the Martyrs.

In 1832 the Vicar of Tolpuddle, the Rev Thomas Warren, betrayed the agricultural workers of Tolpuddle. He did this by first acting as a witness to an agreement between farm labourers and land owners for a fair wage, and then denying any such agreement, when the land owners went back on their promises.

This betrayal was especially bitter as a number of the men who were to become the Tolpuddle Martyrs were Methodists, and George Loveless was a gifted and intelligent Methodist Lay Preacher. Feelings undoubtedly ran high at this betrayal, and it is perhaps symbolic in Tolpuddle that the Parish Church and the Methodist Chapel are at opposite ends of the village! To add insult to injury, George Loveless, after his release and return to England, found himself repeatedly maligned by Anglican Clergy, resulting in his famous letter to the Vicar of Hazelbury Bryant, "A Church Shown Up" with its swingeing account of the failure of the Church of England of the time to minister and care for ordinary working people.　

Much time has passed since then, and any animosity has long gone within the village. Since I came in 2005, I have been very pleased, as the present vicar, to be involved in the Martyrs Festival in any way I could, but I have sometimes detected some suspicion towards the Church of England as I welcomed Trades Unionists into the churchyard for the wreath laying at Hammett’s grave. As a result, I took part in the wreath laying for the first time in 2008 (facilitated by our Methodist brethren) laying a ‘wreath of repentance’ for the Church of England’s betrayal of the Martyrs and local labourers.

Time has also passed for the Methodist Chapel, and last year it was decided that regular monthly services at the chapel could no longer be sustained. Indeed a number of the congregation at St John’s had been supporting the services there for some time to help make them viable.

But Tolpuddle and the story of the Martyrs are deeply rooted in the soul of Methodism, and it seemed a tragedy that this might be the ‘beginning of the end’ for Methodist worship in the village. So discussions began between myself & Rev Paul Arnold, the Methodist Superintendent and the idea emerged of a Covenant between St John’s Parish Church and the Methodist Circuit. We would promise to work together as Christians to ensure the continuation of Methodist worship in the village, and seek other opportunities to celebrate our fellowship together.

The result is a Covenant, which in many ways builds on the National Covenant signed between the Church of England and the Methodist Church in 2003 by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the President of the Methodist Conference.

So on the 14th April we made our promises to each other, to work and worship together, and celebrate all that God is doing among us. Many people from the village, the Benefice, the Circuit and further afield joined us on a momentous day in the life of Tolpuddle.