The history of Mow Cop.

The Castle was built as a summerhouse in 1754 for Randle Wilbraham I of Rode Hall. It was built to look like part of a castle of a bygone era, and would have enhanced the view of the newly constructed Rode Hall some 3 miles away on the Cheshire side of the hill. Mr. Wilbraham employed local stonemasons John and Ralph Harding. It is said they were paid 1 shilling a day, and one of the members of the family lost a hand while constructing the castle. The Wilbraham family used the summerhouse for picnics and entertaining friends on days out. In the early part of the 19th

The first Primitive Methodist Chapel was built on Mow Cop was in 1841 just twelve months prior to St Thomas and The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel. It was at first a much smaller building than today and was built just behind the site of the Coronation Mill. By 1857 it was to small for their purposes, and so a larger Chapel was built 100 or yards away next to Pointons Farm. Incidently this is where the Primitive Methodist movement began in 1801. It took three years to build and was ready by 1860. Unfortunately by 1882 it was rebuolt due to storm damage. The original date state from the 1841 Chapel was secured in 1903 and inserted in the side of the new Chapel.

In 1907 the Primitive Methodists celebrated their centenary with Camp Meetings up and down the country, it was however to be another spectacular day at Mow Cop with an estimated attendance of 100 000 people. The meeting started on the Saturday May25th and continued to Monday May 27th. There were over 80 speakers invited, these would conduct their brief sermons at four different stands and in two tents. On the Sunday morning joint services were held in Tunstall and Crewe and a mass meeting on Mow Cop at 6:30am

TO THE GLORY OF GOD" Camp meeting near this spot on May 31st, 1807, began the Religious Revival led by Hugh Bourne and William Clowes known as Primitive Methodism