Some of Liverpool’s most revered families are buried in the grounds of the chapel
19:00, 16 Sep 2025Updated 19:53, 16 Sep 2025
Ancient Chapel of Toxteth(Image: Shared Content Unit)
Anyone driving, cycling or walking down Park Road towards Aigburth on any given day, will pass an old building which, for most people, rarely solicits any more than a glance. It’s the Ancient Chapel of Toxteth, and while it might not look much different from any other old chapel, it has links to a disturbing series of events which took place across the Atlantic.
In 1611, a group of Puritan farmers built a school in Toxteth, appointing a 15-year-old Richard Mather as its master. He subsequently went to continue his education at Oxford University before being asked to return, by which time a chapel had been built. Mather preached his first sermon on November 30, 1618 and became ordained in the Church of England.
However, a nonconformist preacher, he was suspended from the ministry twice – in 1633 and again a year later.
In 1635, he emigrated to New England with his wife and children Samuel, Timothy, Nathaniel, and Joseph, almost dying when a hurricane struck while the vessel approached the shores of the New World.
Mather went on to become a celebrated Puritan Minister and teacher in colonial Boston, Massachusetts until his death in 1669.
The Rev Richard Mather, the first Minister of the Ancient Chapel of Toxteth(Image: Andrew Teebay/Liverpool Echo)
His son, Increase Mather, was also a Puritan Minister in New England and become involved in the Salem Witch trials, as did his own son Cotton Mather (Richard’s grandson) who gave them his unwavering support.
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than two hundred people were accused of practising witchcraft during the trials.
Arrests were made in a number of towns beyond Salem and Salem Village – known today as Danvers. 30 people were found guilty, nineteen of those were executed by hanging (fourteen women and five men). One man was tortured to death for refusing to plead while at least five others died in jail.
The trials and executions all took place in Salem Town. It’s noted as an act of mass, religious hysteria and is the deadliest witch hunt in the history of colonial North America. Many historians consider the trials to have been highly influential on the history of the United States.
The events of the witch trials now serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of isolation, religious extremism, false accusations, and lapses in due process.
Back in England, by 1662 the ancient chapel had a Presbyterian minister named Thomas Crompton who was joined by another dissenter, Michael Briscoe.
The Ancient Chapel of Toxteth
In 1672 the chapel was enlarged to accommodate dissenters from central Liverpool. But as more chapels were built it became neglected and fell into disrepair. In 1774 it was partly rebuilt and a porch was added in 1841.
Some of Liverpool’s most revered families have been laid to rest at the chapel, which still holds services on some Sundays. There is a Heritage Open Day at the Ancient Chapel of Toxteth on Saturday September 20 from 10am until 4pm.