The Cheshire village built around a mysterious castle
A new religious movement began around the castle, now encircled by the village
Mow Cop Castle(Image: StokeOnTrentLive)
Low, square bungalows nestle into the hillside past the stout Mow Cop Inn. Behind the peaked rooves, coppices hide the castle at the heart of the village.
Already high in the hills at the pub, Castle Road winds higher, past old farmhouses with neat gardens. Behind them stands Mow Cop Castle which looks ancient, like a ruined hill fort.
A round, gothic tower stands prominently above the ruin, and a huge arch evokes images of a much larger castle that might have stood behind it, but never did.
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Mow Cop Castle(Image: StokeOnTrentLive)
This hill never saw a battle, or even a watchman protecting the valley below. It was built as a picnic spot in 1754 for the residents of Rode Hall, two miles west near Alsager, Winsford historian Brian Curzon recorded in his Hidden Cheshire.
The folly itself is now almost hidden behind trees and houses in the village that surrounds it completely. In 1807, hundreds camped on Mow Cop in an event that would spawn a new branch of the Methodist religion.
The Methodist chapel on Woodcock Lane(Image: StokeOnTrentLive)
Inspired by large meetings of Methodists in the United States, and against the wishes of the church, local preacher Hugh Bourne organised a 'Camp Meeting' for local workers on the hill, in a nation still paranoid after the French revolution and wary of large crowds.
So many turned up to the meet that a four-day camp was organised a few months later. The events spawned the Primitive Methodist movement after Bourne and his followers were expelled from the church, and anniversary camps were held around the castle in 1857, 1907 and 1957.
An article on the Methodist Church's website describes it as being "like a modern festival, with lively prayer and passionate preaching the headline acts." The chapel in the village now houses a museum of Methodist relics, Curzon writes.
Old farm houses on the road up to the castle(Image: StokeOnTrentLive)
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