Religion
The town has a long religious history. It was the birthplace of John James Blunt, a divine and Anglican priest. Josiah Wedgwood was a Unitarian and he and his family attended meetings at the Old Meeting House, adjacent to St. Giles' Church, which is still in use for this purpose.
The town itself has a large number of Anglican churches including St. Giles' Church, the mediæval parish church dating from 1290, as well as several Catholic churches, most notably Holy Trinity, whose style is Gothic in blue engineering bricks, described as... "the finest modern specimen of ornamental brickwork in the kingdom" at the time.
In the 18th century John Wesley made repeated visits to the area, which was becoming more industrialised. He recruited many residents to Methodism. This is reflected in the large number of Methodist churches. The largest Baptist church in North Staffordshire is in Newcastle.
Of interest also is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), located across from the Brampton Park, which serves as the 'stake centre' for the church in the region and has an on-site Family History Centre where the public can research their ancestry for little or no charge.
Read more about this topic: Newcastle-under-Lyme
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“Every religion is good that teaches man to be good; and I know of none that instructs him to be bad.”
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809)
“There is no religion in which everyday life is not considered a prison; there is no philosophy or ideology that does not think that we live in alienation.”
—Eugène Ionesco (b. 1912)
“The great end of all religion ... is to purify our hearts—and conquer our passions—and in a word, to make us wiser and better men—better neighbours—better citizens—and better servants of GOD.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)