‘Methodism Alive’: Mass Observation's Worktown Perspective

Abstract

Abstract This paper explores the potential of the Mass Observation Archive at the University of Sussex for studying the history of Methodism in Bolton (aka ‘Worktown’) during the middle third of the twentieth century, with particular reference to the years 1937–40 and 1960, demonstrating its value for recording the lived experience of Methodism. An appendix contains three key documents, two of them relating to the work of the Victoria Hall in the Bolton Mission circuit, which was much lauded by Mass Observation.