The process of splitting up the great Bedford Circuit which began with the severance of Northamptonshire in the year 1779 led, 14 years later, to the raising of Higham Ferrers to circuit rank (1793), and included the following places: Old Weston, Raunds, Catworth, and Hargrave. It is singular and, indeed, inexplicable that there is no mention of Rushdon (Rushden).

In the year 1798 the Kettering Circuit was formed, and to such new preaching places as were then incorporated the Higham Ferrers Circuit was added. This continued until the year 1802, when the latter was re-formed and continued so until the year 1810, when the Wellingborough Circuit was formed and Higham Ferrers was absorbed, only yo be separated in 1816.

In the year 1814 there were 22 preaching places in the Wellingborough Circuit. When in 1816 the Higham Ferrers Circuit was re-formed 13 of the preaching places were included and Wellingborough was left with the following nine places: Wellingborough, Wollaston, Irchester, Bozeat, Ashby, Barton, Finedon,Sywell, and in the following year, Harrowden.

In 1828 the Higham Ferrers Circuit consisted of 17 places as shown in the following statement of the September Quarterly Meeting at Raunds (at Mr Ekins’s):

	Quar’e			Collection
	£	s	d	£	s	d
Higham Ferrers	12	8	9
Raunds	1	14	6		7	9
Kimbolton	1	5	5		2	10
Dean	1	8	6		10	10
Irthlingborough	1	11	10		6	2
Yelden		11	1		3	6
Addington	1	14	5		1	6
Stanwick		18	6		2	10½
Swineshead		7	1		2	8
Thrapston		12	0		5	10
Ringstead	1	1	6		5	6
Riseley	1	0	0		4	0
Rushden	1	10	6
Wymington		9	6		1	0
Hargrave		10	3		7	2½
Higham Park	1	0	0
Tilbrook					4	7
				3	6	3½
From the Contingent Fund	6	18	0
	38	3	1	38	3	1
				41	9	4½

In the Preachers’ Plan for January- April 18.. there are the names of the following places:

Higham Ferrers

Raunds

Kimbolton

Dean

Riseley

Swineshead

Yelden

Higham Park

Rushden

Wymington

Irthlingborough

Addington

Ringstead

Thrapston

Stanwick

Hargrave

Old Weston

In the Preacher’s Plan for February-April 18.. in addition to the above-named there are the following five places:

Catworth

Leighton

Souldrop

Knotting

Tilbrook

The following table shows alphabetically the names and dates of places which were originally in the Bedford books and the date when they were transferred to the Higham Ferrers Circuit:

Catworth	1792	1833
Hargrave	1781	1828
Higham Ferrers	1792	1828
Old Weston	1781	1839
Rushden	1781	1828
Raunds	1781	1828

The following are the names of places in the Wellingborough plan of 1814 and the dates when they were transferred to Higham Ferrers:

Addington	1828
Dean	1828
Irthlingborough	1828
Kimbolton	1828
Ringstead	1828
Swineshead	1828
Stanwick	1828
Thrapston	1828
Wymington	1828
Yelden	1828

Woodford, which was in the Wellingborough plan of 1814, did not come on the Higham Ferrers books until June 1855. It is not mentioned in the preachers’ Plans of 1832 and 1850.

The following first appeared in the Higham Ferrers books on the dates mentioned:

Higham Park	1828
Riseley	1828
Tilbrook	1828
Souldrop	1839
Leighton	1834
Knotting	1843
Denford	1860

There is no doubt that the spirit of the times and the revolutionary ideas of the Chartist period (1840-8) and of Continental politics (1848-9) reacted on Wesleyan Methodism. The embers of old controversies—ecclesiastical, quasi-political, and personal still smouldered, and at length burst into fresh flames. From 1844 a strong spirit of opposition to the leaders of the connexion, and especially to Dr Bunting, was fanned by the circulation of anonymous “fly-leaves” of a very scurrilous character. At the same time the policy of the Conference and of the ministers in their circuits had proceeded more than was wise on the old lines.