Early Methodist meetings were not actually regarded as “churches” as the Methodist movement was still within the Church of England. Chapels or meeting houses were not even licensed in the way that the law required of nonconformist meetings, as members were expected to show loyalty to both the Methodist meeting and the Established Church.

Rather than being a “church” the High Legh meeting was a “society” (in common with all Methodist groups). Betty Okell was a widow at only 39 years of age when she first opened her home to the Methodist meetings in 1783. These “Northwood” meetings were hosted by Betty Okell for five years before she died in 1788.

In the early years of the Nineteenth century, the meeting welcomed a young worshipper who was destined to become one of the greatest Christian missionaries of the nineteeth century. Robert Moffat was a gardener at the East Hall, High Legh. After training for missionary work in Manchester, he went to South Africa, where he founded a major mission centre and went on to make the first translation of the Bible into a sub-Saharan language. Moffat was the inspiration for David Livingstone who became his son-in-law.

When the Okell family home had to be demolished in 1873, services transferred to Northwood Lane Farm about a hundred yards away. It was here that the Sunday gatherings were known as “the Okells’ meeting”. All those attending were farmers and their workers. The dairy was full every week and an overflow “sitting” was held in an adjoining room. Finally, in 1921, the present building was bought and this became the church’s home until 1996.