History Crowfield - a frontier forest settlement's history 19th Century The gentry ran the established Christian churches and Christianity was seen as a way of moral improvement of the labourers, but it did not address the needs of the poor. Methodism with its belief in free will and that Jesus loved the poor, and importantly allowed for bigger roles for lay people met with approval in the area, which had a tradition of non-conformity. John Wesley preached in Brackley on Christmas Day 1784 and was a constant visitor along the road between Brackley and Towcester. The Brackley Methodist Church was founded in 1799 and in 1813 the chapel in Syresham was established in an old barn. The congregation quickly out grew the 50 seater chapel and in 1846 a new 150-seated chapel was built using bricks from the Crowfield brickworks. At this time the Earls of Ellesmere owned the land around Crowfield, Staplegate and Whistley. Censuses were taken every 10 years from 1801 The census of 1851 showed a remarkable thriving population in Crowfield with 37 houses and a total population of 184. Two large families were noted the Woottons and Wrightons The growth from 587 in 1801 to 1027 in 1851 for the whole of Syresham parish has been attributed to the decrease in infant mortality rate due to some improvements in sanitation, following epidemics of cholera and diphtheria in the 1830s. But almost as if the water supply couldn't support the population there was a dramatic decrease in the next 30 years (see here) The high number in Crowfield was the result of there being many freeholders, giving them the possibility of building terraces of one up one downs at right angles to the road as backland developments. With no squire to hold back development they rose as required. Crowfield at this time had its own brick works (adjoining Whistley farm), stone quarries, sand pits, lime kilns, a barn to store faggots from Whistley wood and populated mostly by labourers and wives who made lace, and the odd craftsmen including shoemakers. No evidence of a sawpit in Crowfield meant all wood would be sawn into planks in Syresham, which at the time had 7 sawyers. A bakery must have existed but where?? Sunday joints were at this time all cooked in baker's ovens on Sundays.