This book analyses the way British churches sought to meet the challenge of industrialization and urbanization during the period 1740-1865. Based on a case-study of Oldham and Saddleworth, it challenges the received view that the Anglican church in the eighteenth century was characterized by complacency and intertia, and it reveals Anglicanism's vigorous and creative response to the new conditions. M.A. Smith reassesses the significance of the centrally directed church reforms of the mid-nineteenth century, and emphasizes the importance of local energy and enthusiasm.