A Church History Tour Beginning in Preston, 1 September 2014

What an amazing day!  It is hard to imagine that we actually were in Preston and Liverpool today, but we were, and learned so many facts about the early Mormon missionaries and converts here.  Heber C Kimball led this party of missionaries and he was faithful in his calling  He is important to our family through Dad:  Heber C Kimball (wife Alice Ann Gheen), son Andrew Kimball, daughter Alice Kimball Nelson, daughter Olive Nelson Brown, son Robert Edward Brown.

Heber Chase Kimball

Peter Fagg is phenominal with his knowledge of church history in England.  He met us at the accommodations center at  9 a.m. to begin our tour.  Sister Hale and I were in the back seat and he and Dad were in front; Dad the driver, and Brother Fagg the navigator.  As we traveled he told about the area, told stories of the people, and provided history, particularly about 1837, when the first missionaries came to England.

We traveled to the center of town and stopped first at Wadham Road, where in 1933, Gordon B. Hinckley received the letter from his father suggesting he forget himself and go to work in response to Gordon writing his father to say he (Gordon) was wasting his time, and he (his father) was wasting his money for him to be in Preston on a mission.  It was a turning point in young Gordon's life as he read the letter and then prayed asking for forgiveness and setting himself to the task of being a missionary.

Upper left window is the room where young Gordon knelt in prayer.

Looking through the windshield in front of Dad, is a fence around a car park.  That is the location where the Vauxhall chapel stood in 1837, the picture Peter is describing.  The first missionaries arrived in July 1837, led by Heber C Kimball.  Joseph Fielding was a member of the group and he had a brother in Preston, who briefly allowed them to preach in his Vauxhall Chapel.

During this period of time the Industrial Revolution was in motion and Preston was filled with cotton mills.  There are two remaining that have been preserved in their original state and are museums you can tour.  The mills were loud, dirty, and the workers received very low wages.  Parents and children alike worked in the mills.  The town itself was covered in suet from the factory smoke stacks.  The missionaries would come home at the end of the day and clean the black from their shirt collars and cuffs.

The white "fluff" put off from the cotton inside the mills filled the air and entered lungs, which caused serious health problems and could lead to death.  The workers were the poor people and they struggled daily to make enough just to survive.  Health conditions were non-existent and the worker's needs were of no concern to the managers.  It was to these people the missionaries came.

Preston Market Square was the center of town and where people came to make their causes or messages known and to sell or trade products.  It was here at this obelisk, that Elder Kimball and the other elders shared the good word.  The first day they came, it was in the middle of an election and various groups were gathered here and there with speeches going on.  As the missionaries stood listening, a group came up in front of them and unrolled a banner with the phrase, "Truth Will Prevail."  They liked it and adopted it as the motto of their mission to England.  Elder Hinckley also preached at this spot.

This plaque is on the obelisk.  The same symbol is found on light posts, buildings, and elsewhere as the symbol of Preston.  The "PP," stands for Prince of Peace.

Sitting on the market square is the oldest building in Preston, built in the 1500's, and houses the oldest still functioning business in Preston.  During the time the missionaries were there, there were many produce stands, flower stands, other food stuffs, and the "fresh" meat market.  The meat market was so named because the animals were butchered right there with the innards, etc stacked into piles and the odor of such filling the air.  Sanitation was unheard of which added to the pungent smells that mingled around before entering your nostrils.  

From this point, we began a walk through parts of the town.  We headed down the street, passing the first KFC that opened in England, in 1965.  Benjamin Franklin lived briefly on the site of the white building before leaving for America in 1775.

We stepped into an alley, walked passed the rubbish bins, and stood in this spot.  Brother Fagg told about the mill workers living here in small rooms barely large enough for their family.  There was no sanitation, very little clean air to breathe, and getting clean water and healthy food was almost unheard of.  It was here they came from each morning, heading to the mills to begin their day's labor.

The Corn Exchange looked like this when the missionaries arrived, minus the van in front.  The building was a place to buy and sell produce.  The building would have been black in color from the suet produced from the mills.  The whole of Preston was covered in suet and the air was filled with smoke and white fluff.  It was in front of this building the mill workers protested their wages.  One particular confrontation ended with three mill workers being shot to death.

The coal grid is found in the sidewalk in front of the door to flats.  The coal man would deposit his load in the hole, and the servant would then retrieve it from the basement to begin the fires and heating of the flats in the mornings.

The square building was standing when the missionaries were there, only it too, would be black with suet.  The building sits on the corner of Avenham Park.  The park includes a Japanese garden and runs down to the River Ribble.  It is a beautiful place and has strong ties to the church.

Well, I didn't take a photo of the tree!  Brother Fagg said the original one was stolen and the one here now is a replacement.

This plaque recognizes the tree is in honor of those first missionaries to Britain as well as all missionaries that have come here since.  That includes us-Sister Hale, Sister & Elder Brown!

Scenes of the River Ribble in Preston.  The top upper right is the site where the first baptism took place in August 1837.

The top left picture is of the tree-lined walk along the River Ribble.  The trees were donated as young saplings from the United Sates to Preston, at the end of the Civil War.  During the war the cotton industry was hampered so the Preston mills produced cotton and sent it to America during that time.  The trees were a thank you to the citizens of Preston, for their hard work and sacrifice in our behalf.  They make for a beautiful walk.  I was impressed with the beauty and serenity of the park.  Walking down the path and listening to the events that transpired here with Heber C. Kimball was most stirring.  His testimony and willingness to do as the spirit directed is strength.

The top right photo is of the house where the missionaries lived when they were attacked by evil spirits to stop the work they had begun.

Click to read the story:  http://ldsbritain.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/discovering-lds-preston-satanic-attack.html

The bottom three pictures are scenes in Preston.