On Christmas Day 1822, the Prophet arrived in Ashton. This farfetched-sounding statement actually relates to the story of John Wroe, a wool-comber originally from Bradford who started receiving visions and declared that he was God’s prophet. Not only did he inspire a following at the time known as the ‘Christian Israelites’, but also raised the belief that Ashton itself was a model for the New Jerusalem! A Manchester-based academic who has looked more into this strange story is Dr Andrew Crome, Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Specialising in English religious history in particular, Andrew (pictured left) often considers how belief can connect to political actions, and its relationship to systems such as fandom, cults and apocalyptic fears. He’s also delved into the world of apocalyptic imagery used in video games and written about religion and its intersections with 21st Century popular culture; with Doctor Who being a significant interest.
With paper titles varying from ‘Implicit religion in popular culture: The case of Doctor Who’ to ‘Constructing the Political Prophet in 1640s England’ – what seems evident in Andrew’s wide-ranging research is the study of how certain figures influence and inspire belief systems. John Wroe is one such example, a self-proclaimed prophet who not only went on to set up the Christian Israelite Church in the 1820s, but inspired plenty of public attention, including the backing of some wealthy Northern industrialists. We spoke to Dr Andrew Crome to find out more…
Hello Andrew. You are a specialist in English religious history, and your wider research has considered fandom, cults and the fears of apocalypse, amongst other fascinating things. Can you tell us a bit more about some of the darker and more mysterious areas you have been exploring in recent work?
“Recently I’ve been looking at how prophecies about the end of the world influence the way that people view different religious groups, particularly how Christians and New Religious Movements view Jews and Muslims and assign them particular roles in their dramas of the apocalypse. This can lead to some particularly dark places politically – especially given that some Christian commentators argue that the Bible predicts that two-thirds of the Jewish people will be wiped out in the end times.”
Here at HAUNT Manchester, we are keen to consider Greater Manchester locations and their mysterious histories. An example of an area you have researched is Ashton, and its connections to ‘Prophet John Wroe’ – can you tell us a bit more about him?
“John Wroe was a Bradford wool-comber who started receiving visions in 1819. At the time, there were a relatively large number of followers of the Devonshire prophet Joanna Southcott in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Southcott had been a national sensation, and in 1814 claimed (as a 64 year-old virgin) to be pregnant with ‘Shiloh’, the messiah. When she died at the end of that year, several successor prophets emerged who proclaimed themselves as Shiloh, or as heralds of his coming. Wroe believed that he was a successor to Southcott, and that he would be God’s prophet in the end time. He was accepted by the Ashton Southcottians in 1822, and later moved his ministry to the town.
“Wroe’s followers were known as ‘Christian Israelites’, as they kept strictly to traditional Jewish purity laws. Most Christians believed that the Old Testament ceremonial laws no longer applied after Jesus’ coming. Wroe, however, argued that his followers were the true tribes of Israel, and therefore had to obey them to the letter. They had to follow kosher food restrictions and men forbidden to shave. This led to the group being nicknamed the ‘Beardies’. When Engels first came to Manchester, his beard led people to assume that he must be a Christian Israelite! More painfully, Wroe also insisted that men undergo the ‘baptism of blood’ or circumcision. His own procedure was a public event accompanied by a full brass band playing.
“Wroe attracted a number of successful industrialists and mill owners to his group, and they helped to bankroll several architectural projects. Wroe believed that Ashton would be the model for the New Jerusalem that would follow the apocalypse. The group completed a lavish ‘Sanctuary’ for worship, and began construction on twelve gatehouses for the twelve tribes of Israel and a wall that would surround the town.
“Although they finished several gatehouses, the full plan never came to fruition. Wroe was dogged by controversy. Followers accused him of extreme, often sadistic, discipline. Those found guilty of sin were ritually flogged by female members of the group, a punishment that raised eyebrows. In 1824, an infant the Israelites circumcised died, causing a minor scandal (especially as the operation was performed by a gentleman of considerable means, who later ended up serving as mayor of Ashton). Most notoriously, in 1829 Wroe claimed that God had told him to appoint seven virgins to serve his needs. Although he argued that this was not sexual, accusations of impropriety soon swirled around him. Riots and street battles were fought between Christian Israelites and concerned townsfolk in Ashton in 1830 and 1831 when Wroe preached, and he voluntarily left the town that year. However, although he moved his headquarters to Wakefield, he continued to visit Ashton in the following years when controversy died down. He also went on missionary journeys to the USA and Australia, where he was particularly popular. Although the last English Christian Israelite died in Hazel Grove in 1980, the group continues to exist in Australia today.”
Are there any sites or locations that people can still visit today which relate to the story of John Wroe?
“Sadly, most of the locations that are associated with Wroe are long gone. One of his ‘gatehouses’ does survive though (pictured below). This is the former ‘Odd Whim’ pub in Park Square; now converted into offices and flats. This includes a blue plaque about Wroe (Picture 1), although it wrongly claims that he was banished from the town and fled to Australia (he regularly visited Australia, but lived in Wakefield and often visited Ashton).
"Although it built after Wroe left, the Christian Israelites constructed a special printing house that they maintained well into the mid-twentieth century. This survives on Richmond Street. Other locations in Ashton have been demolished, but some of these were still important in the town’s history. The impressive Israelite worship house, ‘The Sanctuary’, later became Ashton’s first cinema, The Star, before being demolished in the 1940s. It is now the site of the Royal Mail sorting office. The venue for Wroe’s public circumcision is now the home of the Active Ashton leisure centre.
“For those who want to venture out of greater Manchester, the mansion that Christian Israelites built for Wroe in 1857 still survives near Wakefield. Named ‘Melbourne House’ to recognise the contribution of his Australian followers, it was paid for entirely by the membership. Today it serves as the offices for a telecommunications company.”
We might quickly dismiss John Wroe’s teachings today – but why did he have such a profound impact on local people at the time?
“Wroe capitalised on existing belief and excitement surrounding Southcott and the prophecies that she had made, so he had solid ground to build on. Ashton was also very poorly served by the Church of England (it had an absentee rector who paid a curate a pittance to attempt to fulfil all of his duties), and local landowners actively opposed non-conformist groups such as the Methodists. This gave the Southcottians, and later Christian Israelites, a ready audience for their preaching.
“Wroe himself was apparently quite ugly, difficult to understand, and not always a particularly engaging speaker. Despite that, followers admitted that he had a sense of tremendous authority, spiritual power and charisma. His teachings also provided a very regimented and ordered way of life, a sense of being specially selected to be among God’s chosen people, and an expectation for the coming apocalypse when justice would be delivered against unrighteousness. At a time of political and economic uncertainty, all of this was potentially appealing.”
What are your research plans for this year?
“I’m currently not looking at anything particularly dark in my research – mainly missionary periodicals and depictions of the clergy on British TV (although that does include some exorcisms!). However I am developing a new course on the supernatural in the early modern world, so that will lead me down some spookier avenues!”
By Emily Oldfield
Images 2 (the blue plaque for Wroe, which as Andrew stated above, is inaccurate) and 3 (the 'Gatehouse' constructed by the Israelites in Park Square Ashton - later the Old Whim pub) are photographs thanks to Dr Tony Shaw, used by permission.