From 1740 evangelists led by one David Taylor had been at work in Lancashire, Cheshire and Derbyshire and an evangelical congregation had been established in Dukinfield.
Taylor became acquainted with Revd Benjamin Ingham, Vicar of Ossett in Yorkshire, who was a keen supporter of the Moravian Church.
At the same time, the Bishop introduced the man chosen to be Dukinfield's Minister, Francis Oakley of St John's College, Oxford.
In 1758 larger Houses were built and consecrated, the Sisters on the North side of the church and the Brethren on the South.
[4] Dukinfield was vigorous in its mission work, establishing preaching stations in Padfield, Hayfield, Bullock Smithy (i.e., Hazel Grove), Mobberley, Macclesfield and Manchester.
[5] Work at Clarksfield in Oldham ultimately led to the creation of Salem Moravian Church in 1825.
Accordingly, the 'Provincial Helper' or superintendent of the Moravian work in Britain, Br Benjamin La Trobe, found new land at Fairfield in Droylsden on a 999-year lease.
[7] Despite the removal of the settlement to Fairfield, the worship in Dukinfield continued and in July 1788, Br Samuel Watson was sent to serve as Minister.
Gas lighting for the chapel was provided in 1841 at a cost of £15 5s and in the same year a heating stove was installed.
[9] Br Charles E Sutcliffe, who was Minister from 1852 to 1870, was a powerful evangelical preacher and his sermons attracted many new members.
The 1826 church building proved inadequate and so on 6 August 1859 the foundation stone of a new chapel was laid by Br Lees of Hey.
He had been educated at the Moravian school in Fulneck, Yorkshire and had served as a teacher at the Church's academy in Gracehill, Northern Ireland.
This was a cause of complaints from the church committee in regard to smoke from a low chimney, which was eventually raised, and noisy workmen who disturbed Sunday services.
More serious perhaps was an explosion on 21 September 1854, which threw the mill's steam boiler through the air towards the Minister's House.