funeral sermon for Lady Margaret.^220 Hoghton Towers also became a meeting place
for nonconformist ministers both before and after the Ejection of 1662.^221
While Weddicre Woods and presumably the Darwen River at Hoghton
Towers held a special place in Ambrose’s life there were other significant places as
well. William Bagshaw records the conversation he had with Ambrose in Manchester
regarding his departure from his first church at Casteleton, “[a]t that time his love to
Castleton (upon mention of it) revived, Tears shot into his Eyes, and from his Mouth
fell this ingenuous Acknowledgement: It was my Sin (and is my Sorrow) that I left
that place when the Lord was blessing my Ministry in it.”^222 Ambrose mourned the
loss of his first congregation. It appears his premature departure caused him to limit
or at least minimize his experience of God. Bagshaw then adds, “[m]ay this be a fair
warning to others, that they be not hasty in removing from their People.”^223 This
reveals the possibility of a vital relationship that can exist between a minister and the
church he serves.
Expanding with a greater concentric circle from Ambrose’s house yet still
within Lancashire is the development of Presbyterianism in 1646. Next to London,
Lancashire had the best-developed expression of Presbyterianism.^224 Ambrose
became part of the Presbyterian movement, though he was already active in serving
on a committee to distribute relief due to pestilence and poverty. He also served as
(^220) Ambrose, Redeeming the Time (^) , 27.
(^221) Miller, Hoghton Tower, 123, 180.
(^222) Bagshaw, De Spiritualabus Pecci, 23. It is likely that this meeting took place on
July 16, 1658 when Bagshaw preached before the Presbyterian ministers in
Manchester. Brentnall, 223 Apostle of the Peak, 31.
224 Bagshaw, De Spiritualabus Pecci, 23.^
Shaw, For Presbyterianism in Lancashire see Smithen, Minutes Manchester Presbyterian Classis. Lancashire Presbyterianism and