RIVINGTON PARISH, lying north of Manchester and on the extreme edge of the diocese, is a place in which pleasure seekers and those who like to drink in the beauties of Nature have always delighted to roam.

The earliest reference is a deed of 1280 ( Towneley Manuscript M.S. G.G. 1659 )
Which mentions three acres of terra ecclesiastical in Rivington.According to the Great Inquest of 1212, Alexander Pilkington held his land in Rivington in thaneage, a pre-Conquest form of tenure. ( Testa de Neville ii, fo. 826. Record Office, London ).
Other indications of a Saxon community are the Tithe Barns at Rivington Hall and Great House Farm, and what is believed to be a Saxon Font, found in the locality, and given to the Rev. G.E.Owen by Charles Sixsmith of Anderton, and which is now housed in the Millennium Room at the Church.
Some of the window lintels appear to Saxon in origin. Although not mentioned in the Domesday Book the foundation of the church is lost in antiquity but what is certain is that a church, or chapel existed on the site of the present building, long before it was rebuilt in 1541 by the inhabitants, led by the Lord of the Manor, Richard Pilkington.
It was consecrated by Bishop Bird of Chester in 1541. It has no patron saint and is not named after any saint or martyr. It has been variously called St. Lawrence, St. George, Holy Trinity, and St. Catherine, but it's correct title is Rivington Church.
In 1565 Jacobus Pilkinton (James Pilkington), now Bishop of Durham had started to make plans for a school in Rivington, his home town.
The status of the Bishop of Durham was one of the highest ranking in the Church and his influence led to the founding charter of the Rivington Church in 1566.
The present north wall is the original wall of the building.

When repairs were being carried out to the flooring, a few years ago, the foundations of an earlier building were discovered, possibly Saxon in origin.
There are early graves under the wooden floor of the Church, one of whom is Richard Pilkyngton. The earliest gravestone now in the churchyard is marked 1616.
The earliest memorial in the church is dated 1627

In 1628, the joint holders of the Rivington Estate, Thomas Breres and Robert Lever laid claim to the Church and Churchyard of Rivington, so a Petition was sent by Richard Simm, Churchwarden, and other inhabitants to Bishop Bridgeman of Chester, pointing out that long before the inquisition of office in 1551, the inhabitants had built the said chapel upon a little toft and quillet of land at their own expense, and had worshipped there for many years of antiquity
Bishop Bridgeman recognised the validity of the Petitioner protest, and dismissed the claim of Breres and Lever.
Interestingly, Bailey's Dictionary of 1735 defines toft as a messuage or house, or rather, a place where a messuage or house once stood indicating that there had indeed been a building on that site prior to 1551.

The building of 1551 was extensively rebuilt in 1666, when a Chancel, a north porch and a south porch were added.
In the 16th Century, Rivington was one of the six Chapelries of the Parish of Bolton, the others being Blackrod, Bradshaw, Little Bolton, Little Lever and Turton.
Rivington was created a Parish Church in 1856, and they could also select their own Minister, at their own cost, a privilege which only eleven churches in the country possessed.
The Rev. Thomas Sutcliffe the first Vicar.

Parish Church List of Ministers

In 1662 the incumbent at Rivington Church, Samuel Newton, was ejected for refusing to conform. Meetings were then held in various farms until the Chapel was built in 1703 . In later years becoming Unitarian in faith and form of worship.
Unitarians believe in the Unity or unipersonality of God, as opposed to the doctrine of the Trinity - hence the name 'Unitarian'. Unitarianism only became legal in 1813 but was particularly influential in the 19th century.

The Chapel has a graveyard. currently there are no details.