MINISTER Charles Sagar returns on Sunday to the chapel where Nonconformism was first 'legally' established in Darwen – more than 300 years after his death.

Former Blackburn with Darwen Councillor Simon Huggill will tell Sagar's colourful story in period dress and backed by music from the time.

Simon said: "There will be something for everyone, especially youngsters. Many of them will know the story of Charles I who lost his crown and his head and many will be aware of the many years of religious intolerance. It's a fascinating period of our history – and East Lancashire was at the heart of it all."

Charles Sagar was born in Burnley in 1636. He was the son of a farmer and was a brilliant student at Burnley Grammar School, going on to study at St John's College, Cambridge.

He returned to East Lancashire and became a leading light in the Nonconformist struggle for acceptance. In January 1656 he was appointed "Schole Master" at Blackburn Grammar School where he was very well thought of by everyone.

In 1662, however, Nonconformists were prohibited by the Act of Uniformity from holding appointments in public schools. Sagar resigned but it took four years for the resignation to take effect as the governors thought so highly of him. He spent 20 years running a private school for the children of local gentry in the Blackburn area while preaching to followers in the surrounding hills and moorland.

His "great enemy" Major Nowell of Read had him imprisoned for six months for "unlawful preaching" but his faith and his courage were undimmed. Sir Charles Hoghton of Hoghton Tower was an old friend.

The Darwen and Bolton areas were hotbeds of Nonconformism at this time and meetings were held in the open, often high on windswept moorland. Thomas Jollie was pastor at Wymondhouses on Pendle Hill and Sagar, who lived in Blackburn, was minister at Lower Chapel when it was housed in "Bottoms Barn". He died at the age of 61.

Simon Huggill, an engineer and teacher by profession, is a researcher of Nonconformist and Methodist history and lives in Darwen. He is a preacher, local Methodist property steward, and secretary of Blackburn Civic Voice. He bought Lower Chapel soon after it closed as a place of worship in 2003 and he has been renovating it for several years.

Lower Chapel was built in 1719, and it became the centre of the enormous growth in the 18th century of Dissenters, as they became known, across East Lancashire. It was an exciting and dangerous time and several artefacts from those days will be on display on Sunday.

Visitors will be able to see a Jacobean Bible box, a period sword, and 17th Century books that would have interested Charles Sagar. There's a buffet tea and money will be raised to support the Tearfund campaign to combat child slavery. The "Come and Meet Charles Sagar" event is at Lower Chapel, Darwen, on Sunday from 2.30 pm.