The Brethren were meeting here from c.1848, possibly in Wood Street where they were definitely meeting in the late 19th century. They split into the Close, Exclusive and Open Brethren; the Close Brethren were meeting in Stanley Home, North Street from c.1899-1930s, the Exclusive Brethren in Stanley Hall from the 1930s to the 1970s while the Open Brethren met at Oxford Hall, probably from the 1930s when it was built.