Primitive Methodism was a major movement in English and Welsh Methodism from about 1810 until the Methodist Union in 1932. It emerged from a revival at Mow Cop in Staffordshire. Primitive meant "simple" or "relating to an original stage"; the Primitive Methodists saw themselves as practising a purer form of Christianity, closer to the earliest Methodists. Although the denomination did not bear the name "Wesleyan" (unlike the Wesleyan Methodist Church, from which they separated), Primitive Methodism was Wesleyan in theology, in contrast to the Calvinistic Methodists. Features Primitive Methodists were marked by the relatively plain design of their chapels and their low church worship, compared with the Wesleyan Methodist Church, from which they had split. Their social base was among the poorer members of society, who appreciated its content (damnation, salvation, sinners and saints) and its style (direct, spontaneous and passionate). It was democratic and locally controlled, as compared with the more middle-class Wesleyan Methodists and the establishment-controlled Church of England, which were not democratic in governance. Even so, it was too formal for some adherents, who moved on to Pentecostalism. Growth was strong in the mid-19th century, but declined after 1900 with the growing secularism in society, competition from other Nonconformisms such as William Booth's Salvation Army, a resurgence of Anglicanism among the working classes, and competition among various Methodist bodies. Gradually the differences between the Primitive Methodists and the Wesleyans lessened and the two denominations eventually merged with the United Methodists, to become the Methodist Church of Great Britain in 1932. In the United States, the Primitive Methodist Church has continued to this day, and some individual British Methodist churches also retain their Primitive traditions. Origins Primitive Methodism originated in "camp meetings" held in the area of The Potteries at Mow Cop, Staffordshire, on 31 May 1807. This led in 1811 to a joining of two groups, the 'Camp Meeting Methodists' and the Clowesites led by Hugh Bourne and William Clowes, respectively. The movement was spawned by followers of these men. Bourne and Clowes were charismatic evangelists with reputations for zeal and sympathy for ideas the Wesleyan Connexion condemned. Their least acceptable belief for the Wesleyan Connexion was support for the so-called camp meetings: day-long, open air meetings involving public praying, preaching and Love Feasts. Clowes was a first-generation Methodist convert — at the age of 25 he renounced his desire to be the finest dancer in England.