The church always found it difficult to attract a large congregation; reasons claimed for this include its awkward location, the attraction of cheap taverns and gin shops in the area and the controversial introduction of a Ritualist, High church style of worship in the 1860s and 1870s.
Historically, monitions of a disciplinary character were used to enforce residence on the holder of a benefice, or in connection with actions to restrain allegedly unlawful ritual practices under the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874.
Other groups also make use of vestments, but this was a point of controversy in the Protestant Reformation and sometimes since - notably during the Ritualist controversies in England in the 19th century.