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Town
Gate
Churches
Schools
Mercer Hall
Library
Martholme
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GREAT HARWOOD
Churches
The Parish Church of St. Bartholomew.
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The
"OLD CHURCH"
This
is, at least, the third church on the site. Documentary evidence
of its existence begins in 1335 but its history possibly goes
back another 100 years or more.
A fire in the 15th century left only the tower standing but
the nave was rebuilt in the 16th century. The heavy, oak beamed
ceiling appears too finely worked to have been meant for what
was then a country church.
Parish Registers start in 1547.
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The
photograph above was taken before 1881 when the nave was lengthened
and the chancel added.
The
porch has stone seats, oak beams and a fine, old, heavy, nail-studded
door.
Very
much the same building but with the extension and additional
street furniture. |
 Photo Frank Cottier |
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View
from the north across the landscaped graveyard. |
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This
house was built in 1789 for the curate of Great Harwood but the
building and land was sold to the Cooperative
Society after a new vicarage was built in 1902. |
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Butts
Chapel
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John
Mercer built four houses in Delph Road with this chapel above.
The congregation had to climb two flights of steps from Delph Road
before another access was made from Commercial Road which required
them to climb only one flight.
During its existence this little chapel hosted :
1822 The Wesleyan Society.
1854 United Free Methodists.
1873 Working Men's Club and Weavers' Union.
1881 St. John's Mission Church of England followed by the Gospel
Mission then the Spiritualist Church.
1960 The Salvation Army.
It has now been demolished. |
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The
first meeting place for Congregationalists was a room above a shop
in Queen St. By 1837 this church had been built with open spaces
for use by the Sunday School until the school was built behind the
church in 1856.
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The
Sunday School became a full time school in 1866 then removed to
Barnmeadow Lane
in 1879.
A new church was built in 1888.
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A split in the Wesleyan Society had left one section homeless and in 1853 they built the Methodist Chapel on Commercial Road.
It is now a pub, Snuffies.
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Mount Zion, Cattle Street was built in 1863 when Butts Chapel became too small for the congregation but it was demolished long ago. |
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Orchard
Street Church
The
Primitive Methodists built their first church in Mercer Street
in 1865 called Jubilee Chapel. Then in 1898 they built a school
in Orchard Street. The congregation moved to the school from
the Mercer Street chapel which became a social club before being
demolished.
I
met my future wife at the Youth Club held here.
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Our Lady and St. Hubert's Roman Catholic Church |
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Image from Peter Eddleston |
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Built
at his own expense by Mr.
James Lomax, Lord of the Manor, in 1859.
St. Hubert's Road frames the church against the East Lancashire
hills.
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Russell
Place Methodist Church
The
Methodist Chapel in Commercial Road became too small so on land
bought just up the hill at Russell Place a new church and school
were built in 1885.
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The
church became too expensive to maintain, was demolished, and space
within the school was converted.
The ACME Youth Club
met here.
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St.
John's, Church of England
As
the population continued to grow a new C of E church was needed.
St. John's Mission, based at Butts Chapel, first built a
school in 1889 then St. John's "Iron Church", St. Hubert's
Road, was opened 1st April 1899.
Constructed from corrugated iron this building served the church
until the new stone building was consecrated in 1912. |
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This
was my church. I was a choir boy here which some people find difficult
to believe. It was a "nice" church but its future seems very much in doubt.
The doorway shown is to the Vestry and is where we choristers entered. |
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James
Barlow Memorial School Chapel
9th September 1903 and the Baptists moved from the house in School
Street where they had held meetings to their new home in Charles
Street.
The chapel was demolished in 1969 and the land is now a small
park. |
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Windsor
Road Wesleyan Chapel
Formed as a daughter church of Mount Zion in 1903 the building
was taken over by OXO
who built a boiler house on the site.
Eventually the Mount Zion and Windsor Road congregations joined
with the Russell Place Methodists who had demolished their church
and moved into the refurbished school. |
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St.
Wulstan's R.C. Church
Also
in 1912, to cater for the increasing R.C. population, St. Wulstan's
temporary, corrugated iron "Tin Church" was opened
on Rushton St. |
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The "temporary" structure was replace in 1936 by the present
church. |
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These
were the Places of Worship
in 1951
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United
Reformed Church
Barnmeadow Lane
Originally
the British School,
built in 1879, much of the building was destroyed by fire
in 1973. |
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As
in much of the Christian World church attendance has fallen (and
I'm in no position to criticise)
but another building has been given a new lease of life.
Immigrants from the Indian subcontinent who came to work in the
cotton mills converted the Emmanuel Free Church of England, Segar
Street into their Mosque in 1994. |
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Pentecostal
Church
A church with
cells (so I'm told). Originally this was the Police
Station, Police Street but not only has it changed use it's
changed address now it's in Townhall Street.
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The
new Spiritualist Church on Clayton Street. |
A nice mixing of religions here.
This Mosque is on the corner of Park Street and St. Edmund Street. |
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Designed and written by ifinwig
Last updated 11th June 20047th March 2007
Any rights I can claim are. Any rights belonging to others aren't
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