The church was erected in 1865, opened by a celebratory service which representatives of the local Wesleyan, Baptist and Independent churches were present at. The cost of the erection of the church, school and vicarage was borne entirely by Mr. James Maden Holt and amounted, as near as can be ascertained, to £8,000, £2,000 and £1,400 respectively, exclusive of the value of the sites. When the Reverend Eddie Ashworth retired in 1999 the parish became a joint benifice with Holy Trinity Church, Stacksteads. The Church held it's final service in October 2007 and the parish merged with Holy Trinity, Tunstead.
It sucks that the iconic red carpet had gone since the site was visited consistently a few years ago. Also, the stained glass has mostly been boarded up, probably to protect it. This was a sad report to read:
https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/disgraceful-vandalism-seen-bacup-church-16175734
An external that wouldn't be possible anymore, as the small Sunday School building blocks this side of the building.
Nowadays. Note the locals that joined me on the exploration in the doorway. They spooked me a bit as I was alone when they shouted 'Police' through a gap in a window, but after seeing who it was, they were sound enough.
Inside the church...for some reason I only took central shots which I couldn't hate myself for more
The wooden ceiling is pretty impressive
A shot to finish in the Sunday School building, these two pianos weren't even too badly damaged
Here you can find the link to my documentary styled video of this exploration. We cover the church's past, present and future through cinematics and narration:
