Emmanuel, Barrow in Furness - Congregational

Emmanuel,
Abbey Road/Ainslie St,
Barrow in Furness
Lancashire

Cemeteries

The church did not have a graveyard.

Church History

The congregation began meeting at the Town Hall in 1874 and a chapel in Ainslie Street opened on 2 March 1876. A larger extension facing onto Abbey Road was commenced 29 May 1899 and opened on 1 November 1900, the name 'Emmanuel' being adopted at this time, whilst the original chapel reverted to the status of a hall.

In 1931 Emmanuel was joined by the congregation from the closed Hindpool Road Congregational Church.

Faced with heavy repair bills, Emmanuel United Reformed Church closed in 1991. The remaining congregation moved in to share the nearby Abbey Methodist Church, which was subsequently re-branded as Trinity Church Centre, being jointly run by both denominations and with each taking turns in the choice of minister. The Emmanuel church building was totally demolished in April 1993, and the site was redeveloped in 1994 to provide sheltered flats for the elderly.

Nonconformists.-Dissent in its various forms soon showed vitality in this infant town. A population so heterogeneous, and drawn from every quarter of the three kingdoms, was certain to contain persons professing every phase of Nonconformity. As rapidly as grew the town, so rapidly did the disciples of Wesley increase, and they now form a very numerous and influential body in the town. They have a large number of places of worship, some of them both spacious and handsome, and containing a vast amount of sitting accommodation. The first chapel erected by them was the Congregational, in Hindpool Road, built in 1857. This soon proved too small for their increasing numbers, and was superseded in 1863 by the present commodious structure, raised at a cost of £2,000. It is built of red brick, with stone dressings, and is of the Gothic style of architecture, and will seat about 550 persons. Below the chapel are a school-room and four vestries. The erection of the first chapel was mainly due to the efforts of the Rev. J. Brown, of Ulverston. Previous to this time Barrow had only been a preaching station of the Lancashire Congregational Union. In 1873 it was found necessary, in consequence of the crowded state of the present building, to form the nucleus of another church. Services were held in the Town Hall; a plot of land was secured at the junction of Ainslie Street and Abbey Road, and the erection of schools forthwith commenced. A second Congregational Church was formed, and the services are now held in the school-room until the erection of the church on the adjacent plot of ground. The present minister is the Rev. M. Braithwaite, who succeeded the Rev. Mr. Fothergill in 1877.
from Mannex's directory of Furness & Cartmel, 1882

In 1972 the Congregational church joined with the English Presbyterian church to become the United Reformed Church.

Church Records

Whilst every effort has been made to record exact details of record office and library holdings you are recommended to check with them before visiting to ensure that they do hold the records and years you wish to examine. Similarly check with transcript publishers to ensure they cover the records and years you require before making a purchase.

Original registers

The Cumbria Record Office, Barrow hold:

Baptisms 1874-1965
Marriages 1874-1991
Burials 1873-1938

Maps

The church was located at OS grid reference SD202700. You can see this on maps provided by:

this church marked on a Google map. (Use this to report a corrected location)
Old Maps
Streetmap.co.uk.
multimap.com.
www.magic.gov.uk
Google maps showing nearby churches with satellite image option.

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[Last updated: Friday, 05-Sep-2008 13:41:31 BST - Phil Stringer]