St Mark, Barrow in Furness - Church of England

St Mark,
Buccleuch St,
Barrow in Furness
Lancashire

Cemeteries

The church does not have a graveyard.

Church History

It was founded in 1877. One of four new Barrow parish churches to be named after the four evangelists, whose areas were designated in 1877. Four temporary church buildings of brick and timber were built to similar designs, provided by Lancaster architects Paley & Austin. They were dedicated on 26 September 1878. St Mark's dedicated 26 Sept. 1878 by Bishop of Hereford. Consecrated 22 Nov. 1879. Suffered war damage 1941; restored 1946-51. Renovated and re-ordered in 1989.

The rapid growth of the town soon rendered more church accommodation necessary than could be given by the three then in existence, and the Dukes of Devonshire and Buccleuch, Sir James Ramsden, and other magnates of the district, realising the want, subscribed £24,000 towards the erection of four new churches. Of this sum the Duke of Devonshire furnished £12,000, the Duke of Buccleuch £6,000, and the remaining £6,000 by other gentlemen.   Four brick structures, all after the same model, were erected, and all opened on the same day (September 26, 1878), when the Archbishop of York, and the Bishops of Carlisle, Hereford, and Seder and Man officiated. The buildings are only of a temporary character, and will be replaced by more fitting edifices when the fund left out of the £24,000 has accumulated to a sufficient amount.   The churches are appropriately named after the four Evangelists.   An event so unique as the consecration of four churches will mark September 26, 1878, as a red letter .lay in the history of Barrow. The records of past ages and the annals of older towns will be searched in vain for a similar occurrence.

St. Mark's Church, in Buccleuch Street and Rawlinson Street, gives its name to one of the new parishes. This is the largest of the four, having sitting accommodation for 658 persons. The district attached to the church covers an area of 123 acres, and contains a population of 8,019. The incumbency, valued at £200, is held by the Rev. J. M. Laycock, M.A. (Cantab.) The interior is chastely decorated.   A Sunday School, with accommodation for 600 children, has been erected.

from Mannex's directory of Furness and Cartmel, 1882.

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 1878-1965
• Marriages 1879-1962
• Funerals 1953-1966

Maps

The church is located at OS grid reference SD200695. 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.

This site provides historical information about churches, other places of worship and cemeteries. It has no connection with the churches themselves. For current information you should contact them directly.