Idle Upper Chapel, old and newer
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Idle Upper Chapel, old and newer by Stephen Craven as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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Idle Upper Chapel, old and newer
Image: © Stephen Craven Taken: 4 Apr 2021
Watson gives a detailed history of the Presbyterian congregation here from the 17th century. The earliest 'Upper Chapel' was built in 1717, rebuilt in 1790 and (according to Wikipedia) rebuilt again in 1850. I presumed that this was the building seen on the left, but it seems from old maps that it stood adjacent to the road a little to the right of its successor (right) erected in 1956 and the old church was demolished at the same time. The building to the left was probably a Sunday School. The congregation eventually became part of the URC (United Reformed Church). The 1956 church by architects John Brunton & Partners was sold in 2013 to a drama school (which itself closed in 2020) and a new church building has been erected just up the road Image
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Image Location
Latitude
53.837151
Longitude
-1.73525