Oswaldtwistle and its close neighbour Church Kirk lie between Blackburn and Accrington.

	St Paul’s

Before the Industrial Revolution the main trades were weaving and agriculture but by the mid 19th Century the cotton textile industry dominated the town with spinning and weaving mills, print and chemical works. There were also coal mines and stone quarries. The town was connected to the coast by the Leeds and Liverpool canal and Church and Oswaldtwistle share a station on the line between Preston and York.

James Hargreaves, inventor of the Spinning Jenny, was born in Stanhill and Robert Peel, the father of the famous Prime Minister, also came from Oswaldtwistle and made the family fortune by revolutionising the calico printing process.

Before 1837 the Parish Church for Oswaldtwistle was St James’ at Church Kirk, but with the growth in population due to industrialisation a new Parish Church of Immanuel was built in New Lane. This had Chapels of Ease at St Mary’s (Cocker Brook) , St Andrew’s(at Hippings) and St Michael’s(Belthorn). Other Anglican churches included St Oswald’s (Knuzden Brook) and St Paul’s (Foxhill Bank).

	St Mary’s

Non-conformism was strong in Oswaldtwistle. The Wesleyan Methodists were represented at Hippings/Mount Pleasant , York St. and Green Haworth. The Primitive Methodists had chapels at Foxhill Bank, Melbourne St, and Union Rd . The United Free Methodists had chapels at Stanhill, Knuzden Brook and Moscow Mill St.

There have also been three Congregational Chapels, several Independent Chapels and a Swedenenborgian Chapel. The Roman Catholic Church (St Mary’s) was opened in 1897.

Further details on the location of the records for these churches can be found on the GENUKI Oswaldtwistle pages and also on the Finding Folk pages of the Lancashire Record Office at Preston.