Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerk Project

Plaque at Pole Lane Graveyard Darwen

Pole Lane Chapel was built by several families who broke away from Lower Chapel and it opened on 6th May 1793 with Rev. Townsend as its minister. In 1806 he was ejected from the pulpit and left with the registers and several of the congregation to build Townsend Chapel (also known as the Refuge) which opened in 1808 in Bolton Road, Darwen. There is no image of Mr. Townsend’s Chapel but J. G. Shaw’s History and Traditions of Darwen History describes the building as plain, small and rectangular without galleries.

Both chapels continued to be used until 1822 when the two congregations amalgamated and as a result the Townsend Chapel was enlarged, improved and renamed Ebenezer Chapel (or Abenezer) which opened in 1822. Consequently Pole Lane Chapel was abandoned and closed in 1840. The date of demolition of the chapel is unknown but must have been before the OS map of 1849 was published.

The graveyard attached to Pole Lane Chapel continued to be used until the 1850s. It still contains 7 gravestones, and a copy of the transcribed monumental inscriptions is held in Darwen Library. Some of the graves were dug up when the church moved to the centre of Darwen and reinterred there. This plaque can be seen on the wall of the house adjoining the graveyard.

Due to the rapid increase in the congregation it was decided to build a new chapel on a plot of land adjacent to Ebenezer Chapel. This building was opened in 1847 and was known as the Belgrave Meeting House. It is an imposing building in the Gothic style of architecture by Edward Walters built in sandstone with roof partly of slate and partly of corrugated iron. It consisted of nave, aisles, east transept and chancel. It contained 1120 sittings and cost upwards of £8000. It was opened on the 21st October 1847 by Dr. Raffles. The main feature of its exterior is the pinnacled, gabled and arcaded screen which stands above the roof between the principal porch and the nave. The interior was surrounded with galleries. The Chapel closed in the 1970s due to the roof becoming dangerous and the congregation merged with that of Duckworth Street (now Central U.R.C.). The building was converted into apartments in the 1990s and the external features were retained. The church has a graveyard and is a Grade II listed building.