Showing posts with label Unitarian Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unitarian Church. Show all posts

Saturday, 2 March 2024

Todmorden Unitarian Church July 2020

Todmorden Unitarian Church is located at Honey Hole Road, Todmorden, West Yorkshire. The church was built in the memory of John Fielden, a local mill owner, social reformer, and member of parliament for Oldham between 1832 and 1847. Fielden was also a prominent member of the local unitarian movement. Building work began in 1865, paid for by his three sons, Joshua, John, and Samuel, on land the Fielden family donated; the budget was not limited by them, with the final bill over £35,000 (over £3.5 million at 2020 rates). The work was completed in 1869, with the church opening in April with a sermon preached by William Gaskell to a congregation of over 800 people.

The church continued to grow until the early part of the 20th century, when, like most other religions in the UK, congregations started to decline. As numbers decreased, it became increasingly difficult to fund the upkeep of the building, and by 1987, the decision was taken to close the main church building and move services to the nearby lodge at the entrance to the church grounds. These services continued until 1992, when the church and grounds were closed completely.

After the complete closure, the church decayed and was subject to large amounts of vandalism. In 1994, the Historic Chapels Trust took over the church, and over the next few years, they spent over £1 million on repairs.

The church was granted Grade I listed status on the 22nd November 1966, with the lodge at the entrance gaining Grade II listed status on the 22nd February 1984.

The pictures were taken with a Nikon d3300 on the 11th July 2020. They can be seen below or on Clickasnap un-watermarked and higher resolution.

This picture taken from the Rochdale Canal, looking across the Golden Lion Pub, shows the Churches Spire. Notice the guitarist sat on the bench. Copies of this image can be purchased from Photo4Me.

The Lodge, stands at the entrance to the church grounds. This was used for services after the main building closed. I believe it is now a private residence. A copy of this image can be purchased from Photo4Me.


This lamp post can be found on the main driveway, the path to the right leads through the woodland circling the eastern side of the church.


A copy of this image, plus a black and white version can be purchased from Photo4Me.

Clicking any image will open links in another window to the version on Clickasnap or the for sale version on Photo4Me.

Thanks for looking, please take a moment to check out my Zazzle stores, portfolio at Photo4Me, share and follow me on social media.

All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.




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Saturday, 8 July 2023

Fielden Square, Todmorden

Fielden Square is an area of Todmorden outside the Golden Lion Pub. Cleared to house a statue of John Fielden a local businessman, benefactor and social reformer, the area is now mainly used as a car park near the town centre. The statue was moved in 1939 to Centre Vale Park.

I took this picture on the 9th November 2013 with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. The original image had a totally flat, lifeless overcast sky so this was my first attempt at replacing a sky within an image.


Also seen in the picture, to the left the Golden Lion, the pub was closed when I took this having been badly flooded, I believe it reopened the following year. The spire that overlooks the town is that of Todmorden Unitarian Church. The Fielden family contributed to it's construction.

Clicking the image should open a link in another window to a higher resolution, un-watermarked version of the image.

Thanks for looking, please take a moment to share and follow me on social media.

The image remains the copyright of Colin Green.

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