Jubilee Primitive Methodist Church at Lord Street had it’s roots in the 1830’s when the Primitive Methodists began their work in Rawtenstall, holding meetings in various places around the town. A meeting room at Blaze Hall was taken in the 1840’s before moving to a mission room at Springside where the membership continued to grow. In the late 1850’s it became nessecery to provide better and larger accomodation, and at a meeting on August 15th 1859 it was decieded to take a site at Lord Street.

Notice to quit the Springside mission room came before the new church was complete and for a while services were held at Holly Mount School and the Sunday School held its sessions at the old Assembly Hall at Tup Bridge. The new building was licensed for worship on the 21st December 1860 and the opening service was held 23rd June 1861. The church cost £1,850 to build, of which close upon £800 was raised and £1,000 was borrowed on mortgage. For most of it’s early years the church struggled to survive and when half the membership left in 1874 a total of 59 members were left to carry on and this number had fallen to 32 members by 1892.

Though things improved through the early part of the twentieth century and the church achieved it’s centenary in 1960 the doors were finally closed after the chapel anniversary service on the 3rd October 1965. The building was demolished a few years later to make way for the town centre re-development.

Available registers

Baptisms 1861 – 1965 on microfilm at Rawtenstall Library