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Norland |
The Norland Church, Sowerby Bridge, began in the house of Mr. John Jowett, where a small company gathered together in 1862. The majority was composed of Methodists who had seceded from their Church owing to doctrinal divergencies. In 1863 Mr. Standeven, a member of Steep Lane, and a farmer at Pickwood Scar, offered his barn, where the hayloft was furnished as a meeting place. A Church numbering eleven members was constituted on March 25th, 1864; ten of the eleven were baptised on that day.Building operations were soon undertaken, and a chapel opened in October of that year. With the exception of a brief period (1886-7)-when the Church united with Sowerby Bridge under the pastorate of Rev. H. Hughes-the pulpit has been supplied by lay preachers. In 1897, alterations in the school premises were carried out; as also was an extensive scheme of renovation in 1904. At the present time a scheme for improved school accommodation has been provisionally accepted. Norland reports that its prospects are brighter than at any previous period in its history.