In the early 1950s, American filmmakers made series of shorts to illustrate how the UK was recovering after the war. This example features aspects of the life of a Vauxhall foreman, Cecil Pattenden. In the film we see a good number of Luton landmarks - Stopsley in particular. The pub, corner shop, church, Dunstable Downs, ...
Letter to Sunday School parents informing them about church closure. In 1959 the decision was taken to close the church and sell the premises. Luton Borough Council would allow industrial use for two years otherwise the building would have to be used for worship or the site for private housing. The buildings were valued at £5,000. ...
Vacant site in North Street with 6 cottages in background before transfer. Possibly the minister and daughter on LHS.
1950 photograph showing The Rabbit and left hand side of the chapel. Also featured is a gas fired lamppost.
Complaint letter from AH Dunham, 1 North Street, baker and confectioner. Dispute regarding nuisance being caused in right of way.
Ordnance Survey map 1900 showing Wesleyan church still in place 13 years before the move across the road.
1880 Ordnance Survey map of junction of North Street with Old Bedford Road. Shows the 1870 chapel with capacity for 205 and a Sunday school at the rear. The site of the 1913 chapel is vacant in front of 5 cottages. The map also shows The Rabbit pub, built in an area known as Coney Hall, ...
North Street Wesleyan Methodist church was built in 1871 and was part of the Luton Wesleyan Circuit The chapel was on the other side of the street and virtually opposite the later chapel. It cost £500 to build. In 1880 the chapel joined the newly formed Waller Street Wesleyan Circuit. By the 1913 the decision had ...
Salvation Army in front of the church, Luton
St Mary's Church, Luton, in Spring
The church’s magnificent stone baptistery, with the font inside it is very rare. Many fonts have a grand cover, this is the only one in England to have a walk-in stone canopy. An extended family along with godparents gathering to baptise a child can all fit inside! The baptistery would once upon a time have been richly (or some would say gaudily) painted and with ...
Application to Wesleyan HQ for North Street church to sell old building and build a bigger new one. By the 1913 the decision had been taken to sell the old chapel which was “no longer suitable” and there was the “necessity of providing a more commodious building”. The average attendance at services was then 250 people, ...
Interesting details of income and expenditure for an Edwardian church