[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by susie123

That quote was from Willow the Whisp in a 2007 thread about Hyndburn Road.

I have just been reading a book called The Baptist Churches of Accrington & District by Robert J V Wylie which was written in 1923. It was my dad's though I have no idea where it came from as our family have no Baptist associations.

The book has several chapters on Machpelah and says:

Next the river Hyndburn was an open baptistry -as near the river as it could be got. If the Hyndburn had not been characterised by two things - its shallowness and its filth,
Way back when that chapel was first opened the river was fairly clean.
the baptistry would never have been erected. It was impossible to baptise in the river, so they built a baptistry as near the river as they possibly could, and for years the open baptistry remained, but when they ceased to use it the stones were removed.

The book also says that the chapel was taken down soon after the new chapel was built in Blackburn Road (opened in April 1836) but the schoolhouse remained for some years and continued to be used for funerals. Blackburn Road was superseded by Cannnon Street in 1872.

And now the Cannon St one is on its way out.
The parishioners now attend Christ Church.
There used to be a stone plaque in the Machpelah church yard, telling the history of the grave yard, the contractors promised it would be saved, and built into the new wall, stupid sods ran over it with a caterpiller digger, and smashed it.
Retlaw.