A Short History of Inskip Baptist Church

In the Domesday book the ‘Manor of Inskip’ is mentioned, but at that time the nearest church was at St. Michaels, already 400 years old. In 1629 the first Nonconformist Church in the district, Elswick Congregational Church, was built. The minister of Elswick Church, during an awakening in the district was baptised in 1795, as a result of which a group of like-minded souls began meeting together first at Roebuck, then later they moved to Inskip. Many baptisms were conducted in the River Brock in 1815, and the meetings took place in a thatched cottage near the site of the present Anglican Church.

The Chapel was built in 1817,the first Baptist Chapel in the Fylde peninsular, and the only one in West Lancashire from Lancaster to Lytham until 1859. The first baptism, that of Mr. Richard Crook, took place at Inskip mill dam – in January! Not long after his father and two brothers followed in his footsteps. Sadly he died all too soon in 1824, and his gravestone is to be seen behind the chapel.

The Church flourished in a village of slowly dwindling population 800 in 1815 down to half that number a hundred years later. The chapel was extended in 1854 with a porch, vestry and Sunday Schoolroom, the minister’s Manse being built in 1837. A daughter chapel was built in 1870 in Great Eccleston (now a private dwelling) three miles away, and services were divided between the two centres.

Many surnames appear again and again in the church records of families that are still in active service today. The Crook family were there almost from the start followed in 1843 by Rowes, in 1853 by Porters and in 1875 by the Roskells. The fellowship was always noted for its friendly, caring spirit, its hospitality and cleanliness, and its support for missionary work. It continues as a Bible based church to present the Gospel of Christ in today’s world.

The church ran a four day convention in 1917, to thank God for 100 years of Christian witness in the area. it was so well received that it was repeated the following year and in total ran for 101 years. The church felt that it was time to do something new and so in 2018 the convention was closed.

When the church held its bi-centenary, a book written by Rev A J Long in 1917 recording the history of the chapel was reprinted, still retaining the old title ‘Hitherto’ and copies are still available.

The area is now changing and new houses are being built next to the chapel. What was once a rural chapel is now slowly becoming part of Preston’s urban sprawl. Just a few miles from the chapel is the fracking centre of the north west of England. Who knows what this area will look like in the next decade. It is important that we maintain a strong gospel presence in the area.

We give all a warm welcome to a church worth coming to and a church worth belonging to!

The Convention

The convention ran for a total of 101 years with 2018 being the final convention.

On the church’s centenary, the minister, the Rev A J Long felt it was right to have a convention to thank God for His goodness to the church. The event was so successful that the following year it was repeated. 

It was felt by the church that we needed to do something new, rather than be bound by a 100 year old tradition. Ending things is never easy, but the idea is to do a couple of shorter events during the year, using the facilities of our new building, rather than one long four day event in a marquee.

As a church, we would like to thank everyone for their faithful support of the Inskip Bible Convention over the years, but please watch this space for news of new events starting in 2020.

 In the words of Joseph Hart;       

‘We thank Him for all that is past,

  And trust Him for all that’s to come’.                         

Ps:  When we closed the convention in 2018, we still had a member who was at the first convention in 1917.

Building extension and Church renovation

Building Extension:

As a Church,we are delighted that the building extension  which began in September 2016 is now complete and consists of an attractive entrance/foyer with extra meeting rooms, toilets and an office that will be at the rear of the church.

We then embarked on renovating the church worship area, including changing the internal layout and we are pleased to say this is also complete, making the internal worship area much bigger. The building has had a new roof and a complete electrical rewire with under floor heating installed. The pictures below reflect the transformation from ‘Old’ to ‘New’.

On Sunday 23/9/18 we moved back in for our 1st Sunday in the newly renovated church. Please see below…pictures of the church before and after the renovation.