Church at the centre of rural Lancashire life for more than 140 years goes on the market

Holmes Methodist Chapel in Park Lane, Tarleton, is being offered by agent Eckersley’s for £290,000.

The Victorian building, made from Accrington brick, closed when Lancashire West Methodist Circuit merged Holmes, Holmeswood, Mere Brow, and Tarleton Methodist Churches in September 2023.

The combined entity is now known as Mere Brow and Tarleton Methodist Church and operates from two sites - Mere Brow and Tarleton.

The Holmes Chapel - which has also been used as a school - was built in 1880, and ran a Morning Worship Service and Children’s Sunday Club until its closure. Part of it’s work included collecting items for the Burscough foodbank and knitting teddies for children coming from Ukraine as refugees.

The church is a two-storey building of traditional Accrington brick construction and beneath a predominantly pitched slate roof. There is, however, a small single storey annex also of brick with a flat roof on the southerly elevation, which appears to be a later addition.

The ground floor, which was the former school, includes a hall with a stage; toilets; storage rooms; a kitchen; and a boiler room. Externally, there are tarmac and hardcore areas suitable for vehicle parking.

The agent states that is is a “rare freehold opportunity”and that it is “suitable for a variety of uses subject to planning”.