History
Construction of the church began in 1882 and was completed in 1888 at a total cost of £6,500. The church was designed to hold 500 worshippers making it the largest church in Chadderton. In 1954 a major fire devastated the church and left the majority of the church's roof destroyed, however the church was soon rebuilt and reopened due to the dedication of the church's congregation. By 2008, the church's capacity of 500 worshippers had dwindled to a maximum of only 30, this coupled with the high costs of maintaining the building meant that in September 2008, the decision was made to close the church. The Parish of St Luke was merged with another nearby parish to become the Parish of St Matthew's and St Luke's with the final service being held at the St Luke's church building on 30th November 2008. In 2016 plans were submitted to turn the church building into a community centre and flats, however it is not yet known if these plans will go ahead.
Explore
Having had close links with the church and many memories from when I was younger, exploring this building was a MUST. Constant visits to the building to try and find access had proved unsuccessful but whilst passing I paid a visit to discover a very obvious way in had been opened up. The church is in a very good condition inside with neglect starting to show in certain parts of the building, the building looks to have remained sealed since its closure. I only spent around half an hour in the building, with the intention of returning the following day better prepared, only to find that the access had been sealed and someone had already done a great job of tagging one of the walls inside
.
Pictures aren't of the best quality, as I mentioned this was a quick visit and I was more bothered about getting into the building before it was sealed than rushing home for the proper camera.
A short video of the explore
Construction of the church began in 1882 and was completed in 1888 at a total cost of £6,500. The church was designed to hold 500 worshippers making it the largest church in Chadderton. In 1954 a major fire devastated the church and left the majority of the church's roof destroyed, however the church was soon rebuilt and reopened due to the dedication of the church's congregation. By 2008, the church's capacity of 500 worshippers had dwindled to a maximum of only 30, this coupled with the high costs of maintaining the building meant that in September 2008, the decision was made to close the church. The Parish of St Luke was merged with another nearby parish to become the Parish of St Matthew's and St Luke's with the final service being held at the St Luke's church building on 30th November 2008. In 2016 plans were submitted to turn the church building into a community centre and flats, however it is not yet known if these plans will go ahead.
Explore
Having had close links with the church and many memories from when I was younger, exploring this building was a MUST. Constant visits to the building to try and find access had proved unsuccessful but whilst passing I paid a visit to discover a very obvious way in had been opened up. The church is in a very good condition inside with neglect starting to show in certain parts of the building, the building looks to have remained sealed since its closure. I only spent around half an hour in the building, with the intention of returning the following day better prepared, only to find that the access had been sealed and someone had already done a great job of tagging one of the walls inside
.Pictures aren't of the best quality, as I mentioned this was a quick visit and I was more bothered about getting into the building before it was sealed than rushing home for the proper camera.
A short video of the explore
