THOUGH the recent removal of its cladding provided a brief glimpse of its original purpose, demolition spells the end of this piece of Blackburn's Victorian heritage - the former Harwood Street Methodist Church.

The last services were held there in December, 1958, after officials of the town's now-gone Queen's Hall Mission, to which it was attached, decided its upkeep was too expensive.

It was sold for £1,700 four months later and was occupied for more than 30 years by heating and ventilation equipment manufacturers Bayliss Kenton Installations Ltd, whose works it adjoined.

The 127-year-old church is being demolished as part of redevelopment by the factory's present-day occupants, engineering company the Cylinder Resurfacing Co Ltd, who moved in six years ago.

But though the building dates back to the laying of its foundation stone on Good Friday, 1874, with it opening for worship in June the following year, the history of the Harwood Street church goes back to the formation of its Sunday School in 1860.

Previously, a Sunday School had been formed in the Daisyfield area of the town but had lapsed and while preaching services had been held in cottages at Whitebirk, Little Harwood and Knuzden, the only Methodist activity still alive in 1860 in the East End of Blackburn was a 'Society Class' based in Ordnance Street and run in connection with the 'mother church' of town-centre Clayton Street Methodist Chapel.

It was members of this class who became workers in the new 'mission' at Harwood Street.

It was born in the open air through the street preaching of a Mr William Hindle whose favourite spot for sermons was Union Yard which became the Bottomgate end of Newton Street. He was delegated to find premises for a 'Preaching Place and Sabbath School' and it was at a new house built at 11 Harwood Street that the Sunday School and mission headquarters opened in 1860. It thrived so much that the site for the church was purchased within three years, but for worship members had to make do the loan of a warehouse for 11 years until the now-disappearing building was completed at a cost of £2,242.