A long chapter in the history of Penrith came to a close with the last service held at the town’s United Reformed Church in Lowther Street.
The closure was mainly due to the ageing nature of the congregation, members of which were finding it increasingly difficult to carry out vital tasks connected with the church.
The church’s origins in Penrith go back more than 360 years. Sidney Tyson had been worshipping at the church for 88 years — longer than any other member of the congregation.
His parents were caretakers at the church and his memories of events there go back to 1936, when unemployed men from Glasgow on a protest march to London were given shelter in the building.
Mr Tyson recalls that the heyday of the church was probably the 1960s, when there were more than 100 worshippers on a regular basis. “It used to be quite lively back in the 1960s and 70s, with the Sunday school and special suppers and teas taking place, but things have been dropping off gradually since then,” he said.
Another veteran worshipper is church elder George McCrone, who said the history of the church can be traced back to 1660 when a number of ministers in this area were ejected from their livings by the established church for being reformist Presbyterians.
The first Presbyterian church in Penrith was built in 1688 in a field on the outskirts of the town. In 1785 a second church was opened in Rowcliffe Lane and it was in use until the opening of the Lowther Street church in 1868. Over the following years a number of major alterations were made to the church to increase its size and capacity.
The Presbyterian Church continued until 1972 when it united with the Congregational Union to become the United Reformed Church. At that time the Penrith churches met in three buildings — Lowther Street, the Congregational church in Duke Street, dating from 1865, and the Presbyterian chapel in Penruddock, dating originally from 1654.
For a while worship and activities continued in all three churches under one minister. The Lowther Street church was renamed Penrith and Penruddock United Reformed Church and in 1990 a decision was made to close and sell the Duke Street church.
There followed a major development of the Lowther Street church building, including construction of a meeting hall and additional rooms on the ground
floor.
The Duke Street church pipe organ was built by Nicholson of Newcastle in 1888, and in 1990 the organ was dismantled, transferred to the Lowther Street church and reassembled. It has continued to be played at weekly services and at recitals by many accomplished organists.
In 2011 the elders of Penrith and Penruddock United Reformed Church passed a resolution to close the Penruddock chapel due to its having few remaining members and amalgamate their two congregations at Penrith, with the chapel later being sold.
Worship continued at Lowther Street, with many outside organisations also making use of its meeting spaces and kitchen, including for an Age UK day centre. As a result of the COVID pandemic, however, regular worship and a number of activities were interrupted and the day centre was closed. During 2020 and 2021 worship was partially resumed under government guidelines and gradually started to get back to normal.
Mr McCrone said: “Sadly, numbers of our congregation have been slowly reducing and the burden of responsibility being placed on ageing officials and members was ever increasing. In 2022 the church meeting passed a resolution that Penrith and Penruddock church be closed.
“Closure of the Lowther Street church does not mean closure of the last Christian church in Penrith. Many other local churches have come together within Churches Together in Penrith and local worship continues.”
He added: “The Lowther Street church has not failed, it has merely ‘run its course’ and we are all thankful to the many ministers, preachers, elders, members and Penrith families who have contributed to the life of the church over the past 362 years.”
The closing service was taken by the Rev Nick Mark — who was interim minister for a number of years prior to his retirement — assisted by the Revs Alistair Smeaton, Martyn Coe and Keith Spence. The theme of the service was Seize The Moment, and it was followed by a gathering of members, friends and visitors for refreshments and a chat in the main hall.
The church building will remain open until later this year. Its fate after that has yet to be decided.
