St Mark Church of England, Barrow in Furness

The church does not have a graveyard.

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It was founded in 1877. One of four new Barrow parish churches to be named after the four evangelists, whose areas were designated in 1877. Four temporary church buildings of brick and timber were built to similar designs, provided by Lancaster architects Paley & Austin. They were dedicated on 26 September 1878. St Mark's dedicated 26 Sept. 1878 by Bishop of Hereford. Consecrated 22 Nov. 1879. Suffered war damage 1941; restored 1946-51. Renovated and re-ordered in 1989.

The rapid growth of the town soon rendered more church accommodation necessary than could be given by the three then in existence, and the Dukes of Devonshire and Buccleuch, Sir James Ramsden, and other magnates of the district, realising the want, subscribed £24,000 towards the erection of four new churches. Of this sum the Duke of Devonshire furnished £12,000, the Duke of Buccleuch £6,000, and the remaining £6,000 by other gentlemen.   Four brick structures, all after the same model, were erected, and all opened on the same day (September 26, 1878), when the Archbishop of York, and the Bishops of Carlisle, Hereford, and Seder and Man officiated. The buildings are only of a temporary character, and will be replaced by more fitting edifices when the fund left out of the £24,000 has accumulated to a sufficient amount.   The churches are appropriately named after the four Evangelists.   An event so unique as the consecration of four churches will mark September 26, 1878, as a red letter .lay in the history of Barrow. The records of past ages and the annals of older towns will be searched in vain for a similar occurrence.

St. Mark's Church, in Buccleuch Street and Rawlinson Street, gives its name to one of the new parishes. This is the largest of the four, having sitting accommodation for 658 persons. The district attached to the church covers an area of 123 acres, and contains a population of 8,019. The incumbency, valued at £200, is held by the Rev. J. M. Laycock, M.A. (Cantab.) The interior is chastely decorated.   A Sunday School, with accommodation for 600 children, has been erected.

from Mannex's directory of Furness and Cartmel, 1882.

Whilst every effort has been made to record exact details of record office and library holdings you are recommended to check with them before visiting to ensure that they do hold the records and years you wish to examine. Similarly check with transcript publishers to ensure they cover the records and years you require before making a purchase.

The Cumbria Record Office, Barrow hold:

• Baptisms 1878-1965
• Marriages 1879-1962
• Funerals 1953-1966

This site provides historical information about churches, other places of worship and cemeteries. It has no connection with the churches themselves. For current information you should contact them directly.

It is located at SD2005069558 (Lat/Lon 54.115653, -3.224568). You can see this on maps provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
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• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)