Abandoned Shore Baptist Chapel, Todmordon

Shore General Baptist Chapel was founded in 1777 by seven people inspired by the missionary teachings of Dan Taylor from Birchcliffe, Hebden Bridge. The original structure of the chapel was built on a plot of land 29 yards by 16. The historical context of the time was that King George III was on the throne and America had declared itself an independent nation the previous year. As the years passed and the membership grew, extensions were added to the building in 1833 and 1871. The growth in the congregation of the church reflected the growth in the cotton industry in Cornholme and the corresponding increase in population. When the centenary was celebrated in 1877 the church had 265 members with a large number of Sunday school scholars. The growth of Shore Chapel demonstrates the influence of the nonconformist churches in the district, and its decline and ultimate fate was typical of numerous chapels in the Calder Valley. By the time the Bi-Centennial celebrations took place in 1977 the chapel itself was considered unsafe and services were already taking place in the Sunday school building.