History of The Church of the Saviour Blackburn Lancashire England

The first interregnum passed off smoothly largely due to the fact it coincided with the summer vacation of one of our congregation studying at BCMS Bible College, Robert Bracewell, who willingly took charge of the parish.
A new Vicar, the Rev Ernest Saunders, was soon appointed.

The church was still in the fields and well off the beaten track; however, it had quickly gained a reputation for being one of the best attended churches in Blackburn. In 1932 the Town Council was asked to improve the road leading to the church from Sunny Bank Road.

The same year saw the beginnings of the Longshaw Estate, with the first block of houses going up close to the church. As the houses were built they were visited and their occupants invited to church.

A landmark year in the church's history was 1933. This was the year the debt on the church was finally paid. All the more amazing when you understand the background against which major funds had been raised, the cotton trade slump and then the depression of the 1930's.

In the early years of the century Blackburn was regarded as the cotton weaving capital of the world. There were some 150 mills in the town. Even on the map of 1931 there are still 18 mills in the area bounded by Bolton Road (railway line), Grimshaw Park, Park Lee Road and the Infirmary. In 1930 unemployment peaked at 52% although it dropped a little it still continued frighteningly high throughout the '30's The cotton trade was the town's dominant employer and at one time 60% of the working population worked in the industry.

The weekly prayer meeting continued to be the central focus and veritable power house of the church with some 60 people in regular attendance. All the vicars and curates always made it a priority to encourage and exhort people to attend this meeting.

Two new organisations to cope with the ever increasing demands of youth work began. The Boys Brigade and the Girls Guildry.

Lengthy discussions took place when the Town Council wanted to impose road charges. However, a concession was granted when it was agreed the thriving tennis club would close down and in future the land would only be used for church buildings.

The church was visited in the summer of 1934 by a number of college students on a preaching mission. Among their number was one Mr Jenkins who was to became our Lay Reader then first curate and later fourth vicar. September 1939 also saw his marriage at the church to a member of the congregation, Miss Edith Vipond.

The latter half of the decade was overshadowed by the threat of war again and so the Coronation of George VI in 1937 must have lifted the gloom somewhat. The anniversary preacher that year was the church's founder Rev. George Denyer.

Although well attended the church has never been a wealthy one. Despite generous and sacrificial giving by the congregation the church has always struggled financially. A note in the Magazine of September 1937 states that the Diocesan Quota at that time stood at £25 and we had never even managed to pay half the amount.

Around this time the church took the decision to build a Junior Day School, total cost £4000. In 1938 Rev Saunders announced his appointment to a parish in Oldham. He challenged the congregation to have raised £2000 before he left. Quoting from his letter in the May issue of the magazine, "We have a wonderful lot of workers and our church has become a by-word for a church where they have workers who accomplish whatever they set out to do." The church was no longer in the fields, it was surrounded by an ever growing estate. In Mr Saunders' time as vicar 500 new houses had been built with more to come and the population of the parish had doubled in size.
Mr Jenkins as curate, had oversight of the new Longshaw District and in the interregnum took charge until the new vicar Rev H.W. Cragg was inducted in November 1938.

Rev H.W. Cragg Herbert Wallace Cragg was born in Blackpool in 1910. He found Christ at the age of 15 and felt a calling to ministry soon afterwards. He was inducted as Vicar of The Church of The Saviour & St Bartholomews in Blackburn in November 1938, shortly after marrying his wife Elsie. He served there until June 1944 when he was appointed as Vicar of St. James Carlisle. In 1957 he become Vicar of Christ Church, Beckenham where he served for more than 20 years, before becoming Archdeacon of Bromley in 1969 until his retirement in 1978. Canon HW Cragg wrote several books on the Christian Life. He spoke several times between 1961 and 1973 at the Keswick Convention in Cumbria, as well as Conventions held in Belfast and Tokyo.
One of Mr Cragg's first tasks was to organise a meeting in the hut in protest at the Town Council's proposal to grant land for a public house to be built in the district. A resolution was sent in protesting against the proposal and the vicar later received a letter stating that the housing committee had changed their minds and decided not to grant a site for such a purpose.

Plans for the new school were progressing well when war was declared and the new building was put on hold. However, that is about the only thing that was. It was decided that work would continue as usual and no services or activities would be disrupted because of the war. Windows were blacked out and times of services readjusted, detailed plans were made in the event of air raids and life continued at the Saviour, with the National Days of Prayer called by the King being very well attended

Mr Jenkins moved to Oldham to be Rev. Saunder's curate and in 1939 the Rev L.S. Collis was ordained to serve in the parish until he could continue with his original plan, which had been disrupted by the war, to serve on the mission field in Burma.