Central Mission Wesleyan Methodist Church Luton

Luton Central Mission about 1903

This article is taken from an invaluable booklet called Luton Methodism in the 20th Century written in 2000 by Circuit Archivist Irving Rumbles[MB2876]. The booklet states that John Wesley preached in Luton in 1766 the first church being opened in Church Street in 1778. This was very confrontational as it was directly opposite Saint Mary’s Anglican church! Luton formed part of the Bedford Wesleyan Methodist Circuit until 1808 when the Luton Circuit was formed. That lasted until 1880 when it was split into two circuits, Chapel Street and Waller Street.

The Central Mission was built in 1903 near the Railway Station in Midland Road, replacing a mission referred to as “The Old Tin Cathedral” in Ashton Street that had been in existence since 1883. The Central Mission was demolished in 1970; it stood on the west corner of Midland Road and Back Street. The Central Mission was in the Waller Street Circuit.

In 1932 the Wesleyan Methodists and two other branches of Methodism, the Primitive Methodists and United Methodists came together to form the Methodist Church of Great Britain. A new Luton Circuit was formed mostly from former Wesleyan chapels, many of the Primitive chapels forming the High Town Circuit.

A report by the Luton Methodist Commission in 1938 recommended that The Central Mission be closed. It was a period when the emphasis of Methodism locally moved from central Luton to the suburbs. In that year The Methodist Recorder stated: “Luton is probably the most prosperous town in England” and it was predominantly Methodist.

In 1940 the chapel was taken over by the military authorities [MB643]. The Luton Methodist Circuit was created in 1944 when the High Town Circuit was subsumed into the greater whole. Luton split into North and South Circuits in 1965. In 1966, 28 years after its closure was recommended, The Central Mission closed with its members moving to the former Primitive chapel in High Town Road.

Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service has the following records relating directly to the Central Mission (it has others relating to the circuit):

• MB642: baptism register: 1905-1965;
• MB643: papers on the erection of the building and subsequent alterations: 1901-1949;
• MB644: worship certificate: 1903;
• MB647: certificate of redemption of Land Tax: 1903;
• MB648: certificate of registration for marriages: 1916;
• MB649: correspondence regarding a £200 legacy left by Thomas Lye in 1898 interest from which was used to buy a Christmas tree and gifts for the Sunday School children: 1929-1932;
• MB649: correspondence regarding the Dean Almond legacy of £300: 1932;
• MB650: papers regarding the closure of the chapel, its sale and demplition: 1966-1970;
• MB651: Sick and Benefit Club minutes: 1963-1968;
• MB651: Sick and Benefit Club balance sheet: 1968.

The site of the Luton Central Mission August 2011