About St Laurence's

Being the custodians of Chorley’s oldest building is both an enormous privilege and an enormous challenge. We are looking to form a Friends of St. Laurence’s as this will be what helps us to maintain our cherished building in the medium and long term.

If you’d like to know more about becoming a Foundation Member, please
email Michael Welsh on friends@stlaurencechorley.org

​St Laurence’s Church is situated in the centre of Chorley. It is believed that there has been a Church on that site since Anglo Saxon times. In 1362 there is a concrete reference to a Vicar of Chorley, an offshoot of the Parish of Croston. The Tower is a fifteenth century construction so the Church is by far the oldest building in Chorley and has been a constant factor is the development of the town from a tiny rural hamlet to the present day when it is the fastest growing population centre in Lancashire. 

Click for more about the history of the building

Throughout its history the Church buildings have been a key element in the social and communal life of the Town and there is every reason why this should continue but in a contemporary fashion. This involves promoting and developing the use of the Church and its facilities as community assets open for a wide range of secular activities consistent with its primary function as a place of worship.