ALBERT Street Baptist Chapel opened in 1865 “in the Byzantine style, freely treated”, on land which the Duke of Devonshire let them have at half price.

It could seat 700, plus there was accommodation for 500 Sunday School children.

Obviously such targets were not always met, though by 1893 they registered 370 Sunday School scholars, with 42 teachers.

Such places of worship fulfilled more than a religious role.

Years before the local authority inaugurated a public library service, Albert Street ran a reading-room taking weekly and monthly periodicals, and a reference library of 340 volumes, open daily from noon until 9pm.

There was also a children’s library, with 500 books, a Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Society and a Band of Hope.