Grid Reference: 40234353

In the 1820s a Baptist School met in a cottage at Lower Bodkin - now under Leeshaw Reservoir. As numbers grew a dedicated Sabbath School was built on Moorside Lane in 1832. The work prospered to such an extent that on occasions the school was crowded.

So a new school and chapel was built on the opposite side of the road in the time of the Rev. David Arthur, one of West Lane Baptist Church's longest serving ministers (1889-1928). During his time a circuit consisting of West Lane, Hawksbridge and Horkinstone Churches was started. Fellow minister the Rev. A.H. Lewis was the driving force behind the building of the New School Chapel in 1915.

The old building still stands. It was used for many years as a grain store by the Co-operative Society. More recently it has been adapted to housing. Monthly services continue at the new chapel. The celebrated local writer, Martha Heaton, was a Sunday School Superintendant at Hawksbridge for 68 years.