Bethesda Methodist Chapel, Hanley
Encyclopedia
Bethesda Methodist Chapel, Hanley, is a redundant chapel
standing at the corner of Albion Street in Hanley, Staffordshire
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Historic Chapels Trust. The building has been known as the "Cathedral of the Potteries
", and "it was one of the largest and most ornate Methodist town chapels surviving in the UK".
church that led to the formation of the Methodist New Connexion
. In Hanley, the New Connexion congregation initially met in the house of one of its prominent members, and then acquired a coach-house at the corner of Albion Street that was converted into a meeting house. During the following year the first chapel was built on the site, which was large enough to seat 600 people. It was formally opened by Wiliam Thom, the first president of the New Connexion, and Alexander Kilham
, its secretary. This chapel was the head of the Hanley Circuit
, and by 1812 this Circuit was the strongest in the New Connexion. During the previous year the chapel had been expanded to seat 1,000. It was still too small for the size of the congregation and was demolished and replaced by the present chapel in 1819; this seated 2,500. The plans for this were drawn up by J. H. Perkins, a local school master. In 1859 a colonnade
was added to the front of the chapel, with a window and cornice
above it. This was designed by Robert Scrivener, a local architect. Further alterations were made in 1887, including the extension of the minister's vestry
and replacement of the windows. At this time the pews on the ground floor were renewed.
ed facade
, and a slate
roof, and has two storeys. The facade is Italianate
in style. Its ground floor is rusticated
, and has a single-storey portico
extending along the full frontage of the chapel. This consists of a heavy cornice
supported on pairs of fluted
Corinthian
columns. Under the portico are two doorways between which is a window. Over the portico, in the centre of the upper storey, is a Venetian window, with two sash window
s on each side. At the summit of the frontage is a central pediment
ed gable
. On each side of this is a decorated massive cornice. Behind the frontage, the building extends back for five bays
, and at the rear is a shallow curved apse
.
Immediately inside the entrance there is a vestibule. Stairs on the left and right lead up from this to the gallery, while immediately ahead is a minister's vestry. Inside the main body of the chapel is a continuous tiered gallery carried on cast iron
columns. The organ, with its baroque
case, stands on the street side of the gallery. Under the organ is an octagonal pulpit
approached by two flights of stairs. The stairways to the pulpit have cast iron balustrades
and hardwood
handrails. On each side of the pulpit is a communion
rail. Under the chapel is a burial crypt
. The three-manual
organ was built in 1864 by Kirtland & Jardine. In the 1950s it was enlarged, rearranged, and converted to pneumatic action
.
of acoustic tiles, and other smaller repairs were carried out. Further repairs were carried out under the Manpower Services Commission
in 1978. Throughout this time discussions were taking place about the future of the building and its congregation. The building had been listed by English Heritage in 1972. None of the ideas for developing the building came to fruition, and worship in the chapel ended in December 1985. Permission to demolish the building was refused because of its listed status. It was bought by a private individual in 1987 but the plan to convert it into a nightclub was declined. The building was acquired by the Bethesda Heritage Trust in 2000 but they failed to raise sufficient finance to continue worship in the chapel while converting other parts of it into an office. It passed into the ownership of the Heritage Chapels Trust in 2002.
In 2003 the chapel was a finalist in the BBC
's first Restoration
series, but failed to win the prize. The Trust obtained an estimate for the restoration of the chapel. This amounted to £2.5m and the Trust decided to undertake the restoration in three phases. The first phase was completed in September 2007 at a cost of nearly £900,000, which included making the building weatherproof. Of the money raised for this, £262,500 came from the Heritage Lottery Fund
, £200,000 from English Heritage, £250,000 from North Staffordshire
Council, and a further £20,000 was raised locally. By spring 2010 fundraising was underway for the second phase of restoration which is estimated to cost about £710,000. Fundraising for phase three will start once the second phase is completed. Between January and May 2010 an exhibition called Building Jerusalem was held in the Potteries Museum
showing the history of the chapel and some of the items associated with it, and a number of fundraising events have been organised.
Redundant church
A redundant church is a church building that is no longer required for regular public worship. The phrase is particularly used to refer to former Anglican buildings in the United Kingdom, but may refer to any disused church building around the world...
standing at the corner of Albion Street in Hanley, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, England. It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Historic Chapels Trust. The building has been known as the "Cathedral of the Potteries
Staffordshire Potteries
The Staffordshire Potteries is a generic term for the industrial area encompassing the six towns that now make up Stoke on Trent in Staffordshire, England....
", and "it was one of the largest and most ornate Methodist town chapels surviving in the UK".
Early history
In 1797 the congregation of Hanley Wesleyan Chapel were locked out of the chapel for supporting a resolution at the Leeds Conference. The demands made by this resolution led to a schism in the MethodistMethodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
church that led to the formation of the Methodist New Connexion
Methodist New Connexion
Methodist New Connexion was a Protestant nonconformist church, also known as the Kilhamite Methodists. It was formed in 1797 by secession from the Wesleyan Methodists, and merged in 1907 with the Bible Christian Church and the United Methodist Free Churches to form the United Methodist...
. In Hanley, the New Connexion congregation initially met in the house of one of its prominent members, and then acquired a coach-house at the corner of Albion Street that was converted into a meeting house. During the following year the first chapel was built on the site, which was large enough to seat 600 people. It was formally opened by Wiliam Thom, the first president of the New Connexion, and Alexander Kilham
Alexander Kilham
Alexander Kilham , English Methodist, was born at Epworth, Lincolnshire.He was admitted by John Wesley in 1785 into the regular itinerant ministry and became minister of a circuit in Sheffield...
, its secretary. This chapel was the head of the Hanley Circuit
Methodist Circuit
The Methodist Circuit is part of the organisational structure of British Methodism,or at least those branches derived from the work of John Wesley. It is a group of individual Societies or local Churches under the care of one or more Methodist Ministers. In the scale of organisation, the Circuit...
, and by 1812 this Circuit was the strongest in the New Connexion. During the previous year the chapel had been expanded to seat 1,000. It was still too small for the size of the congregation and was demolished and replaced by the present chapel in 1819; this seated 2,500. The plans for this were drawn up by J. H. Perkins, a local school master. In 1859 a colonnade
Colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....
was added to the front of the chapel, with a window and cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
above it. This was designed by Robert Scrivener, a local architect. Further alterations were made in 1887, including the extension of the minister's vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
and replacement of the windows. At this time the pews on the ground floor were renewed.
Architecture
The chapel is constructed in brick with a stuccoStucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
ed facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
, and a slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
roof, and has two storeys. The facade is Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
in style. Its ground floor is rusticated
Rustication (architecture)
thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...
, and has a single-storey portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
extending along the full frontage of the chapel. This consists of a heavy cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
supported on pairs of fluted
Fluting (architecture)
Fluting in architecture refers to the shallow grooves running vertically along a surface.It typically refers to the grooves running on a column shaft or a pilaster, but need not necessarily be restricted to those two applications...
Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
columns. Under the portico are two doorways between which is a window. Over the portico, in the centre of the upper storey, is a Venetian window, with two sash window
Sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...
s on each side. At the summit of the frontage is a central pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
ed gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
. On each side of this is a decorated massive cornice. Behind the frontage, the building extends back for five bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
, and at the rear is a shallow curved apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
.
Immediately inside the entrance there is a vestibule. Stairs on the left and right lead up from this to the gallery, while immediately ahead is a minister's vestry. Inside the main body of the chapel is a continuous tiered gallery carried on cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
columns. The organ, with its baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
case, stands on the street side of the gallery. Under the organ is an octagonal pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
approached by two flights of stairs. The stairways to the pulpit have cast iron balustrades
Baluster
A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...
and hardwood
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
handrails. On each side of the pulpit is a communion
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
rail. Under the chapel is a burial crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
. The three-manual
Manual (music)
A manual is a keyboard designed to be played with the hands on a pipe organ, harpsichord, clavichord, electronic organ, or synthesizer. The term "manual" is used with regard to any hand keyboard on these instruments to distinguish it from the pedalboard, which is a keyboard that the organist plays...
organ was built in 1864 by Kirtland & Jardine. In the 1950s it was enlarged, rearranged, and converted to pneumatic action
Electro-pneumatic action
The electro-pneumatic action is a control system for pipe organs, whereby air pressure, controlled by an electric current and operated by the keys of an organ console, opens and closes valves within wind chests, allowing the pipes to speak. This system also allows the console to be physically...
.
Recent history and restoration
During the 20th century the size of the congregation declined and the fabric of the building was deteriorating. In 1978 the decorative plaster ceiling was replaced with a suspended ceilingDropped ceiling
A dropped ceiling is a secondary ceiling, hung below the main ceiling. They may also be referred to as a drop ceiling, false ceiling, or suspended ceiling, and are a staple of modern construction and architecture. The area above the dropped ceiling is called the plenum space, as it is sometimes...
of acoustic tiles, and other smaller repairs were carried out. Further repairs were carried out under the Manpower Services Commission
Manpower Services Commission
The Manpower Services Commission was a non-departmental public body of the Department of Employment Group in the United Kingdom created by Edward Heath's Conservative Government in 1973. The MSC had a remit to co-ordinate employment and training services in the UK through a ten-member commission...
in 1978. Throughout this time discussions were taking place about the future of the building and its congregation. The building had been listed by English Heritage in 1972. None of the ideas for developing the building came to fruition, and worship in the chapel ended in December 1985. Permission to demolish the building was refused because of its listed status. It was bought by a private individual in 1987 but the plan to convert it into a nightclub was declined. The building was acquired by the Bethesda Heritage Trust in 2000 but they failed to raise sufficient finance to continue worship in the chapel while converting other parts of it into an office. It passed into the ownership of the Heritage Chapels Trust in 2002.
In 2003 the chapel was a finalist in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's first Restoration
Restoration (TV series)
Restoration, Restoration, Restoration is a set of BBC television series where viewers decided on which listed building that was in immediate need of remedial works was to win a grant from Heritage Lottery Fund...
series, but failed to win the prize. The Trust obtained an estimate for the restoration of the chapel. This amounted to £2.5m and the Trust decided to undertake the restoration in three phases. The first phase was completed in September 2007 at a cost of nearly £900,000, which included making the building weatherproof. Of the money raised for this, £262,500 came from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
, £200,000 from English Heritage, £250,000 from North Staffordshire
North Staffordshire
North Staffordshire describes an area of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It contains the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire Moorlands and the City of Stoke-on-Trent. The Stoke and Newcastle areas make up The Potteries Urban Area, whilst the Moorlands are largely...
Council, and a further £20,000 was raised locally. By spring 2010 fundraising was underway for the second phase of restoration which is estimated to cost about £710,000. Fundraising for phase three will start once the second phase is completed. Between January and May 2010 an exhibition called Building Jerusalem was held in the Potteries Museum
Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is in Hanley, one of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. Admission is free.One of the four local authority museums in the City, the other three being Gladstone Pottery Museum, Ford Green Hall and Etruria Industrial Museum, The Potteries Museum & Art...
showing the history of the chapel and some of the items associated with it, and a number of fundraising events have been organised.