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Northallerton Methodist Church
Address (Click for Map): Northallerton Methodist Church, High Street, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, DL7 8EG
External Web Site: http://www.new.northallertonmethodistchurch.org.uk
Northallerton is the county town and one of the two market towns that make up the circuit. Northallerton is the largest church in the circuit both in actual size and membership. It was built in 1865 and replaced the earlier smaller chapels in the town. It is still a very active church, holding concerts, teas and various other events. There are small numbers of young people who are involved in JC and a monthly Youth night.
Services:
10:30 Sunday morning all are welcome
A Brief History of Northallerton Methodist Church
If you go upstairs to the balcony at Northallerton Methodist Church you will see two banners which echo the words of the Joseph Hart’s hymn ‘This, this is the God we adore’. The first is ‘Praise Him for all that is past’ and this is perhaps the best way to start the reflection on the story of the Church and the people.
Methodism in the town started close to the site where the church is now situated. The ‘Buck Inn’ opposite used to house Jacky Wren’s yard where John Wesley preached. Jacky Wren was described by those who knew him as ‘a pious and useful man’. Wesley notes that:
‘At noon I preached to a large congregation at Northallerton; the sun shone full in my face when I began, but it was soon overcast and I believe this day, if never before, God gave a general call to this careless people.’ (Journal Saturday 3rd June 1780)
As J Ward, a Wesleyan minister writing in 1860 notes, after giving up Jacky Wren’s house, the society eventually moved to Richardson’s Long Room in the yard of the north side of the Golden Lion during which a revival took place. The first Wesleyan chapel was built in about 1796. But after 60 years it was felt it was time to move on again.
The site of the current chapel had previously been occupied by the ‘Pack Horse Inn’. The approval of the purchase at Conference 1864 allowed for costs not exceeding £1667 (with an additional £120 still outstanding from the previous chapel). This was later increased to £2237 to allow for the chapel cottage and the school rooms. The site cost £600 for it was noted that the Wesleyan Methodists had ‘long needed a place better adapted to meet the requirements in these days of religious progress’. The present chapel was built about 74 years ago and was no doubt in that ‘day of small things’ a noble effort ‘.
Mr Wilson was instructed ‘to prepare plans for a Chapel to accommodate 400 persons on the ground floor that, in view of future enlargement the building be placed so that a transept could be added, that two vestries with organ gallery over them be erected, that it be heated with hot air that the structure be in the gothic style and that the entire cost shall not exceed £1000’. As is so often the case there needed to be a great deal of discussion before any building could begin. It was agreed to dispense with buttresses and lengthy discussions about how to cut the costs. However a month after the initial plans had been prepared there was a decision to have galleries all the way around. There has always been a flexible approach to the buildings to reflect the requirements of the age.
In the 1860s there were many decisions to be taken. One was about the name of the new building. It was agreed at a Church Council meeting on June 8th 1864 to call the place of worship Wesley Church. The next day there was another Church Council meeting which changed the name to Wesley Chapel. You can only imagine the discussions that must have gone on over that 24 hours.
Meanwhile the costs of the project were rising and discussion centred on the cost of pew doors. There was initially a discussion about having gothic ends and plain doors. It was even resolved to have no pew doors – another decision which was overturned a fortnight later. It is worth noting that amongst the pews were subscription pews – those at the front were free with the costs getting higher as they moved towards the back – so bear that in mind when you are choosing where to sit in the building! There were also delays – plans were made for the opening of the chapel on Good Friday 1865. However this did not eventually happen until June 21st 1865. But all in all it was only a year from the go ahead to build the current premises until their opening.
Music has always played an important role within the church. The minutes of the meetings in 1906 include discussions about the singing of ‘Amen’. Mary Dawson the choir mistress wrote to the Trustees suggesting that she was asked ‘many times by visitors as to why we omitted it and thought it advisable to bring it up before you’. There was also a discussion about the necessity for a shelf for choir books as ‘the tune books are very heavy and continually falling down and getting damaged’. She also noted that ‘the seats are very hard and the floor is very cold’. There was also the discussion about the placing of the hymn board – and a letter had to be written to one member suggesting that ‘I as the Secretary was requested to write to you to the effect that your action in moving the board for the hymn numbers caused very great annoyance’.
The problem however with relating the history of the chapel through the written records is that they can appear dry and disconnected from the people involved. If you look around the church there are some signs of the people who have worshiped at the chapel at times of war, including the names of those who died which are commemorated around the font – Pte T Gains from Little Smeaton who died at the Somme, Pte T Thompson, whose father was a butcher, Sapper H Walburn and T Walburn whose father ran a boot makers shop in Zetland Street, L Atkinson who died at Scapa Flow and Capt J Myers who died near Passchendale and Charles Buss who was awarded a DCM in 1916. (I think the details are correct – but please tell me if I am wrong). But mostly the contributions remain hidden and are witnessed only by the lives which have been touched.
Whilst there have not been the moves around the town since the chapel was built, the Society has dealt with changes in styles of worship, culture and community; and the current building and people reflect both the spiritual heart of Methodism, the tradition of hospitality and the practical reaching out into the community. Many members are involved in a significant number of outside organisations bringing their witness to the wider world. As Joseph Hart continues and the banner reminds us ‘Trust him for all that is to come’.
Methodism in the town started close to the site where the church is now situated. The ‘Buck Inn’ opposite used to house Jacky Wren’s yard where John Wesley preached. Jacky Wren was described by those who knew him as ‘a pious and useful man’. Wesley notes that:
‘At noon I preached to a large congregation at Northallerton; the sun shone full in my face when I began, but it was soon overcast and I believe this day, if never before, God gave a general call to this careless people.’ (Journal Saturday 3rd June 1780)
As J Ward, a Wesleyan minister writing in 1860 notes, after giving up Jacky Wren’s house, the society eventually moved to Richardson’s Long Room in the yard of the north side of the Golden Lion during which a revival took place. The first Wesleyan chapel was built in about 1796. But after 60 years it was felt it was time to move on again.
The site of the current chapel had previously been occupied by the ‘Pack Horse Inn’. The approval of the purchase at Conference 1864 allowed for costs not exceeding £1667 (with an additional £120 still outstanding from the previous chapel). This was later increased to £2237 to allow for the chapel cottage and the school rooms. The site cost £600 for it was noted that the Wesleyan Methodists had ‘long needed a place better adapted to meet the requirements in these days of religious progress’. The present chapel was built about 74 years ago and was no doubt in that ‘day of small things’ a noble effort ‘.
Mr Wilson was instructed ‘to prepare plans for a Chapel to accommodate 400 persons on the ground floor that, in view of future enlargement the building be placed so that a transept could be added, that two vestries with organ gallery over them be erected, that it be heated with hot air that the structure be in the gothic style and that the entire cost shall not exceed £1000’. As is so often the case there needed to be a great deal of discussion before any building could begin. It was agreed to dispense with buttresses and lengthy discussions about how to cut the costs. However a month after the initial plans had been prepared there was a decision to have galleries all the way around. There has always been a flexible approach to the buildings to reflect the requirements of the age.
In the 1860s there were many decisions to be taken. One was about the name of the new building. It was agreed at a Church Council meeting on June 8th 1864 to call the place of worship Wesley Church. The next day there was another Church Council meeting which changed the name to Wesley Chapel. You can only imagine the discussions that must have gone on over that 24 hours.
Meanwhile the costs of the project were rising and discussion centred on the cost of pew doors. There was initially a discussion about having gothic ends and plain doors. It was even resolved to have no pew doors – another decision which was overturned a fortnight later. It is worth noting that amongst the pews were subscription pews – those at the front were free with the costs getting higher as they moved towards the back – so bear that in mind when you are choosing where to sit in the building! There were also delays – plans were made for the opening of the chapel on Good Friday 1865. However this did not eventually happen until June 21st 1865. But all in all it was only a year from the go ahead to build the current premises until their opening.
Music has always played an important role within the church. The minutes of the meetings in 1906 include discussions about the singing of ‘Amen’. Mary Dawson the choir mistress wrote to the Trustees suggesting that she was asked ‘many times by visitors as to why we omitted it and thought it advisable to bring it up before you’. There was also a discussion about the necessity for a shelf for choir books as ‘the tune books are very heavy and continually falling down and getting damaged’. She also noted that ‘the seats are very hard and the floor is very cold’. There was also the discussion about the placing of the hymn board – and a letter had to be written to one member suggesting that ‘I as the Secretary was requested to write to you to the effect that your action in moving the board for the hymn numbers caused very great annoyance’.
The problem however with relating the history of the chapel through the written records is that they can appear dry and disconnected from the people involved. If you look around the church there are some signs of the people who have worshiped at the chapel at times of war, including the names of those who died which are commemorated around the font – Pte T Gains from Little Smeaton who died at the Somme, Pte T Thompson, whose father was a butcher, Sapper H Walburn and T Walburn whose father ran a boot makers shop in Zetland Street, L Atkinson who died at Scapa Flow and Capt J Myers who died near Passchendale and Charles Buss who was awarded a DCM in 1916. (I think the details are correct – but please tell me if I am wrong). But mostly the contributions remain hidden and are witnessed only by the lives which have been touched.
Whilst there have not been the moves around the town since the chapel was built, the Society has dealt with changes in styles of worship, culture and community; and the current building and people reflect both the spiritual heart of Methodism, the tradition of hospitality and the practical reaching out into the community. Many members are involved in a significant number of outside organisations bringing their witness to the wider world. As Joseph Hart continues and the banner reminds us ‘Trust him for all that is to come’.
