In Heptonstall, Methodist services were originally held in a local farmstead known as the Preaching House.
The Chapel at Dockey's Croft in Northgate, Heptonstall was designed to John Wesley's specifications and consecrated on 5th July 1764.
John Wesley laid the foundation stone for the Chapel.
This is possibly the oldest surviving Chapel still in use – a claim contested by a similar Chapel at Yarm. There were others at Norwich [1757], Rotherham [1761], Whitby [1762], Aberdeen [1764], Chester [1765], Edinburgh [1765], Bradford [1766], Nottingham [1766], Thirsk [1766], Gwennap [1770], Arbroath [1772], Taunton [1776].
It is built of local stone. Local builders were not able to construct the octagonal roof so it was built in Rotherham and brought to Heptonstall by packhorses and wagons.
Wesley indicated that his Chapels – or steeple houses – should be octagonal in plan, if the site allowed this; he believed that this shape afforded better acoustics for the preacher. He also said that he liked the octagonal plan because:
... in it, the devil can find no corner in which to hide
Others examples can be found at Norwich, Rotherham, and Whitby.
Wesley preached in the partially completed shell of the building.
The Chapel was a member of the Colne Circuit in 1776, and joined the Todmorden Circuit in 1799.
When it became unable to cope with the increasing congregations, the Chapel was extended and partially rebuilt in 1802 when two walls were lengthened. This destroyed the octagonal shape.
The adjacent Sunday School was built in 1813. The Chapel at that time had over 400 members.
A copper plaque is inscribed:
|
HEPTONSTALL METHODIST Chapel
THE OLDEST METHODIST Chapel IN THE WORLD IN CONTINUOUS USE. THE SOCIETY WAS FOUNDED BY WILLIAM DARNEY ABOUT 1742 THE REV. JOHN WESLEY PREACHED AT HEPTONSTALL FOR THE LAST TIME IN 1786 |
See The Heptonstall Octagon 1764, Highgate Chapel, Heptonstall, Our Home & Country, Octagonal Methodist Chapel, Heptonstall: War Memorial and Octagonal Methodist Chapel, Heptonstall: Graveyard
Page Ref: QQ_34
|
||
| site search by freefind |