Southowram Wesleyan Chapel – aka Valley Top Chapel. – stands in Chapel Lane.
Opened in 1806. It accommodated 300 worshippers [1845].
In 1876, the Trustees of the Chapel agreed to have
a Memorial Organ erected in the Chapel to commemorate the Christian character and valuable service rendered to the Church by the late Mr Job Freeman
The organ – by Laycock & Bannister of Keighley – was bought by the steward and friends at a cost of £90. It was opened on 25th April 1876. Details of the organ in the Chapel can be found in the National Pipe Organ Register.
The Chapel was enlarged in 1890 and there is a tablet inscribed
WESLEYAN-ENLARGED-1890
The minister's house to the original Chapel stands alongside.
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In 1983, there were reports of the ghost of an old woman in black appearing on film taken of a wedding at the Chapel
Because of dwindling numbers, the Chapel closed in April 2005 and services were moved to Withinfields Primary School.
The Chapel subsequently merged with Boothtown United Methodist Free Chapel and is now known as Boothtown & Southowram Methodist Church.
The building was sold. In April 2006, plans were announced to convert the buildings – the Chapel and the minister's house – into 6 flats and a house
After the closure of the Chapel in 2005, the Southowram Methodists met in the new Withinfields School, Southowram. From 2007 until they disbanded in 2010, they met in the Southowram Community Centre.
The building has been converted into apartments.
The graveyard is still there
See Charles Farrar, Job Freeman, Southowram Wesleyan Chapel War Memorial, Southowram Wesleyan Chapel Graveyard, James Wadsworth and Wesleyan Methodist
This & associated entries use material contributed by Elaine Hodkinson, Kai Roberts & Phillip Waldron
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