Primitive Methodist Chapel, Nantwich
Encyclopedia
Primitive Methodism
Primitive Methodism was a major movement in English Methodism from about 1810 until the Methodist Union in 1932. The Primitive Methodist Church still exists in the United States.-Origins:...
church on Welsh Row in Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England (at ). Built in 1840, it is listed at grade II. The chapel closed in 2001, and the building has been partially converted to residential use.
History
Early visits from NonconformistNonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
preachers were not welcomed in Nantwich. In 1753, John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
was "saluted with curses and hard names", while that same year, George Whitefield
George Whitefield
George Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...
was met by angry crowds who tried to drive a bull into his audience, but were foiled when the animal fell into a pit.
William Clowes
William Clowes (Primitive Methodist)
William Clowes was one of the founders of Primitive Methodism.He was born at Burslem, Staffordshire, on 12 March 1780,son of William Clowes, potter, and of Ann, daughter of Aaron Wedgwood, grandson of Gilbert Wedgwood. He was employed during his early years as a working potter.For many years...
, one of the founders of Primitive Methodism
Primitive Methodism
Primitive Methodism was a major movement in English Methodism from about 1810 until the Methodist Union in 1932. The Primitive Methodist Church still exists in the United States.-Origins:...
, came to Nantwich with John Wedgewood and preached at The Barony in 1817. A building on Marsh Lane was purchased in 1826 for £100 and was used as a chapel until 1840, when the chapel on Welsh Row was built by Thomas Bateman. The Welsh Row site, donated by George Wilbraham, was a former cloth merchants' hall. Opening on 21 October 1840, the Welsh Row chapel seated a congregation of 600. It originally fell within the Burland
Burland
Burland is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, about 2½ miles west of Nantwich. The civil parish also includes the small settlements of Burland Lower Green, Burland Upper Green, Hollin Green and Stoneley Green, as well...
Primitive Methodist circuit, but in 1844 a minister was appointed in Nantwich and the town became the centre of the circuit. The several other Nonconformist places of worship in the town in 1850 also included a Wesleyan Methodist Church
Wesleyan Methodist Church, Nantwich
The Wesleyan Methodist Church, also known as the Wesleyan Chapel, is a former Wesleyan Methodist church on Hospital Street, Nantwich, Cheshire, England . Built in 1808, a new façade was added in 1876. The church then seated over a thousand, and was the largest Nonconformist place of worship in the...
and a Unitarian Chapel on Hospital Street, an Independent or Congregational Chapel
Congregational Chapel, Nantwich
The Congregational Chapel, also known as the Independent Chapel, is a former Congregational or Independent church in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. It is located on Monks Lane , now a pedestrian walkway, opposite the Dysart Buildings and immediately north east of St Mary's Church. Built in 1841–42,...
on Monks Lane, a Baptist Chapel on Barker Street, a Friends' Meeting House on Pillory Street, and a Wesleyan Association Chapel on Castle Street. A second Primitive Methodist chapel, the Wood Memorial Chapel, was built in 1881 at The Barony by John Wood.
After the Methodist Union
Methodist Union
For English Methodists, Methodist Union refers to the joining together, in 1932, of several of the larger groups of English Methodists. These were the Wesleyan Methodists, the Primitive Methodists, and the United Methodists.-Methodist Union:...
in 1932, the Welsh Row chapel became one of several Methodist places of worship in Nantwich. In 1966, three other Methodist chapels merged to form the Central Methodist Church in Nantwich, which worshipped at the former Wesleyan Methodist Church on Hospital Street. In 2000, the Welsh Row congregation also merged into the Central Methodist Church to form Nantwich Methodist Church. The Welsh Row chapel closed in 2001.
As of 2010, the rear of the building on Chapel Row is used for housing, but the main chapel is derelict.
Description
The Primitive Methodist Chapel is a two-storey building in red brick with stone dressings, which is set back from the street behind a walled forecourt. The front façade has three bays with a pedimentPediment
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...
bearing a stone tablet with the inscription "Primitive Methodist Chapel. A.D. 1840." This face also has a stone string course 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...
. The wide central entrance is reached by a flight of steps; it has decorative stone inserts, a semi-circular brick arch above and a fanlight
Fanlight
A fanlight is a window, semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan, It is placed over another window or a doorway. and is sometimes hinged to a transom. The bars in the fixed glazed window spread out in the manner a sunburst...
. The windows have undecorated stone lintels and sills.
Sources
- Hall J. A History of the Town and Parish of Nantwich, or Wich Malbank, in the County Palatine of Chester (2nd edn) (E. J. Morten; 1972) (ISBN 0-901598-24-0)
- Pevsner N, Hubbard E. The Buildings of England: Cheshire (Penguin Books; 1971) (ISBN 0 14 071042 6)
- Simpson R. Crewe and Nantwich: A Pictorial History (Phillimore; 1991) (ISBN 0 85033 724 0)