Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Lower Mount Street, Lockwood
Details
- also known as: Mount Pleasant Chapel, Lockwood Wesleyan Methodist Church
- location: Lower Mount Street (now Mount Street), Lockwood
- status: no longer exists
- category: church or chapel
Extracts
The History of Lockwood and North Crosland (1980) by Brian Clarke:
On 2nd February 1880 contracts were signed for the building of this Wesleyan Church at a cost of £3,164. Memorial stones were laid on 19th June 1880 and the building, designed to accommodate 655 people, complete with Sunday School premises in the basement and a caretaker’s house, was officially opened by Dr. Jenking on Whit Tuesday, 7th June 1881.
A splendid organ costing £540, built by Peter Conacher & Co. was purchased and opened on 14th June 1893. Powered by a Speight 5" cylinder hydraulic engine, problems were soon found with excessive water pressure and in September of that year the Trustees requested the Lockwood Sub Committee of Huddersfield Corporation to fill the Spa Baths every Sunday evening and thereby relieve pressure on the organ, a request which was granted.
The Sunday School which, when the new premises had opened, totalled 24 teachers and 150 scholars, had by the late 1880s grown to nearly 400 scholars and so it was decided to build a new school. Memorial stones were laid on 27th March 1897, the Mayor of Huddersfield, J. Lee Walker, J.P., being present at the ceremony and the new building, to the rear of the chapel, was opened on 12th April 1898, having cost £3,500 plus a further £700 for furnishings and fittings. Amongst those present at the opening ceremony were the Rector of Lockwood and the Baptist Minister, indicating that the great gulfs between the different denominations were now beginning to fade. The silver trowels used in the stone laying ceremony were handed down to younger members of the church at a special ceremony held on 27th March 1947.
Although on a financial tight-rope at an early date, as early as 1932 when running costs were £13.50 a week the income from collections only amounted to £5.75, nevertheless, no thought was given to closure until 1956, when on 26th January it was learned that Huddersfield Corporation were interested in the premises. The Trustees thought it would be a good idea to sell the Sunday School and use the money to support the Chapel, however, the Department of Chapel Affairs suggested that they consider amalgamation with the Bentley Street Chapel, an idea that was initially rejected by Mount Pleasant on the grounds that their chapel was the larger and their congregations the greater. In July 1956, without committing themselves to any course of action, they asked the Corporation to make them an offer for all the premises, including fixtures and organ. The answer they received was that the Corporation would be reluctant to offer over £6,000, which was a shock for the Trustees, who were thinking in terms of £15,000. By March 1957 the Corporation had gone up to £8,000 and the Trustees had come down to £10,000. A vote taken on 21st March 1957 came out in favour of selling and of joining Bentley Street and in the following month the Corporation agreed to pay £10,000, the conveyance being signed on 14th October 1957. Today the Chapel stands boarded up and empty while the Sunday School building is now a Civic Youth Club.
Records
- Huddersfield & District Family History Society — baptisms 1873-1957