PROTESTANT NONCONFORMITY
Independents and Unitarians from 1672
Five men are known to have been licensed in York
in 1672 as independent preachers. Ralph Ward, who
had been ejected from Hartburn (Co. Durham) in
1660 and had come to York as chaplain to Sir John
Hewley, (fn. 1) received a licence as an Independent
teacher. (fn. 2) Peter Williams, appointed 1655 as one of
the four preachers in the minster, and James Calvert,
ejected from Topcliffe (N.R.) and nephew of another
minster preacher, Thomas Calvert, (fn. 3) were licensed
as Protestant teachers. (fn. 4) Licences (fn. 5) were also granted
to Nathaniel Lamb, ejected from Alne (N.R.), and
to John Donkinson, ejected from Sand Hutton near
Thirsk (N.R.), as Protestant teachers and to Thomas
Byrdsell, ejected from Selby (W.R.), as a Presbyterian teacher. (fn. 6)
In 1672 several houses were licensed for worship:
those of Andrew Taylor in Micklegate, of Brian
Dawson in Ousegate, and of Lady Watson in St.
Saviourgate were licensed as Independent meeting
places. Peter Williams, James Calvert, and Nathaniel
Lamb were licensed to preach in their own houses. (fn. 7)
Ralph Ward is known to have preached in the houses
of Andrew Taylor and Brian Dawson, (fn. 8) whilst he
and Peter Williams preached in Lady Watson's house
in St. Saviourgate on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (fn. 9)
In 1676 161 'dissenters' were recorded in York. (fn. 10)
In 1682 Ward was twice fined for holding a conventicle. (fn. 11) In 1684 he was arrested with Andrew
Taylor at a meeting of 32 persons in the house of a
Mrs. Rokeby in 'Micklegate Without', tried before
Judge Jeffreys, and committed to prison. (fn. 12) He was
released in 1686 (fn. 13) and thereafter was assisted by
Noah Ward (unrelated) who had been licensed in
1672 as a Presbyterian preacher at 'Little Askham'
near York. (fn. 14) Noah Ward preached on the third
Sunday and took the third weekday lecture. (fn. 15)
Although Ralph Ward was described as an Independent in 1672 the congregation to which he
afterwards ministered does not appear to have been
a strictly Independent one. Sir John and Lady
Hewley, Lady Watson, and Lady Lister, who used
their influence to protect Ward and other dissenting
ministers, appear to have favoured both Presbyterians and Independents equally. (fn. 16) About 1690 he
was preaching on three Sundays in the month to a
small meeting which has been described as the only
one in York at the time. (fn. 17)
Ralph Ward died in 1691 and was succeeded in
1692 by Thomas Colton. (fn. 18) The congregation set
about building ST. SAVIOURGATE CHAPEL, (fn. 19)
sometimes known as Lady Hewley's Chapel; it was
registered in Quarter Sessions on 28 April 1693. (fn. 20)
The building is in the form of a cross, the area of
each limb being equal to that of the central intersection; the land round it was used as a burial ground.
The chapel is brick-built with a tiled roof and the
entrance is by folding doors. Lady Hewley, who was
one of the original benefactors of the chapel, made
an allowance to the minister during her lifetime and
by an article in the charity she founded in 1707,
made provision for the continuation of this allowance
after her death. (fn. 21) A Presbyterian congregation continued to attend the chapel under the successive
ministries of Thomas Colton (to 1731) and John
Hotham. (fn. 22) In 1756 the trustees of the Hewley Charity
appointed Newcome Cappe as sole minister apparently in opposition to the wishes of part of the congregation. (fn. 23) He introduced Arianism and during his
ministry the congregation declined, leaving only a
small number who had adopted his views. (fn. 24) Subsequently the chapel became completely Unitarian,
although the stipend of the minister continued to be
augmented by the Hewley Charity. In the 1830's
the charity became the subject of a noted Chancery
action. After protracted litigation over the alleged
misapplication of the funds for Unitarian purposes,
the trustees of the charity were removed in 1836 and
the minister's stipend was not thereafter augmented
from Lady Hewley's charity. (fn. 25) The use of the chapel
by the Unitarians was not affected by the action and
in 1851 an average Sunday attendance of 120 persons
was reported. (fn. 26) The chapel was still used by the
Unitarians in 1956.
Charles Wellbeloved, principal of the Manchester
College and a local antiquary of some note, was
minister of the chapel from 1801 to 1858 having been
assistant to Cappe from 1792. (fn. 27)
The Society of Friends
George Fox first visited York in 1651; he spoke to
the congregation in the minster and was afterwards
thrown down the steps of the church, but when he
left York several people 'had received the truth'. (fn. 28) In
the same year William Dewsbury, 'perhaps the
foremost man in gathering the Yorkshire Friends', (fn. 29)
held a meeting at York in the orchard of Richard
Smith, a tanner. (fn. 30) Two York Friends, Boswell
Middleton and Agnes Wilkinson, were imprisoned
in 1653 for speaking to preachers in the churches and
four similar offences were reported in 1654. (fn. 31) In that
year George Whitehead, later to become an eminent
Friend, visited York and described the meeting
there as small. (fn. 32)
After his first visit in 1651, Fox returned to York
on several occasions: in 1663; in 1665 when he was
under arrest but was able to speak effectively to a
large number of troops; in 1666 when he describes
a large meeting at York; and in 1669 when he was
present at the Yorkshire Quarterly Meeting in York. (fn. 33)
Amongst the Friends penalized in York during the
17th century were Stephen Crisp, who travelled in
Yorkshire in 1660; (fn. 34) John Taylor, a prominent Friend
who settled in York as a sugar refiner; Edward
Nightingale whose property was used for the meetings; and Thomas Waite, a bookseller. (fn. 35)
In 1659 the Friends in York were meeting in their
own 'hired house' and on five occasions these meetings
were disrupted either by the interference of soldiers,
or of the mayor and aldermen; the worshippers were
commonly offered violence and abuse. (fn. 36) Meetings
were reported in the same meeting-house in 1660,
when citizens opposed to the Friends broke all the
chairs and benches, saying they did so by order of
the mayor. This meeting-house was the property of
Edward Nightingale, a grocer, and was situated near
his house in High Ousegate. In 1670 Nightingale
was heavily fined for permitting meetings in his
house and for attending meetings held in the streets.
In the same year eighteen persons were fined for
attending Quaker conventicles, so that the York
Meeting was virtually dispersed. (fn. 37)
The early organization of the Friends in Yorkshire
is not certainly known but it seems likely that the
county was in 1665 divided into five Monthly Meetings, subsequently regrouped into seven. (fn. 38) In 1668
the York Monthly Meeting is described as comprising York, Tadcaster, Selby, and Whixley (W.R.)
Meetings. (fn. 39) In 1669 York was one of the 14 M.M.s
into which Yorkshire was at that date divided. (fn. 40) The
Yorkshire Q.M. minutes for 1669 are the earliest
extant, but they imply that periodical gatherings of
a similar nature had been held previously. The
M.M.s within the Q.M. have been regrouped from
time to time and in 1960 numbered seven. York
M.M. has a continuous history throughout the
period, but its constituent 'particular' meetings have
varied, including, beside those in the city, nine in
other parts of the county. (fn. 41) The York M.M. was
still in existence in 1956 and the Yorkshire Q.M.
was still held in the city.
Despite the persecution during the first twenty
years of Quakerism in York it was possible in 1674
to adapt some tenements adjacent to Friargate (also
belonging to Edward Nightingale) as a meetinghouse. In 1678 a gallery and a porch were added to the
house and an adjacent mill-house and stable were converted into a meeting place for the Yorkshire Q.M. (fn. 42)
The freehold of the site was purchased in 1696. (fn. 43)
In 1684 the Q.M. published a condemnation of
the action of several members in York in seceding
to form a separate group. The answer to this condemnation was signed by four York Quakers including Edward Nightingale. The separate meeting
appears to have begun in 1681 (fn. 44) and was the expres
sion of opposition to an advice against hasty second
marriages; (fn. 45) it persisted at least until 1690. (fn. 46)
In 1695 the York society was in debt, despite 'the
making of monthly as well as larger collections over
the past eleven years'; the aid given to Friends imprisoned in York castle reduced the society's resources at this period. (fn. 47) The size of the meetings
appears to have been increasing, for in 1709 it was
agreed that those on the first day should often be held
in the great meeting-house because of the pressure
on space in the small meeting-house. (fn. 48) By 1743
there were said to be 50 persons attending the York
Meeting, but it is not clear that this was an increase
in numbers. (fn. 49)
In 1718 a new meeting-house for the Q.M. was
erected, adjacent to the old meeting-house on the
west, and to Far Water Lane (Friargate) on the
north. This building accommodated between 800
and 1,000 persons and cost £562. (fn. 50) In 1786 this
larger meeting-house and the smaller one used by
the York Meeting were formed into a single trust. (fn. 51)
In 1816 the large meeting-house was taken down
and after the purchase of some adjacent property
was replaced by a larger and more convenient building. This building provided two meeting-rooms, a
library, committee room, and doorkeepers' premises
and was approached by a covered yard from Friargate. The larger of the two meeting-rooms had a
gallery on three sides, the smaller had galleries on
two sides and there was accommodation in all for
1,200 persons. (fn. 52) The total cost was £3,274. (fn. 53) The
building was red brick with arched lights; entrance
was by three double doors behind a colonnade. The
architects were Watson and Pritchett of York. (fn. 54)
The site of the meeting-houses was enlarged in
1884 on the construction of Clifford Street. At the
same time the smaller or women's meeting-house
was reconstructed and a cloakroom, caretakers'
accommodation, a lecture room, two committee
rooms, and a room for the Q.M. library were added.
The cost of these improvements was £6,145. The
additional buildings, flanking the 1816 meeting-house
on the south, are built of red brick and the main
entrance from Clifford Street is approached by a
flight of steps. The architect was W. H. Thorpe of
Leeds. (fn. 55)
In 1891 further alterations were made and the
entrance from Castlegate on the north of the
meeting-house was closed. In 1912 the York Meeting received the Trust for the meeting-house, which
previously had been held by the Q.M. (fn. 56)
The Yorkshire Q.M. library was established in
1776 (fn. 57) and is housed in the Clifford Street buildings.
It includes the Birkbeck library, a set of books and
pamphlets published by Friends, collected by
Morris Birkbeck of Guildford, which was presented
to the Q.M. in 1811. (fn. 58)
The first Quaker burial ground in York lay close
to the Clifford Street meeting-house, on land owned
by Edward Nightingale. Though the number of
burials was small it is possible that Quakers who
died during imprisonment in York castle were
buried there. No burials are recorded after 1671, but
the land remained the property of the York Meeting until 1884. (fn. 59) In 1667 land was purchased for a
burial ground on Bishophill, south of the river between the present Albion Street and Cromwell Road.
Lindley Murray, the author, and John Woolman,
the American Quaker who died of smallpox whilst
visiting York, are buried there. The burial ground
was enlarged by the purchase of an adjacent site in
1823. (fn. 60) In 1855 the ground was closed for burials
and land for a new burial ground was purchased
next to The Retreat. (fn. 61) Both these grounds were the
property of the York M.M. in 1956.
A meeting was started in the Foresters' Hall,
Acomb, in 1906. Four years later this was recognized
as the Acomb Allowed Meeting. (fn. 62) The Primitive
Methodist Chapel on Acomb Green was bought by
the Friends in 1911. (fn. 63) The Acomb Meeting continued to meet here and was occupying the premises
in 1956.
A Leeman Road Meeting was begun in 1906 (fn. 64) and
was held in the Adult School which stood at the
corner of Walworth Street and Stamford Street and
was destroyed in the Second World War. In 1908
this meeting was recognized as a 'particular' meeting
and a Preparative Meeting was established. The
Leeman Road Meeting closed in 1925. (fn. 65)
A meeting in Layerthorpe was started in 1909 in
Redeness Street Adult School and moved the following year to a school in St. Cuthbert's Road. It
was discontinued in 1913. (fn. 66)
A meeting in the Adult School in Balmoral
Terrace, known as the South Bank Meeting, was
begun in 1910 and discontinued about 1918. (fn. 67)
The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion and Congregationalists
In 1749 the Countess of Huntingdon and George
Whitefield visited York and a site in College Street
was chosen for a chapel. (fn. 68) It is believed that this
chapel, which was a plain, plastered building, stood
in a garden behind College Street and Goodramgate
close to the south-east end of St. William's College. (fn. 69)
The congregation is described as including persons
of different doctrinal views, but the ministers were
supplied from the Countess of Huntingdon's college
at Trevecca. (fn. 70) In 1780 William Wren, who had
begun his ministry in College Street in 1779, with
drew from the Connexion, taking with him many of
the congregation. (fn. 71) Subsequently the chapel was
supplied by itinerant ministers of the Connexion. (fn. 72)
Between 1794 and 1796 doctrinal disputes brought
about another division, further weakening the College
Street society. (fn. 73) It is not clear how far the chapel continued to be used by the Connexion between that
time and 1802 when it was occupied by the Calvinistic Baptists. (fn. 74)
From 1780 to 1781 the congregation which withdrew with Wren from the College Street Chapel
was meeting in a room in Coney Street. (fn. 75) In
November 1781 the GRAPE LANE CHAPEL
between Grape Lane and Coffee Yard was built by
Paul Batty, a wealthy York citizen, for Wren and his
congregation. (fn. 76) In 1784 Wren died (fn. 77) and the congregation he had gathered was led by a succession of
ministers until in 1794 the chapel was bought by a
Mr. Watkins, a minister of the Countess of
Huntingdon's Connexion. (fn. 78) It is possible that for a
short time Grape Lane and College Street chapels
were united as one society served by ministers from
the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion. (fn. 79) It is
likely therefore that the dispute that caused the
second series of secessions from College Street had
a similar effect at Grape Lane. (fn. 80) For two years the
remaining congregation occupied the chapel, until,
in 1798, it was sold to the Methodist New Connexion. (fn. 81)
When in 1796 a part of the Grape Lane Chapel
congregation led by a Mr. Wydown seceded, they
moved into a small, newly built chapel in Upper
Jubbergate, (fn. 82) which was licensed as a dissenters'
meeting-house in December 1796. (fn. 83) JUBBERGATE CHAPEL appears to have been attended
by a decreasing number of Congregationalists until
1814, when it was adopted by the West Riding
Itinerant Society, an association for consolidating
Congregationalism in the county. (fn. 84) In 1816 the
chapel was bought or rented by the Unitarian
Baptists. (fn. 85)
In September 1815 a site was purchased on the
south side of Lendal almost opposite the Judges'
Lodgings; LENDAL CHAPEL was opened in
November of the following year. It provided
accommodation for 950 persons and in the basement
there was a room for a Sunday school. The building
was designed by Watson and Pritchett, architects of
York, and the cost, with the site, was more than
£3,000. Lendal Chapel was the first in York to be
lighted by gas. (fn. 86) The congregation appears to have
increased rapidly and although a new Congregational
chapel was opened in 1839, 80 persons remained in
Lendal Chapel to form the nucleus of a new congregation. (fn. 87) The building was restored in 1902 (fn. 88)
and its use as a chapel continued until 1929. (fn. 89) In
1956 the building, the ground floor of which had been
altered, was occupied by a shop.
SALEM CHAPEL in St. Saviour's Place was
built by the trustees of Lendal Chapel to accommodate the large congregation gathered by the
popular minister, James Parsons. (fn. 90) The chapel accommodated nearly 1,700 persons and there were
school-room facilities. The building, which was
opened in 1839, is fronted by an Ionic portico approached by a flight of steps, and was designed by
Watson and Pritchett. The cost was £5,000. (fn. 91) In
1851 there was an average attendance of 800 persons
at each of the two Sunday services and about 180
children attended the Sunday school. (fn. 92) Parsons was
elected to the Presidency of the Congregational
Union in 1849. (fn. 93) The chapel was closed in 1934. A
small group continued to meet in a room there until
1954. (fn. 94) The building was used as a warehouse in
1956.
In 1824 a small chapel was opened by Congregationalists in Walmgate, in a passage adjacent to the
Admiral Hawke public house. (fn. 95) It appears to have
been unsuccessful and was closed some time before
1850 when it was used for a short time by the
Wesleyan Reformers. The chapel has been pulled
down and the site occupied by a foundry. (fn. 96)
After the sale of Lendal Chapel in 1929, the congregation joined with that of Salem Chapel, until
the NEW LENDAL CONGREGATIONAL
CHURCH was opened in 1935. The new chapel,
cruciform in shape, stands in Burton Stone Lane,
and is approached by a drive; it accommodates 300
persons. The cost of the building was met by the
proceeds of the sale of Lendal Chapel. H. E. Illingworth of Leeds was the architect. (fn. 97) In 1956 this was
the only Congregational chapel in York.
Baptists
Little evidence has been found of Baptists living
in York in the 17th century. An Anabaptist congregation is said to have existed in the city about 1646. (fn. 98)
In 1672 Theophilus Browning was licensed as a
Baptist preacher in the house of William Wombwell. (fn. 99)
This community has been described as comprising
General Baptists. (fn. 1) In 1689 John Cox, a York Baptist,
published a pamphlet, Articles of Christian Faith. (fn. 2)
General Baptists are mentioned in York at the turn
of the century. (fn. 3)
Some time before 1800 a number of Wesleyan
Methodists seceded and formed 'a connexion upon
Calvinistic principles'. (fn. 4) This group, which favoured
Unitarianism and was later to be known as the
Unitarian Baptists, was served at first by a minister
from London and, when he left, by a minister from
Lady Huntingdon's Connexion. (fn. 5) It is not known
whether the group was connected with Lady Huntingdon's chapel in College Street. (fn. 6) The group broke
with Lady Huntingdon's Connexion upon being 'led
... to the consideration of baptism, which ended in
[their] obedience to that ordinance by immersion'. (fn. 7)
It can be shown that this baptism took place some
time before the first baptisms of the Calvinistic Baptists in York in 1799 (see below). (fn. 8) The Unitarian
Baptists were baptized by 'a Calvinist Minister in
[i.e. from] the West Country, near Leeds' but
whether this took place in York is not clear. (fn. 9) This
minister preached to the society for some time but
eventually they were led by one of their own members, Francis Mason, a journeyman shoemaker. (fn. 10)
Meetings are said to have been held by Mason in a
house on Peaseholme Green. (fn. 11) Mason died in September 1801 and has been spoken of as the founder
of the society. (fn. 12)
In 1816 the Unitarian Baptists are said to have
bought, but probably only rented, the Congregational chapel in Jubbergate. (fn. 13) They continued to
meet there until 1830 although in that year there
was no minister attached to the chapel. (fn. 14) In 1831
a room in Coffee Yard was licensed for General
Unitarian Baptist worship (fn. 15) but no evidence of the
society's separate existence after this date has been
found and it appears that the congregation subsequently joined that of the Unitarian chapel in St.
Saviourgate. (fn. 16) The Jubbergate Chapel was purchased by the corporation in 1834 and demolished
when Parliament Street was made. (fn. 17)
A second Baptist society was recorded in York in
1802 and has been identified with a Calvinistic
Baptist society described as meeting in the chapel in
College Street in July of that year. (fn. 18) This group is
said to have baptized its first members in 1799 in the
Well House in the New Walk. (fn. 19) The society continued to meet in College Street until 1806 when the
chapel in Grape Lane was bought from the trustees
of the Methodist New Connexion. In 1808 the society
joined the Baptist Association but withdrew in 1821;
it had probably left Grape Lane Chapel some time
before. (fn. 20) It built a baptistry in the chapel in 1810. (fn. 21)
Possibly the society was still in existence in 1833 but
its meeting-place is not known. (fn. 22)
Baptist services were resumed in January 1862
when the Home Missionary Society hired the
Lecture Hall in Goodramgate. Two years later a
church of 30 members was formed and a chapel
built and opened in June 1868. The BAPTIST
CHAPEL, Priory Street, is a stone-faced building
in Gothic style, designed by William Peachey of
Darlington. There are a lecture room, a schoolroom,
a baptistry, and chapel accommodation for 700
persons. G. E. Foster of Cambridge contributed
£1,000 towards the cost of erection. (fn. 23) The Priory
Street Chapel was used by the Baptists in 1956.
Wesleyan Methodists
In 1744 John Nelson, a Birstall (W.R.) stonemason, and an early Wesleyan convert, was quartered
in York as a soldier (fn. 24) and is thought to have been
the first person to have introduced the doctrines
of Methodism into the city. (fn. 25) Meetings were held
that year in the house of Margaret Townsend in
Spurriergate. (fn. 26) By 1747 a society had been formed in
York and was meeting in Thomas Stodhart's house
at the bottom of the Bedern. The leader of this
group was a Thomas Slaton of Acomb, (fn. 27) where
Methodists had probably been meeting before this
date. (fn. 28) The house of a Mrs. Pindar in what was
later known as Alderman Siddal's Yard, Coney
Street, was used as a preaching place by William
Darney and Alexander Coates, itinerant preachers. (fn. 29)
The Methodists continued to meet in the Bedern
house until 1752 (fn. 30) when they moved to a room in
a building which occupied the site of the ruined
chapel of St. Sepulchre on the north of the minster. (fn. 31)
A room in Pump Yard, Newgate, was used in 1753, (fn. 32)
and had possibly been a second meeting-place from
1751. (fn. 33) The building, at the northern end of Newgate,
near The Shambles, was still standing in 1957: a
plaque recorded that the upper story was a meetingplace between 1753 and 1759 and that the room in
which the Methodists met was destroyed by fire
about the year 1880. John Wesley preached here
twice—on 9 May 1753 and 5 June 1755—and
Charles Wesley twice in October 1756. (fn. 34)
Between 1761 and 1790, John Wesley preached in
York on fifteen occasions and on four of them in
Anglican churches: in July 1766 in St. Saviour's;
in June 1768 in St. Mary's, Castlegate, and St.
Michael's, Spurriergate; in May 1786 in St. Saviour's
and St. Margaret's; and in May 1790 at All Saints',
Pavement. (fn. 35)
In 1749 Acomb was included in the Yorkshire
Division of the Wesleyan Methodists but York was
not separately mentioned. By 1758, however, York
may have been a circuit town with three ministers
attached to it. This circuit originally comprised
many places round the city and some farther afield,
but was contracted by the formation of the Scarborough Circuit in 1770 and the Tadcaster Circuit
in 1825. In 1867 the York Circuit was divided to
form the New Street (later Clifton) and Wesley Circuits, and in 1888 New Street was further divided
to form Centenary Circuit. (fn. 36) After the formation of
the Methodist Church a fourth circuit, Monkgate,
was formed from the former Primitive Methodist
Connexion in York.
On his visit of 11 July 1757 John Wesley preached
in 'Blake's Square'; (fn. 37) a subscription fund for building a permanent chapel was initiated on this occasion. (fn. 38) In 1759 land was acquired in Peaseholme
Green, (fn. 39) on a 99 years' lease. (fn. 40) On his visit of 19
April in that year, Wesley preached both in the room
in Pump Yard and in 'the shell of the new house'. (fn. 41)
This house, at the lower end of Aldwark, was later
known as the PEASEHOLME GREEN CHAPEL.
It seems probable that the chapel was opened by
Wesley on 15 July 1759, when he visited the city for
the second time that year. (fn. 42) The chapel was built to
accommodate 400 worshippers; it was enlarged in
1775 by the addition of side galleries, seating 100
more. (fn. 43) In 1780 a house was erected in St. Saviourgate, behind the chapel, for the use of the preachers. (fn. 44)
At some time before 1792, accommodation was
rented in Coppergate and Coffee Yard; it has been
suggested that these rooms were to provide additional
accommodation for the worshippers of Peaseholme
Green Chapel. (fn. 45) About 1804 the Wesleyans rented
the Grape Lane Chapel, (fn. 46) whether as an alternative
or additional chapel to Peaseholme Green is not
known. (fn. 47) It is possible, but unlikely, that this is to be
identified with the room rented in Coffee Yard in
1792. (fn. 48) Meetings were held in Grape Lane until the
completion of New Street Chapel in 1805; Peaseholme Green Chapel was sold in the following year
for £530. (fn. 49) The building has been renovated and
was used in 1955 by a firm of builders' merchants.
A plaque was placed on the wall in March 1955,
commemorating the use of the building as a chapel. (fn. 50)
The preachers' house in St. Saviourgate was at that
time occupied as a dwelling house.
In 1791 the first Methodist Sunday school in
York was opened at Peaseholme Green by John
Lupton, a journeyman weaver. (fn. 51) The class was discontinued in 1800 because of a dispute between the
teachers and the chapel trustees. (fn. 52)
NEW STREET CHAPEL was opened 13
October 1805. (fn. 53) Accommodation was provided for
1,500 to 2,000 persons; the cost was more than
£4,000. (fn. 54) The chapel was built of brick, with arched
lights and two central doors with stone facings; the
front wall sloped back on either side of the doors to
the side walls (see plate facing p. 408). The premises
included vestries, a schoolroom, and a caretaker's
house at the rear; two houses in New Street were
also owned by the trustees. (fn. 55) A large house behind
the chapel which had been used as the Judges'
Lodgings before 1806 (fn. 56) was bought for use as a
minister's house about 1841. (fn. 57) A new portico and an
organ loft were added to the chapel in 1860. (fn. 58)
'The extension of Methodism in the neighbourhood of Bootham and Clifton' and the closing of New
Street Chapel were being considered by the chapel
trustees as early as 1897. The chapel was eventually
closed in 1908 and sold for £5,900 to Thomas Bowman, a furniture dealer and remover. (fn. 59) The building was used by the Central Mission from December
1908 (fn. 60) until June 1910 (fn. 61) and subsequently as a
bioscope and variety theatre. In 1920, after much
alteration, it was opened as the Tower Cinema,
which still occupied the building in 1955. (fn. 62)
A Sunday school was opened in 1821 and was
conducted in the chapel vestry. (fn. 63) The chapel was
head of the York Circuit from 1805 to 1867 and subsequently the head of the circuit that carried its
name. (fn. 64)
ALBION CHAPEL, at the corner of Albion
Street and Skeldergate, was opened 11 October
1816, (fn. 65) to meet the needs of the population living in
the districts south and west of the river. It is a
square, red-brick building with the gable end
facing the street and formerly had two entrances
from Skeldergate which are now blocked. There
was accommodation for 700 persons and the chapel
cost £2,250. (fn. 66) By about 1850 the chapel was
apparently thought to be too small: Wesley Chapel
was built and after its completion in 1856 Albion
was said to be comparatively deserted. (fn. 67) It seems to
have been sold about 1861, probably to Thomas F.
Wood & Co., raft merchants, who were occupying
it in that year (fn. 68) and who were still in occupation in
1954. In 1955 the building was occupied by the
North-Eastern Electricity Board.
In April 1817 a Sunday school was opened in the
chapel. (fn. 69) In 1824 £800 was spent on accommodation
for the school. (fn. 70)
ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL was built in 1826 (fn. 71)
to serve the needs of worshippers in the densely
populated eastern area of the city around Walmgate.
The chapel stood at the end of Chapel Row, which
led to it from George Street. The single-story,
brick building with a gallery was built at a cost of
£2,500 and accommodated 500 persons. (fn. 72) After
1840, when Centenary Chapel was opened, the congregation declined, (fn. 73) and after 1843 it was used only
as a Sunday school and mission room. (fn. 74) In 1847 a
day school administered by the Wesleyans was
opened in the chapel; (fn. 75) it was known as St. George's
School and continued until 1895. (fn. 76) In 1897 the
premises were acquired for the use of St. George's
Catholic School for girls, which was opened in 1900
after alterations had been made. (fn. 77) The building was
still used as a Roman Catholic school in 1955.
A plan to commemorate the centenary of Methodism was put forward at a meeting of the New
Street Chapel trustees in 1838. (fn. 78) The society was at
that time heavily in debt (fn. 79) but large sums were
offered by members of the community to help in
building a chapel that might adequately fulfil the
functions of a 'cathedral ... of Methodism'. (fn. 80) The
foundation stone of CENTENARY CHAPEL in
St. Saviourgate was laid 1 October 1839, (fn. 81) and the
chapel was opened on 17 July 1840. (fn. 82) The building,
which accommodates 1,500 persons, (fn. 83) is of classical
style with an Ionic portico and stone facings; the
architect was James Simpson of Leeds. (fn. 84) The interior
is horse-shoe shaped with a gallery on three sides.
The original building included vestries, classrooms,
bandrooms, and a caretaker's residence at the rear; (fn. 85)
the total cost was £7,785. (fn. 86) Considerable additions
at the rear of the site were made in 1861, when two
new schoolrooms and six classrooms for the Sunday
school were built at a cost of £1,918. (fn. 87) Two years
later these buildings were destroyed by fire and
after reconstruction in 1864 were again burnt down. (fn. 88)
More successful attempts were made to provide
school accommodation in 1872 and again in 1895. (fn. 89)
The chapel was enlarged in 1881 and again in 1885
and two new vestries were added in 1909 to replace
those in the basement. (fn. 90) A new organ was installed
in 1914 at a cost of £650 and this was rebuilt in
1931 at a cost of over £1,000. (fn. 91) In 1908 and 1926 the
chapel was used for meetings of the Wesleyan
Methodist Conference. (fn. 92) In 1887 Centenary Chapel
became the head of a circuit formed by the division
of New Street Circuit; (fn. 93) the chapel was still in use in
1955.
In 1849 a meeting of York Methodists proposed
that a new chapel should be built in a central situation, which would be as inviting in character and
commodious in accommodation as Centenary Chapel.
Members of the Methodist community promised
money and a site was eventually obtained in 1854 in
the then newly developed Priory Street on the site
of Holy Trinity Priory. (fn. 94) WESLEY CHAPEL was
opened 12 September 1856 and provided accommodation for 1,500 persons. (fn. 95) In 1857 day schools, Sunday schools, and a preachers' house were built. (fn. 96)
The cost of the chapel, together with the additions
of 1857, was £10,936. (fn. 97) The chapel is of classical
design and built of stock brick. There are entrances
at the front flanked by two arched lights of stained
glass with five similar lights above; there are stone
pediments and copings round the doors and lights.
James Simpson of Leeds, who designed Centenary
Chapel, was the architect. (fn. 98) A new organ was installed in 1892 costing £882. (fn. 99) Alterations and enlargements to the chapel and schools were made in
1907, 1910, and in 1914 when a new porch was
added. (fn. 1) The chapel, which is the head of the circuit
bearing its name, was still in use in 1955; the school
premises were used as a secondary-modern school.
In 1867 open-air mission work in the Skeldergate
district was begun by members of Wesley Chapel;
the work was successful and was continued in the
White House, a tenement which stood in Skeldergate on a site no longer identifiable. (fn. 2) The mission
later moved into buildings which at one time had
been used by a Wesleyan Sunday school in North
Street; this building it occupied until 1900. (fn. 3) At this
date the society numbered 50 members with an
average attendance of 120 hearers for whom the
accommodation was inadequate. (fn. 4) On 19 September
1900 a building at the corner of Queen's Staith Road
and Skeldergate was opened and became known as
the SKELDERGATE MISSION HALL. (fn. 5) The
accommodation was for 300 persons; the hall, which
is of red brick, cost £2,852. (fn. 6) The mission was included in Wesley Circuit. The premises adjacent to
the mission, previously used as the Anchor Inn,
were bought for use as a Men's Institute and a caretaker's house in 1908. (fn. 7) The mission continued in
Skeldergate until 1939 when the hall was requisitioned and the mission dispersed. (fn. 8) In December
1942, after conversion, the building was opened as
the King George VI Club for Officers. (fn. 9) In 1955 the
premises were occupied by Remploy Ltd. and a
commercial firm.
In 1872 Wesleyan Methodists in the south-west
of the city outside the walls were using a small
school-chapel in Cemetery Road that had formerly
been used by the New Connexion. (fn. 10) By 1875 the
society numbered 68 members and average attendance at the school-chapel was said to be 100. (fn. 11) To
accommodate this flourishing society a Wesleyan
chapel was built near the school-chapel (which was
demolished) and opened as the MELBOURNE
TERRACE CHAPEL on 22 March 1877. (fn. 12) There
was accommodation in the new building for 850
worshippers; the chapel, together with a new schoolroom, four classrooms, and a vestry, cost £7,558. (fn. 13)
A house adjacent to the chapel, in Cemetery Road,
was later bought as a manse. In 1880 an organ was
installed and in the following year a new Sunday
school was added. (fn. 14) In 1904 a lecture hall and Men's
Institute was built at a cost of £1,416. (fn. 15) The chapel
and adjoining buildings are built of red brick,
decorated with stone and white brick ornamentations; the main entrance is from Melbourne Street
beneath a clock tower. Edward Taylor of York was
the architect. (fn. 16) The chapel was still in use in 1955
and formed part of Centenary Circuit.
Meetings held before 1868, in a room at the back
of Brownlow Street, were probably the origin of a
Wesleyan society in the Groves, an area lying north
of the minster outside the city walls. (fn. 17) In 1868 a
school-chapel was built in Brook Street at the rear of
Archbishop Holgate's School and a little distance
from Brownlow Street. (fn. 18) The building, known as
the BROOK STREET CHAPEL, was built of red
brick with a slated roof and coloured brick ornamentation; it provided accommodation for 400 worshippers. (fn. 19) In 1883 there were 256 members and
600 pupils attended the day school and 540 the
Sunday school held in the chapel. (fn. 20) The cost of the
building was £2,435 (fn. 21) and the architect was Edward
Taylor of York. (fn. 22) This chapel served the residential
area lying north of Lord Mayor's Walk. In 1884
there were 261 members in the society (fn. 23) and on 13
August of that year a larger chapel was opened at the
junction of Clarence Street and Wigginton Road
and became known as THE GROVES CHAPEL. (fn. 24)
The chapel was rectangular and built of red brick;
there is a square porch with a balustrade supported
by four granite pillars and the arched lights are
decorated with stonework. The architect was W. J.
Morley of Bradford. (fn. 25) The original building cost
£5,721 and there is accommodation for 800 persons. (fn. 26) In 1888 an organ was installed at a cost of
£450 and in 1894 classrooms were added at the rear
of the chapel. (fn. 27) After The Groves Chapel was
opened, Brook Street Chapel continued to be used
as a Sunday school and day school; the day school
was closed in 1890. (fn. 28) In 1944 the building was sold
for £4,000 to the Governors of Archbishop Holgate's School. (fn. 29) The Groves Chapel was still in use
in 1955 and formed part of Clifton Circuit.
The first Methodist society in Clifton seems to
have met in a cottage in the 1870's. (fn. 30) In April 1884
AVENUE TERRACE CHAPEL was opened near
to the corner of Avenue Terrace and Clifton (the
street of that name). (fn. 31) There was seating for 170
persons (fn. 32) and the cost of building was £1,197. (fn. 33) The
building consisted of a single-storied square structure with the gable end facing upon Avenue Terrace.
By the end of the 19th century the society had increased in size, and by 1907 there were 43 members
and 280 regular attenders. (fn. 34) The building of a more
commodious chapel in Clifton (the street) on the site
of 'Clifton Cottage' was begun in that year. (fn. 35) CLIFTON CHAPEL was opened in 1909. The chapel
accommodates 850 persons and is of red brick in
Gothic style, with a tower and spire; the total cost
was £11,552. (fn. 36) In 1916 land was bought for further
extension and in 1931 a primary school was built adjoining the chapel; the cost of the land was £350 and
of the building £466. (fn. 37) The Avenue Terrace Chapel
had been retained after 1909 as a Sunday school (fn. 38)
but was later converted into two dwelling houses,
numbers 5 and 7 Avenue Terrace. Clifton Chapel
became the head of the circuit which had been
attached to New Street Chapel. (fn. 39) The chapel was
still in use in 1955.
In Holgate a Young Men's Class was begun in
1862. (fn. 40) With the expansion of this class the need for
accommodation became pressing and about 1872
a mission chapel was built in Wilton Street (now
part of Wilton Rise). (fn. 41) This building, known as the
WILTON STREET MISSION, accommodated
172 persons (fn. 42) and was built of red brick with white
brick ornamentation; the cost was £800. (fn. 43) The
society in this district, where many railway workers
lived, expanded as the population increased. On 14
September 1910 HOLGATE CHAPEL was opened
at the corner of New Lane and Acomb Road. (fn. 44)
The Wilton Street mission-chapel was then sold
to the Railwaymen's Mission; (fn. 45) in 1955 it was used
by the Salvation Army. The new chapel provided
accommodation for 350 persons and the schoolrooms attached to the building have places for 500
children. (fn. 46) The chapel is a gabled, red brick building
and the interior has a gallery on three sides; the cost
of building was £4,322. (fn. 47) The chapel was still in use
in 1955 and was a member of Wesley Circuit.
SOUTHLANDS CHAPEL, on the corner of
Southlands and Bishopthorpe Roads, was opened on
13 October 1887, (fn. 48) to serve the population living in
the environs of Bishopthorpe Road. The chapel is
built of white Walling Fen brick and has twin
towers on either side of an ornamental window.
There is a large central hall and fifteen schoolrooms
opening upon it; there is accommodation for 750
persons and the cost was £6,641. (fn. 49) An organ was
installed in 1893 at a cost of £438. (fn. 50) In 1920 a hall
was erected to provide accommodation for the
Young Men's Association and other recreational
activities; it is a memorial to church members who
fell in the First World War and cost £1,753. (fn. 51)
Southlands Chapel was in use in 1955 and was a
member of Wesley Circuit.
Prior to 1888, mission work in the Layerthorpe
district, north-east of the city walls, was organized
from Centenary Chapel. In that year premises at
the corner of Mansfield Street and Foss Islands
Road were acquired at a cost of £806. (fn. 52) This building
became known as the LAYERTHORPE WESLEYAN MISSION and formed part of Centenary
Circuit. In 1892 the membership of this society was
76 and the average attendance at the chapel 350;
250 pupils attended the Sunday schools. (fn. 53) By this
time the original room was inadequate and extensions
were made so that 950 persons could be accommodated and the capacity of the Sunday schools was
increased by 500 additional places. (fn. 54) The cost of
all these alterations was £1,094. (fn. 55) The mission continued in these buildings until 1923 when it seems to
have closed. (fn. 56) The premises were sold in 1924 (fn. 57) and
in 1955 were occupied by a firm of confectionery
manufacturers.
The proceeds of the sale in 1897 of St. George's
Chapel Walmgate, (fn. 58) were used to finance the building of a second ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL in
Nicholas Street, outside Walmgate Bar. A small
chapel, for 250 persons was opened here in 1901;
the cost was £2,860. (fn. 59) The premises are of brick and
behind the chapel are school buildings which face
Milton Street. The chapel, which was a member of
Centenary Circuit, was closed in 1937. (fn. 60) In 1955 the
building was occupied by a firm of builders' merchants.
ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, Millfield Lane, the
third to bear that name, was opened on 20 January
1937, (fn. 61) to serve the Tang Hall estate on the east of
the city and to replace the Nicholas Street Chapel. (fn. 62)
It is of brick, with a tiled roof; the windows are
leaded lights. There is accommodation for 270
persons in the chapel and for 200 children in the
Sunday school, which includes a large hall and four
classrooms. (fn. 63) The chapel was still in use in 1955 and
formed part of Centenary Circuit.
Methodism in Acomb (fn. 64) was probably little affected
by the expansion of the city before 1934 when a
temporary chapel was opened on a site adjacent to
Beckfield Lane and Lidgett Grove in the cente of the
new housing estate there. The building and site
were the gift of Sir Robert Newbald Kay, a prominent York Methodist and for some time a member of
the Methodist Conference. (fn. 65) By 1937 the permanent
LIDGETT GROVE CHAPEL was completed for
£8,685. (fn. 66) This is of red brick with arched windows
filled with leaded lights; on either side of the porch
two apsidal wings project; the brickwork is surmounted by a pediment of laminated tiles and the
roof is tiled. The chapel and the adjacent classrooms
will house 550 persons. (fn. 67) The pulpit in the chapel
is claimed to be that used by John Wesley when he
visited the church of St. Mary, Castlegate, and
which was subsequently used in the New Connexion chapel in Peckitt Street. (fn. 68) In 1939 a chapelkeeper's house was purchased at the rear of the site. (fn. 69)
This chapel, which was the first to be erected in
York after the Methodist union, is a member of
Wesley Circuit.
The first Methodist class in Heworth was formed
in 1805. (fn. 70) In 1825 a chapel for 90 persons was built
in Heworth (the street of that name) for £285. (fn. 71) It
continued in use until 1890 when it was demolished
and replaced by a new building. (fn. 72) This was made
possible by the gift of £1,000 from Hannah Crampton Leak, relict of William Leak, a prominent York
Methodist. (fn. 73) The new chapel was known as
HEWORTH CHAPEL and was built on a site
adjacent to its predecessor. It accommodates 220
persons and the cost of the building, together with
the land, was £1,824. (fn. 74) Edward Taylor of York was
the architect; (fn. 75) the style is Gothic with a tower
over the entrance porch; the chapel is faced with
Scarborough yellow bricks. In 1931 a schoolroom
was added at a cost of £493. (fn. 76) The chapel was still
in use in 1955 and was part of Centenary Circuit.
Methodism was introduced into Dringhouses in
1816 and a chapel was built there in 1834. (fn. 77) It was
used until 1890 when a larger building, known as the
DRINGHOUSES CHAPEL, was opened on the
same site at the corner of Slingsby Grove and Tadcaster Road. (fn. 78) The last service was held there in 1954
and the chapel was put up for sale. (fn. 79) The WEST
THORPE CHAPEL, in the street of that name, was
opened 17 July 1954; (fn. 80) it was built to serve the
Acomb Moor housing estate and lies at some distance from the old chapel site. West Thorpe Chapel
is a red brick building of simple design; the arched
lights are faced with stone. The cost of the chapel was
about £14,000; (fn. 81) it forms part of Wesley Circuit.
Mission work on a small scale and prayer meetings
were conducted by the Wesleyans throughout the
19th century. In 1814 prayer meetings were held in
8 places in various parts of the city and by 1821
there were 11 such meeting-places. (fn. 82) Missions
were conducted for military recruits and mission
rooms in Fossgate, Barker Hill (now St. Maurice's
Road), (1879-89), and Chaucer Street off Lawrence
Street (1886) were attached to Centenary Circuit.
There were rooms in North Street (1876-86), in
Windsor Street, South Bank (1885), and in the
Hungate house of a shoemaker, Henry Crossfield
(1900). (fn. 83)
A Sunday school unattached to any particular
chapel was opened in a room in Jubbergate in 1810;
in that year there were 80 pupils and 16 teachers.
The school later expanded and moved to College
Street; it was in Goodramgate from 1813 to 1820
and in St. Andrewgate in 1821. In 1822 Sunday
school buildings were erected in Wesley Place, Hungate, to provide accommodation for 600 pupils but
these premises were not used by the Wesleyans
after 1865. Subsequently they were occupied by the
interdenominational Hungate Mission school which
held evening and Sunday classes. The buildings have
been demolished. (fn. 84)
The Methodist New Connexion
In 1799, after the followers of Alexander Kilham
had seceded from the Methodist Conference to form
the Methodist New Connexion, members of this
group in York purchased the Grape Lane Chapel. (fn. 85)
The congregation who worshipped there was
supplied with preachers by the New Connexion. (fn. 86)
The Wesleyan Methodists in York are said to have
lost 30 of their members to the new society, but this
success was ephemeral and meetings ceased to be
held about 1804 and the premises were later let to
the Wesleyan Methodists. (fn. 87)
In 1855 the New Connexion was re-established in
York, at the invitation of more than 200 Wesleyan
Reformers who had seceded from the Wesleyan
Methodist Conference in 1850. In July 1855 a meeting was held in a warehouse in Castlegate, when it
was decided to purchase a site in Peckitt Street. (fn. 88)
TRINITY CHAPEL was opened on 27 June 1856. (fn. 89)
The chapel was built of red brick with white brick
mosaic and ornamental stonework in Byzantine style.
There were 600 sittings and attached to the chapel
were a large schoolroom, vestry, lecture room, and
caretaker's house. (fn. 90) The cost of the chapel was
£3,072 (fn. 91) and it was designed by J. B. and W.
Atkinson of York. In the following year an organ
was installed. (fn. 92) The chapel was used until 1907 by
the New Connexion and thereafter by those sections
of the Methodist Church united with it. (fn. 93) In 1935
the chapel was closed and the premises were purchased by the corporation as a fire station extension. (fn. 94)
A New Connexion congregation with a Sunday
school was meeting in a room in Whitby Terrace,
off Cemetery Road, in 1855. A school-chapel was
opened in 1856 on a site nearby in Cemetery Road;
it accommodated 100 persons and the cost was
£1,000. (fn. 95) The congregation in this area proved unable to support a separate place of worship and in
1872, when the building was sold to the Wesleyan
Methodists, (fn. 96) the congregation moved to Trinity
Chapel. Further efforts were made by the New Connexion to expand and services were held in Cherry
Hill on the south of the river, but lack of preachers
prevented their continuance. (fn. 97)
Primitive Methodists
William Clowes, the Primitive Methodist evangelist, first preached in York in May 1819. (fn. 98) On this
occasion, when he held his meeting in Pavement,
'the people drew up in considerable numbers' and
Clowes announced that he would preach again in
a fortnight's time (fn. 99) but in fact his second visit was
not made until some six weeks later (fn. 1) when he
preached in either St. Sampson's Square or Pavement. (fn. 2) In the same summer Sarah Harrison and
Sarah Kirkland, local Primitive Methodist evangelists, preached in St. Sampson's Square (fn. 3) to large
crowds. As a result of these visits and with the encouragement of the 'friends' at Elvington, a village
7 miles away, which was 'the base for the mission to
York', (fn. 4) a society of seven members was formed in
1819. This small society rented accommodation in
Peaseholme Green (fn. 5) and was visited by itinerant
preachers and by local preachers from Hull and
Ripon. (fn. 6)
The society remained in these premises for less
than a year and in 1820 moved into GRAPE LANE
CHAPEL (fn. 7) which had been unoccupied for some
time. (fn. 8) This was rented for £20 a year (fn. 9) and opened
for worship on 2 July of that year. (fn. 10) The society was
at this time part of the Hull Circuit and regular
services were held by ministers from that city and
by lay preachers from the neighbourhood of York. (fn. 11)
The York branch expanded and in 1822 was formed
into a separate circuit which included 32 preaching
places in the surrounding villages. There was a
resident minister and the circuit membership is said
to have been 400. (fn. 12) It has been suggested, however,
that the York society was not then ready for independent status and that it at first met some difficulties. (fn. 13) In addition the society suffered from local
and apparently purposeless hooliganism. (fn. 14) Complaint was made to the magistrates and the chapel
was visited by the lord mayor and two cases were
brought to the York sessions but the disturbances
continued for almost two years. (fn. 15)
The chapel was bought outright by the trustees in
1829 for £450, (fn. 16) and a cottage converted for a caretaker. (fn. 17) About 1821 a Sunday school was opened
and accommodated in a room under the gallery
which was separated from the chapel by sliding
doors. (fn. 18) The chapel is described in 1834 as accommodating 684 persons. (fn. 19) Between 1836 and 1850
membership increased from 90 to 159 persons. (fn. 20)
Grape Lane Chapel was vacated in 1851 (fn. 21) and later
became a warehouse and furniture store; in 1956 it
was derelict.
EBENEZER CHAPEL was built on a site in
Little Stonegate 75 yards from Grape Lane Chapel
and opened on 13 November 1851. (fn. 22) It was designed
by J. P. Pritchett, a York architect, and built of
white brick in a classical style. There were two
galleries in the chapel and a basement room for use
as a Sunday school. Accommodation was provided
for 1,000 persons and the total cost was £2,274. (fn. 23)
Membership of the York society increased steadily
after the new chapel was built; (fn. 24) in the circuit
membership increased by one-third between 1850
and 1860. (fn. 25) In 1853 Alderman James Meek, a
prominent York Wesleyan, together with the class
of which he was leader, joined the Primitive Methodists. (fn. 26) In 1853, and again in 1864, the Primitive
Methodist Conference was held in York, which
seems by this time to have become one of the principal circuit towns. (fn. 27) Ebenezer Chapel continued to
be the most important Primitive Methodist chapel
in York until 1901, when it was sold for £2,000 to
Messrs. Coultas & Volans, printers, (fn. 28) who were still
occupying the property in 1956.
The establishment of Ebenezer Chapel provided
a solid foundation for Primitive Methodism in
York, thus making it possible to extend the society
to other parts of the city. In 1861 a weekly preaching
service was instituted in a private house in Union
Street, between Dove Street and Price Street, off
Nunnery Lane. (fn. 29) Later a large house was rented in
Nunnery Lane and a lay missionary engaged to work
in the district. (fn. 30) In 1865 a mission house and Sunday
school were built on a site adjacent to St. Thomas's
Hospital, in Nunnery Lane. (fn. 31) The building, of
white Walling Fen brick, contained a large preaching room with two classrooms at the rear, and was
known as the NUNNERY LANE MISSION. (fn. 32)
After the building of Victoria Bar Chapel in 1880
the Nunnery Lane room was used as a Sunday
school and meeting-hall. (fn. 33) In 1956 it was used as a
training centre for Civil Defence.
The district east of the city, around Heslington
Road, 'when but a small neighbourhood', was
evangelized by the Primitive Methodists before 1869
and a society established in a private house. In that
year land was bought in Apollo Street, between
Cemetery Road and Heslington Road, and a chapel,
accommodating 230 persons, was opened on 31
October. (fn. 34) The chapel, built of stock brick, included
a vestry, kitchen, and meeting-room, together with
a main hall with a small gallery. This building was
known both as APOLLO STREET CHAPEL and
HESLINGTON ROAD CHAPEL, and after 1883
formed part of Victoria Bar Circuit until it was sold
in 1936. (fn. 35) In 1956 the building was used by a firm
of french polishers.
The continued expansion of Primitive Methodism
south of the river prompted the York Circuit
Quarterly Meeting (fn. 36) to consider the provision of
better facilities for the congregation using the Nunnery Lane Mission Room. It was not, however, until
1879 that land was purchased for a chapel inside the
newly made Victoria Bar, in Victor Street, 100 yards
from the Nunnery Lane Room. (fn. 37) Known as VICTORIA BAR CHAPEL, it is built in Renaissance
style in red and white brick with terra-cotta dressings
and provided accommodation for about 900 worshippers, together with lecture rooms, classrooms,
and a minister's vestry; the cost was more than
£3,500. (fn. 38) The chapel was opened on 25 March
1880; (fn. 39) in 1883 the York Circuit was divided (fn. 40) and
the new chapel became the head of the Second York
Circuit, usually known as Victoria Bar Circuit. (fn. 41)
The chapel continued to be used by the Methodist
Church until 1940, when it was sold. (fn. 42) In 1955 it
was used as a furniture storeroom.
In the summer of 1874 the Primitive Methodists
held open air mission meetings in Layerthorpe.
During the winter of that year two rooms were
rented in 'Lawson's Yard' (possibly in Bilton Street)
where preaching meetings and services were held for
three years. In 1877 two houses with a large yard in
Duke of York Street were purchased and a missionchapel was erected in the yard at a cost of about
£700. (fn. 43) A passage through one of the houses forms an
entrance to the chapel. This building, known as the
DUKE OF YORK STREET MISSION ROOM,
was opened 3 February 1878; there is accommodation for 190 persons and the room is also used by a
Sunday school. (fn. 44) The mission room was part of
York First Primitive Methodist Circuit and subsequently of Monkgate Circuit; it was still used by
the Methodist Church in 1955.
The development of the district south of the river,
known as New England, was begun in the late 19th
century and in order to provide a place of worship
for the population there, the Primitive Methodists
erected a wooden building in Albany Street, off
Leeman Road, in 1884. This building cost £208 and
accommodated 120 persons; the room was also used
as a Sunday school attended by 170 children. A
more permanent building, known as ALBANY
STREET CHAPEL, was opened on an adjacent
site in October 1900. (fn. 45) The new building was so
designed that the classrooms and schoolrooms could
be used as part of the chapel when necessary and
provided accommodation for 250 persons. (fn. 46) The
cost of the building was £678. (fn. 47) The chapel formed
part of Victoria Bar Circuit. It was destroyed by
enemy action in April 1942. The Congregation used
St. Barnabas's parish room until 1946 when a temporary wooden building, given by Sir Robert Newbald Kay, was dedicated for use, until a permanent
building could be erected. (fn. 48) In 1954 ALBANY
CHAPEL was opened on a new site, in Salisbury
Road, 200 yards from the original chapel. It is a
small red brick building, with a corrugated asbestos
roof; there is accommodation for about 200 persons
and the cost was £3,300. (fn. 49) Albany Chapel forms
part of Wesley Circuit in the Methodist Church and
was still in use in 1956. Mission meetings were held
in the residential area between Burton Stone Lane
and Wigginton Road about 1900. (fn. 50) In 1901 BURTON LANE CHAPEL was opened on a site in
Haughton Road off Burton Stone Lane. (fn. 51) The
building is stock brick with stone dressings and
contains one large room suitable for school purposes
and two classrooms, and provides accommodation
for 200 persons; the cost was about £1,100. (fn. 52) Burton
Lane Chapel formed a part of the First York Circuit
attached to Ebenezer Chapel, and, after the opening
of Monkgate Chapel, was transferred to Monkgate
Circuit. In 1955 the chapel was still in use by the
Methodist Church.
After Ebenezer Chapel was opened in 1851 it was
the principal Primitive Methodist chapel in York.
Later in the century, however, the accommodation
proved inadequate and the situation inconvenient,
and in 1885 the trustees agreed to purchase property
in Monkgate for a new chapel. The choice of this site
was partly dictated by its convenience for Elmfield
College on the Malton Road. (fn. 53) The erection of the
new chapel was not begun until the debt on Ebenezer Chapel was cleared and its sale completed. (fn. 54)
MONKGATE CHAPEL was opened in January
1903 (fn. 55) and was built of red brick with stone facings
and provided sittings for 775 persons; at the rear
were school premises, including a lecture room,
infants room, and assembly hall, with accommodation in all for 600 persons. (fn. 56) The organ
from Ebenezer Chapel was rebuilt and installed
and special seating with separate entrances was
provided for the pupils of Elmfield College. The
total cost was over £7,000; the architect was
F. W. Dixon of Manchester. (fn. 57) The chapel is also
known as JOHN PETTY MEMORIAL CHAPEL,
being dedicated to the memory of John Petty,
president of the conference in the Jubilee Year and
first governor of Elmfield College. (fn. 58) From 1901,
when Ebenezer Chapel was sold, until 1903, when
Monkgate Chapel was opened, the congregation used
the Victoria Hall, Goodramgate, for its services. (fn. 59)
The new chapel was made the head of the original
York Circuit which was renamed after it. In 1955
the chapel was used by the Methodist Church and
continued as the head of a circuit reformed at the
amalgamation.
Apart from the Primitive Methodist mission work
which resulted in the foundation of societies and the
building of chapels, less permanent missions existed
in private houses in various parts of the city. In 1864
mission stations were used in Regent Street, off
Lawrence Street, in Dundas Street (in Hungate and
now demolished), New York Street, off Nunnery
Lane, and in the Groves. (fn. 60) Services were conducted
for several years in a house in Brownlow Street, off
Lowther Street, towards the end of the 19th century,
but were discontinued after the opening of Monkgate Chapel. (fn. 61)
Primitive Methodism in Acomb does not seem to
have been affected by the expansion of the city's
population until after the Methodist union. (fn. 62)
United Methodists and their Predecessors
Wesleyan Protestant Methodism was first introduced into York from Leeds in 1829. (fn. 63) The group
was joined by 230 Wesleyan Methodists (fn. 64) and at
first met in a room behind the 'Old Sand Hill', a
public house (now demolished) in St. Andrewgate. (fn. 65)
In the same year the society bought land in Lady
Peckitt's Yard between Fossgate and Pavement and
in the summer of 1830 a chapel known as LADY
PECKITT'S YARD CHAPEL was opened. The
chapel, which was a plain brick building with a
central entrance, flanked on either side by a window,
provided accommodation for 500 persons. (fn. 66) In 1835
the society meeting here, joined the Wesleyan
Association, which in 1856 was united with the
Wesleyan Reformers. The enlarged society, known
as the United Methodist Free Church, closed the
chapel in 1858 and the site was subsequently purchased by the Society of Friends. (fn. 67) In 1955 the
building was used as a warehouse.
MONK BAR CHAPEL, at the junction of Aldwark and Goodramgate, was opened on 22 April
1859 (fn. 68) and the congregation moved into the new
building from the room in St. Saviourgate which they
had temporarily rented. (fn. 69) The chapel is built of red
and white brick with a portico over the central entrance. The accommodation was for 800 persons and
the building included three classrooms, a schoolroom,
vestries, caretaker's house, and tea room. The cost
of the chapel and site was £3,100. (fn. 70) Monk Bar
Chapel was the head of the only York United
Methodist Free Church Circuit until 1907. In that
year it was made one of the two United Methodist
Circuits, the other having been formed from Trinity
New Connexion Chapel. In 1911 these two circuits
were amalgamated with Monk Bar at the head. In
1914 Trinity Chapel was made head of the Circuit
in place of Monk Bar. (fn. 71)
The replacement of Monk Bar by Trinity Chapel
as head of the Circuit was the outcome of longstanding financial difficulties. The chapel was unable to improve its position and in 1917 the trustees
agreed to dispose of the property. (fn. 72) This final step
was prevented by amalgamation with the York
Central Mission early in 1919 and from this date
the chapel became known as MONK BAR CENTRAL MISSION. (fn. 73) The mission was closed in
1934 and the chapel sold for £1,850. (fn. 74) In 1955 the
premises were used by a firm of wholesale tobacconists.
A second Methodist Free Church Chapel was
opened in York on 9 February 1871, in a small
brick building in James Street, off Lawrence Street.
The building was provided by William Pumphrey
and it was also used (during the week) as an infants'
school for the Lawrence Street locality. (fn. 75) The
JAMES STREET CHAPEL was a member of
Monk Bar Circuit until 1911; later it became a part
of the United Methodist Circuit and after 1933 it
was joined to the Monkgate Circuit. (fn. 76) In 1956 it
was still used by the Methodist Church.
The group, known as the Wesleyan Methodist
Reformers, which separated from the Conference in
1850, first met in the Festival Concert Rooms in
Museum Street and later in the Lecture Hall, St.
Saviourgate. (fn. 77) Early in 1851 the society moved into
the Congregational Chapel off Walmgate which provided accommodation for 100 persons, (fn. 78) but it
seems that they remained here for only a short period.
The society itself divided in 1855, when 200 of its
members agreed to support the New Connexion and
asked that society to reopen a chapel in York. The
remainder of the Wesleyan Methodist Reformers
joined the Wesleyan Methodist Association in Lady
Peckitt's Yard. (fn. 79)
Presbyterians
Presbyterian services began in the Lecture Hall
Goodramgate, by the minister of the Prospect Street
Presbyterian Church, Hull, in 1873. At a meeting of
the Presbytery of Newcastle in September 1873,
a petition, signed by 54 persons in York, asking for
recognition as a preaching station, was allowed. In
1879 a site was acquired at the corner of Priory Street
and Lower Priory Street and the PRESBYTERIAN
CHAPEL was opened on 6 November 1879. The
building includes a hall, classroom, and vestry, and,
together with the site, cost £5,000. The chapel is
built of white brick with decorated windows and
there are two main entrances approached by flights
of steps. An organ was installed about 1907. (fn. 80) The
building was used by the Presbyterian congregation
in 1956.
Moravians and Sandemanians
A Moravian meeting was recorded in the parish of
St. Sampson in 1764. At this time the congregation
numbered about 60 persons and was led by a minister, William Blage, who had been appointed by
Benjamin Ingham of Fulneck. (fn. 81) There is no evidence
of this congregation's existence after this date and it
has been suggested that the members joined a
group of Sandemanians, (fn. 82) who were also meeting in
the same parish in 1764. At that date the Sandemanians were small in number and had no permanent
minister. (fn. 83) The first Sandemanian meeting-place
was possibly a large room in Swinegate. (fn. 84) About
1777 the congregation moved into a house, built by
Nicholas Baldock, at the lower end of Grape Lane. (fn. 85)
The house was probably constructed for use as a
chapel and dwelling house and had a small burial
ground behind it. (fn. 86) It was still used by the Sandemanians in 1830 when they are last recorded as
meeting. (fn. 87) The site of this chapel can no longer be
identified.
Christadelphians
Christadelphians began to meet in York in a
private house in Holgate Road in 1907. Two years
later an Ecclesia began to meet regularly for a Sunday service in a room over a shop at 10 Low Ousegate. In January 1913 the Christadelphians moved
to a room in Agricola House, 12 Ogleforth, where
they continued until 1938. In July of that year they
moved to the Rechabite Building in Clifford Street
where the Ecclesia has continued to assemble. In
1956 there were about 33 members attending this
meeting. (fn. 88)
Christian Scientists
Christian Science services were first held regularly
in York in 1907. In June 1929 the First Church of
Christ Scientist, York, was opened in Kilburn Road,
off Fulford Road. The church is built of rustic
bricks and the windows are decorated with stone
facing, the roof is flat and the entrance is from Kilburn Road. There was a Christian Scientist readingroom at 4 Lendal in 1956 which moved to High
Petergate in 1959. (fn. 89)
The Elim Four Square Gospel Alliance
A band of revivalists led by Principal Jeffries,
founder of the Elim Four Square Gospel Alliance,
introduced the movement into York in February
1934. For a year meetings were held in St. George's
Hall Ballroom in Castlegate. In 1935 the Alliance
had 200 members in York and acquired the premises
once occupied by the Central Mission in Swinegate.
After alterations to the building, which included the
addition of seating to accommodate 800 persons, the
building became known as the ELIM TABERNACLE. (fn. 90) The premises were occupied by the Alliance in 1956.
The Salvation Army
Meetings were held by the Salvation Army in a
skating rink in Gillygate in 1881. In the following
year a site in Gillygate was bought and a citadel
was erected and opened by General Booth in 1883.
The building, which is of red brick with stone ornamentation, accommodates 2,000 persons and cost
£3,265. (fn. 91) A second corps was meeting in North
Street in 1905 in the former Wesleyan mission room. (fn. 92)
In 1936 the premises of the Wilton Street (later
Rise) Methodist chapel were acquired by the Army,
and subsequently used as the headquarters of the
second corps. (fn. 93) In 1909 a branch was opened in
Hamper's Yard, Walmgate, (fn. 94) and branches existed
for some time in Fishergate and Haver Lane,
Hungate. (fn. 95) In 1956 the Citadel corps in Gillygate
and the Wilton Rise corps were still in existence.
Spiritualists
There was a Spiritualist National Union church
in Webster's Passage, St. Saviourgate, in 1907; (fn. 96)
meetings were held in Spen Lane at least from 1929. (fn. 97)
The Christian Spiritualist Church, Coffee Yard, the
Christian Spiritualist Church of St. Albert, the
Bedern, and the Spiritual Temple of the Holy Cross,
St. Andrewgate, were all holding meetings in 1939. (fn. 98)
In 1953 the Christian Spiritualist Church was
meeting at 41 Micklegate and was still meeting there
in 1955.
Jehovah's Witnesses
A group of Jehovah's Witnesses has met at
different times in the Kingdom Hall, Fossgate, the
Co-operative Hall, Railway Street, and, in 1953, in
a room at 33 Coney Street. (fn. 99)
Assemblies of God
From at least 1889 until 1905 there was a Church
of Christ meeting-house on the west side of Cromwell Road, next to the Bishophill British school.
The Free Church Pentecostal or Assemblies of God
occupied the same meeting-house from at least
1953. (fn. 1)
The Catholic Apostolic Church
A branch of the Catholic Apostolic Church was
recorded in York in 1867. In 1872 the meeting-place
was a room in Castlegate which the worshippers
continued to use until 1902 when services were
started in the Merchant Tailors' Hall. The Church
left the Hall in 1939 and did not again meet in York. (fn. 2)
Swedenborgians
Adherents of the New Church were first recorded
in York between 1790 and 1800. (fn. 3) A receiver of
Swedenborgian doctrine, William Heppel, was in
touch with the New Church Conference by 1840. (fn. 4)
By 1854 Heppel appears to have gathered a congregation together and formed the church which was
recognized by the Conference in that year. (fn. 5) Heppel
was leader of the congregation until 1870 or 1871
except for a short period in the early 1860's. Between
1871 and 1894 William Jubb was leader; from 1894
until 1906 or 1907 the church appears to have had
no leader but a W. C. Jubb was named as secretary. (fn. 6)
From 1855 to 1876 the Swedenborgians used the
Temperance Lecture Hall in Goodramgate (numbered 46 and earlier known as Sanderson's Temperance Hotel; now demolished). Between 1876 and
1899 the congregation met in the Good Templars'
Hall in Whiteley's Court (later St. Saviour's Court,
now demolished) close to the York Institute (now
the Masonic Hall) in St. Saviourgate. The meetingroom was occasionally referred to as the 'New
Jerusalem' or the 'Swedenborgian Meeting Room'.
About 1899 the meeting returned to the rooms in
Goodramgate (then known as the Victoria Hall) and
remained there until its demise in 1906. (fn. 7)
The membership was never large: in 1870 there
were 24 persons regularly attending services but in
1900 only 14. A Sunday school was opened about
1889. The church possessed a library of about 100
volumes. (fn. 8)
Plymouth Brethren
A congregation of Plymouth Brethren is recorded
as meeting in a house in the yard of no. 20 Little
Stonegate in 1851. (fn. 9) This group is probably to be
identified with the congregation of 'Exclusive'
Plymouth Brethren, occasionally styled 'Christian'
or 'United' Brethren (fn. 10) who, from about 1861 until
1937 were meeting in Salem Chapel School, St.
Saviourgate. (fn. 11) The Chapel School, sometimes called
'St. Saviourgate Meeting Room' or 'Mission Room', (fn. 12)
was reached through Webster's Passage between
numbers 19 and 21 on the west side of St. Saviourgate. The passage and some of the surrounding
houses have been demolished but the chapel was
still standing in 1956 and in use as a warehouse. (fn. 13)
In 1936 or 1937 the Brethren left St. Saviourgate;
subsequently various meeting-places were used
until, in 1942, the congregation moved to rooms
above number 26 on the north side of Colliergate
next to Bough's Yard, where meetings were still
being held in 1956. (fn. 14) There has never been a resident
minister for the congregation.
The Gospel Hall
A congregation of 'open' Plymouth Brethren was
meeting in rooms in Micklegate next to the Queen's
Hotel in 1893. By 1897 the place of meeting was
known as 'The Gospel Hall'. The Brethren continued to meet in Micklegate at least until 1921. (fn. 15)
By 1924 they had moved to St. Andrew's Hall,
Spen Lane, a building reconstructed from the
medieval church of that dedication. (fn. 16) This new
place of meeting was also given the name 'The
Gospel Hall' and was still in regular use in 1957. (fn. 17)
The Central Mission
The Central Mission was started as an independent, non-sectarian mission by two members of
Centenary Methodist Chapel. They worked first in
the Layerthorpe Methodist Mission to which they
had been invited by the trustees in 1904. Later the
work was organized from the Festival Concert
Rooms in Museum Street, (fn. 18) until 1908 when the
New Street Methodist Chapel was rented. (fn. 19) On 27
June 1910 a new building for the mission was opened
in Swinegate. (fn. 20) This building, which was built of
white brick with red brick ornamentation and comprised a lecture hall and schoolrooms, was requisitioned for war purposes in 1915. Subsequently the
mission was dispersed but in 1919 it was amalgamated with the Monk Bar United Methodist Chapel
and from this time until the closing of the chapel in
1934 the new organization was known as the Monk
Bar Central Mission. (fn. 21) After 1934 the mission united
with York City Mission. (fn. 22)
York City Mission
The York City Mission was founded in 1848, 'for
the diffusion of moral and religious instruction
among the poorer classes of society, by means of
domiciliary visitation'. The mission, which was
interdenominational, was conducted by a committee
drawn from the established and dissenting churches. (fn. 23)
The mission's work has not been directed from one
centre but at different times the Wesley Place Mission
rooms in Hungate and a mission room in Navigation Road together with the Methodist mission
rooms in North Street, Skeldergate, and Layerthorpe were used. (fn. 24) For some time before 1947
rooms in Ogleforth were rented for meetings and
after this date the mission used a guild room in
Salem Chapel. In 1956 the mission was holding
meetings in this room and in the Social Hall in the
Bell Farm Estate. (fn. 25)