Vale Royal Methodist Church

Last updated

Vale Royal Methodist Church
Former Vale Royal Methodist Church, Vale Road, Tunbridge Wells (August 2021) (7).JPG
The former chapel in August 2021, following its conversion into a gymnasium
Vale Royal Methodist Church
51°07′43″N0°15′42″E / 51.1287°N 0.2616°E / 51.1287; 0.2616
Location Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent
CountryEngland
Denomination Methodist Church of Great Britain
History
Former name(s)Vale Royal Wesleyan Methodist Church
Architecture
Functional statusClosed
Heritage designationLocal heritage asset
Architect(s) Charles Bell
Completed3 June 1873 (1873-06-03)
Construction cost£5,000
Closed5 April 2015 (2015-04-05)

Vale Royal Methodist Church, also historically Vale Royal Chapel [1] and Vale Royal Wesleyan Methodist Church, [2] was a Methodist Church of Great Britain parish church in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. It was opened in 1873 and stopped being used as a church on Easter 2015. [3] It was later renovated to become a gym.

Contents

History

The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, visited Tunbridge Wells in his early years as a preacher and gained a small congregation there. [4] Meetings initially took place in the Presbyterian chapel [5] at Little Mount Sion, which had opened in 1721; [6] Wesley preached there "on several occasions". [5] The congregation of the Wesleyan Methodist Church purchased land on what is now Vale Road for a small chapel in 1812 [5] and worshipped in an inclusive way by also using Church of England liturgy during Sunday morning services by 1863. [7] Due to the growth of the congregation, they expanded the original chapel twice, but eventually required larger premises. Work began in 1872 [8] and the church opened on 3 June 1873 at a cost of £5,000. [3] [4] [7] It was built to designs by the architect Charles Bell [3] [8] and was built by the firm of Willicombe and Oakley. [8] The church's organ was installed in 1883 and was opened by William Thomas Best. [9] In the 1930s, the majority of Vale Royal's stained glass windows were installed. [3]

Closure

Due to the cost of maintenance of the church building, the Vale Royal congregation had proposed demolition and rebuilding of the church with 14 flats on the site in 2010. [10] [11] However this proposal was rejected the following year by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council as "out of character" with the local area. [10] Eventually the congregation put the church up for sale, but the council noted that though the church was not a listed building, it was a local heritage asset. [12] The church held its last service on Easter Day in 2015 before closing and the Methodist congregation moved to worship at a nearby United Reformed Church. [3] The church eventually sold at auction for £900,000 in 2016, however the money went to the Methodist Church's headquarters and not the local congregation. [13] The church was later adapted into a gym with the building kept standing. [11] Vale Royal's licence to conduct marriages and Christian worship services within it, which was granted on 17 July 1873, [1] was formally revoked in 2018. [14]

Architecture

Charles Bell, a London-based architect, designed Vale Royal Methodist Church in a style described as "early French Gothic [Revival]" [8] or as Perpendicular Gothic Revival. [5] It is of local Kentish ragstone laid in the form of random polygonal masonry, and there are dressings of paler Bath stone. The roof is laid with slate tiles. [8] The gabled façade has corner buttresses which rise to form tall finials [5] or pinnacles, and there is tracery in the windows. [8] The entrance porch is "raised high above street level" and has a triple archway. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

William Willmer Pocock was a British architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wesleyan Methodist Church, Nantwich</span>

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 town in the 1880s. It is listed at grade II. The church closed in 2009, after the congregation moved to the former Methodist schoolrooms opposite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robertsbridge United Reformed Church</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

Robertsbridge United Reformed Church is a former United Reformed Church place of worship in Robertsbridge, a village in the district of Rother in the English county of East Sussex. Built for Congregational worshippers in 1881 following their secession from a long-established Wesleyan Methodist chapel, it was the third Nonconformist place of worship in the village, whose nearest parish church was in the neighbouring settlement of Salehurst. Like the former Strict Baptist and Methodist chapels in the village, which have both closed, it no longer serves Robertsbridge as a place of worship. Local architect Thomas Elworthy's distinctive design—a "rich" and highly decorated blend of several styles—has divided opinion amongst architectural historians. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethel Strict Baptist Chapel, Robertsbridge</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

Bethel Strict Baptist Chapel is a former place of worship for Strict Baptists in Robertsbridge, a village in the district of Rother in the English county of East Sussex. Partly hidden behind ancient buildings on the village High Street, the simple brick chapel was erected in 1842 on the initiative of James Weller, a "somewhat remarkable man" whose preaching had attracted large audiences across Kent and East Sussex in the previous decade. The Strict Baptist cause was historically strong in East Sussex, and Protestant Nonconformism thrived in Robertsbridge, which was distant from the nearest Anglican parish church. The chapel closed in about 1999, and permission was granted for its conversion into a house. English Heritage has designated it a Grade II Listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethel Strict Baptist Chapel, Wivelsfield</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

Bethel Baptist Chapel is a Strict Baptist place of worship in the village of Wivelsfield in East Sussex, England. The cause was founded in 1763 by members of a chapel at nearby Ditchling; Henry Booker and other worshippers seceded and began to meet at Wivelsfield after hearing a sermon by George Whitefield. Although some members of the new church soon returned to the Ditchling congregation, the cause thrived under Booker's leadership, and the present chapel—a building of "quiet and unassuming elegance" set in its own graveyard—was erected in 1780. It has served the Strict Baptist community continuously since then, and members founded other chapels elsewhere in Sussex during the 18th and 19th centuries. The chapel is a Grade II Listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cranbrook Strict Baptist Chapel</span> Church in Kent, United Kingdom

The Cranbrook Strict Baptist Chapel, is a Strict Baptist place of worship in the town of Cranbrook in the English county of Kent. The chapel was built in 1787.

John Wills was an architect based in Derby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Bell (British architect)</span> British architect

Charles Bell FRIBA (1846–99) was a British architect who designed buildings in the United Kingdom, including over 60 Wesleyan Methodist chapels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salvation Army Hall</span> Church in Surrey , United Kingdom

The former Salvation Army Hall in Godalming, Surrey, England, now an office building known as Aurum House, has been used by three religious groups since its construction c. 1830. The ancient town in the English county of Surrey has a long and diverse history of Protestant Nonconformity, and three Nonconformst denominations are represented: at first it served Congregationalists, but when they built a larger chapel in the town it passed to the Methodist Church. In the 20th century it was occupied by The Salvation Army, but it closed in 2012 and was redeveloped for commercial use. The building has been listed at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Paul's Church, Rusthall</span> Church in Rusthall, England

St Paul's Church is a Church of England parish church in Rusthall, Kent, England. It is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Five Ash Down Independent Chapel</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

Five Ash Down Independent Chapel is an independent Evangelical church in the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition in the hamlet of Five Ash Down, East Sussex, England. Founded in 1773 in the house of a local man, Thomas Dicker senior, the cause developed so rapidly that a church was founded and a permanent building erected for the congregation 11 years later. The church was run along Calvinistic lines at first, in common with many new chapels in late 18th-century Sussex, and an early group of seceders from the congregation founded a chapel in nearby Uckfield which was run in accordance with Baptist theology. The Five Ash Down chapel has been described as "the parent of many other places [of worship] both Baptist and Independent" across Sussex, and it has continued into the 21st century—now as a small Evangelical fellowship but still worshipping in the original chapel, whose present appearance is a result of expansion and refronting during the Victorian era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wellington Square Baptist Church, Hastings</span> Church in East Sussex, United Kingdom

Wellington Square Baptist Church is a Baptist church in the centre of Hastings, a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, England. It was built in 1838 for a congregation which had previously been meeting for worship in hired premises, and it has been in continuous use since then. Rev. W. Barker, a long-serving minister in the 19th century, revived the church after it was split by a secession and later helped to establish Baptist chapels in two other parts of Hastings. The church forms the northwest corner of Wellington Square, one of the town's earliest residential developments, and its stuccoed Neoclassical exterior harmonises with the surrounding houses. Historic England has listed the church at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winchester United Church</span> Church in Hampshire , United Kingdom

Winchester United Church is a joint United Reformed and Methodist church in the centre of the city of Winchester in the English county of Hampshire. Built between 1852 and 1853 to the Gothic Revival design of architects Poulton and Woodman for a congregation which had its origins nearly 200 years earlier, it is "incongruously set within the northern part of the former county jail", which had recently moved to a new site. Since 1974 the congregation has been a joint United Reformed and Methodist one, as the city's two Methodist chapels closed, the congregations merged and worship was concentrated on the one site. Historic England has designated the church a Grade II listed building for its architectural and historical importance.

References

  1. 1 2 "No. 24007". The London Gazette . 12 August 1873. p. 3776.
  2. ↑ "Vale Royal Wesleyan Methodist Church, Tunbridge Wells". The National Archives. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Smith, Alan (14 June 2016). "Royal Vale [sic] Methodist Church fetches £900,000". Kent Online. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  4. 1 2 Turcan, Robert (2012). Tunbridge Wells Through Time. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN   9781445631790 – via Google Books.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Stell 2002 , p. 185.
  6. ↑ Stell 2002 , p. 184.
  7. 1 2 "Brackett's Guide to Tunbridge Wells, 1863". University of Leicester. 11 February 2008. p. 37. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Homan 1984 , p. 98.
  9. ↑ Curtis, Gordon (2016). A Provincial Organ Builder in Victorian England: William Sweetland of Bath. Routledge. p. 53. ISBN   9781317187028.
  10. 1 2 "Vale Royal" (PDF). Broadlands. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  11. 1 2 "Planning application points to new gym". Times Local News. 6 July 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "Historic building goes to auction after sales stall". Times Local News. 25 May 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  13. ↑ "Bidding war pushes sale of the church". Times Local News. 14 June 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  14. ↑ "No. 62247". The London Gazette . 4 April 2018. p. 6043.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.