Brown Knowl PM Chapel, Cheshire

Built 1913, and still used for worship

A Primitive Methodist society began in the village in 1822. The first Primitive Methodist Chapel (Ebenezer) at Brown Knowl was built in 1836 and demolished in 1913. This was the chapel recorded in the 1851 Census of Places of Public Religious Worship – see the transcript for more detail

This chapel was built in 1913, and is known today as Brown Knowl Methodist Church.

Photographs taken by Alison-Mary Smithson, 1 March 2010.

Comments about this page

  • Sadly I have only just read the above letter from Laura Maisie Hayman which was written back in 2013. I would have liked to have corresponded with her but I understand that she passed away in 2021
    I have a copy of a letter, written from his home in Highley in 1916 by her father the REV ALBERT COLE, to a member of his congregation who had been ill. The young man he had written to was a relative of mine called ARTHUR COLE who also lived in Highley, and I am pretty sure we are all related (my maiden name is COLE). But that is going to take some unravelling! I would have loved to have worked on it together.

    By Wendy Mead (01/04/2023)
  • My mother, who was intensely interested in family history, has died recently.  Amongst her belongings is a silver plate trowel which was used to lay the foundation stone of the Primitive Methodist Church at Highley, by one of our distant relatives (Viggars or Eardley).  I believe that he was the owner of  Highley Colliery.  I’d like to return the trowel to an organisation that would appreciate the item.  Any suggestions?

    By Bernie Priekulis (23/12/2016)
  • Is this Rev Albert Cole the Supernumerary Methodist Minister who is listed in the 1953 Minutes of the Methodist Conference as living in Cosham, Hampshire?  He was sent as a probationer to Highley in 1913 and I believe he was ordained in that same year.

    A relative of ours, Arthur Howard Cole of Highley, used to say that he was a cousin but we are having difficulty in tracing which branch of the family Albert was born into.  Can anyone help with birth and death dates please and the names of his parents?  We would love to find a link.

    By Wendy Mead (14/04/2015)
  • Wendy,

    Leary gives the following information about Albert Cole.

    Born 1887 at Blackheath. Died 10 February 1957. Obituary in the Minutes of Methodist Conference 1957 page 204.

    Trained at Hartley College, Manchester.

    Stations

    • 1913 Kidderminster
    • 1917 Dawley
    • 1920 Whitchurch
    • 1925 Chester I
    • 1930 Shrewsbury
    • 1935 West Bromwich Queen St
    • 1940 Birmingham Small Heath
    • 1944 Oldbury
    • 1949 Peterborough
    • 1953 Portsmouth (Supernumerary)
    By Geoff Dickinson (14/04/2015)
  • I have been doing some family history and browsing this site for the past few months and have just seen your comment about Rev Albert Cole. My family were from Highley, Shropshire which is in the Kidderminster Circuit and I believe it is possible that your father was the first probationer minister at Highley. If it is the same person he went to Highley in 1913 and stayed for 4 years where he would have known my grandparents William and Sarah Lawley very well indeed. Unfortunately the chapel at Highley is now closed, much to my mother’s great distress (she died 2 years ago). In a souvenir booklet of 1930 there is a picture of Rev Albert Cole as a very young man, together with pictures of succeeding ministers and prominent lay people, including my grandfather. The Superintendant Minister of the circuit at the time was Rev. Brace Evans who subsequently went to Brownhills, Walsall and I have in my possession a most beautiful letter he wrote to my mother when she was born. Do you think there might be a tenuous connection here? Ella Thomas

    By Ella Thomas (14/04/2013)
  • My father Rev.Albert Cole was minister of this chapel from 1920 to 1925 and I and my brother Clarence were born in the manse and christened in this chapel. My elder brother Geoffrey was born in Dawley which was my father’s first circuit. My family were very happy in Brown Knowl despite being miles from anywhere and lack of all “mod. cons.” Is there anyone still around whose parents knew mine?

    By LAURA MAISIE HAYMAN (12/04/2013)

Add a comment about this page

Your email address will not be published.