Stockton Paradise Row Primitive Methodist chapel

Church Rd, Stockton-on-Tees TS18 1TW

Stockton Paradise Row Primitive Methodist chapel
Handbooks of the Primitive Methodist Conference 1914 and 1932; Englesea Brook Museum

The Primitive Methodists in Stockton held their first camp meeting in 1821 and had a room in Playhouse Yard; they opened a chapel in Maritime Street in 1825.  By the end of the nineteenth century there were three chapels -Paradise Row, 1866, Norton Road, 1876, and Bowesfield Lane, 1887 – together with some mission rooms.

The foundation stone for Paradise Row Primitive Methodist chapel, Church Road, was laid in June 1865 by Errington Ridley and the chapel was officially opened on 20th May, 1866. Speakers at the opening events included T Southron, T Smith , T Greenfield, E Hall, W Clemitson, J Welford, FB Boynton, J Yarwood, G&C Hudson, J Appleton, JA Bastow, R Fewnwick and J Spence. The chapel was large with the worship area measuring 62.5′ x 44′.  It seated 620 people and cost over £3,000. The names of some of the donors are listed by Thomas Southron and John Welford in the Primitive Methodist magazine account of the opening.

The chapel brought immediate success.  Sunday school attendance increased and membership rose to 137. Itwas used by Moody and Sankey during their visit to Stockton in 1893.

The chapel closed and the final service was held on Sunday 28th December, 1947. On Google street view in 2009 it is a shop for wallpaper and paint. By 2015 it appears to be empty, still the case in 2018

Reference

Primitive Methodist magazine September 1866 pp.559-561

 

Comments about this page

  • Heritage Stockton, an initiative of the Borough Council, have produced a post which brings the story up to date. Visit https://heritage.stockton.gov.uk/resources/townscape-map/building-list/84-86-church-road/ for a number of photographs and a full description of the building. I believe my family attended this chapel from 1871 to 1928. My grandparents certainly married there, and my father was baptised there.

    By Philip Thornborow (02/11/2022)
  • I’ve added information from an account of the opening of the chapel in the Primitive Methodist magazine of 1866. The account is an extensive one with lots of detail and names.

    By Christopher Hill (28/03/2019)

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