Birtley Primitive Methodist Chapel, Station Road
Co Durham
The Birtley Primitive Methodists or ‘Ranters’ first met in Simpson’s Yard near St. John’s Church. Their first chapel was built in Orchard Street in 1867 at a cost of £700. The second chapel, this one, was built in Station Road at a cost of over £3000 in 1899. A minister’s house was added in 1904 and an organ installed in 1906.
The architecture is remarkable for a Primitive Methodist Chapel, its rather eccentric gothic style betraying pretensions of grandeur! The corner spire has amazing gargoyles, which were purely decorative rather than being used as drainpipes.
A war memorial plaque on the side of the building has elaborately carved lion and lamb heads with a cornucopia underneath. The sculptor was W Pickering, who was at Rutherford College during the war and had been working on the piece as a memorial tablet, but later was unfortunately killed himself.
The church still stands witness in 2021.
Comments about this page
The November 1901 Primitive Methodist magazine contains a note (page 876) recording the opening of a new chapel at Birtley , where a second minister had also been added.
Add a comment about this page