Middleton Rhodes Chapel Street Primitive Methodist chapel

formerly Chapel Street, now Yates Street, M24 4GA

Chapel Street Primitive Methodist chapel in Rhodes, Middleton

from the ‘Centenary Souvenir pamphlet, 1834-1934’, of the Chapel Street Methodist Church, Rhodes, near Middleton, Lancashire (Middleton Library)

Interior view of the front of Chapel Street chapel

from the ‘Centenary Souvenir pamphlet, 1834-1934’, of the Chapel Street Methodist Church, Rhodes, near Middleton, Lancashire (Middleton Library)

Interior view of the rear of Chapel Street chapel

from the ‘Centenary Souvenir pamphlet, 1834-1934’, of the Chapel Street Methodist Church, Rhodes, near Middleton, Lancashire (Middleton Library)

Middleton Rhodes Primitive Methodist chapels

This was the successor to Mount Pleasant chapel; you can read about it here.

A detailed history of this chapel and the one that preceded it on the same site can be found in the ‘Centenary Souvenir pamphlet, 1834-1934’; all of the quotations below are from this source except where otherwise stated.

1906: According to the booklet ‘There is Holy Ground’ – A History of Methodism in Middleton 1760-1950 (Middleton Library), the Mount Pleasant Primitive Methodist chapel was demolished in July 1906 to make way for this chapel.

‘July 28th, 1906, was the date of a great festival in the village of Rhodes. … This was the occasion of the Stone-laying Ceremony.;’

1907: The chapel was opened on 11 April: ‘A full and extensive report of the proceedings appeared in the Middleton Guardian of April 13th, 1907, together with a description of the building. … … The approximate cost of the new Church is £2,300, towards which a sum of £900 has been raised during building operations.’

Churches of Britain and Ireland gives this description:
‘ … it was quite a distinctive building in red and yellow brick with a brick tower and a small copper spire. Stone spouts stuck out from the corners of the spire at 45 degrees.’

A photograph can be seen here. It was taken looking NNW up Chapel Street, just south of the junction with Church Street.

The 1915 25” OS map, shows a chapel scaling at about 66ft x 37ft; the school (built in 1860) had been greatly enlarged sideways with a building about 39ft x 27ft.
The following photographs appeared in the Centenary pamphlet:

1934: ‘The present strength of the School and Church is as follows: Scholars, 130; Teachers (active and honorary), 40; Church members, 110. This latter figure has been considerably reduced during the last two years owing to deaths.’
1940: The 1940 Methodist Church Buildings Report Districts ‘M’ listed Rhodes under Circuit 825 Middleton:
Rhodes (Chapel Street): Brick; seating for 263; pews; one hall and seven other rooms.
1950: Although Methodist Union had occurred in 1932, it was not until 1950 that the three circuits in Middleton amalgamated.
1953: The Wesleyan (Manchester Old Road) and Primitive churches in Rhodes amalgamated and the former closed.
1963: The Primitive church subsequently fell into disrepair and services were then held in All Saints’ Church, Rhodes. According to Churches of Britain and Ireland, the chapel was closed in 1963.
1968: According to the Manchester Archives, the Chapel Street chapel was demolished in 1968 owing to dry rot but the members continued their Methodist worship in All Saints.
1987: The Manchester Archives record that the society was finally dissolved in around 1987.