In the 1866 Primitive Methodist magazine J Simpson tells us of the recent (but undated) building of the “best schoolroom in Shelf”. They had been meeting in a small room so needed bigger premises, and were able to acquire the land only if they pledged only to have windows in the roof, not the walls.
C Horsfall was the architect: donors included Moses Bottomley and his sons Moses (Jun) and Samuel; Jonathan Holmes and Joseph Crossley.
Where was the schoolroom and what happened to it? Presumably there was also a chapel – and Ordnance Survey maps from 1892 – 1932 show a Primitive Methodist chapel at Shelf on Wade House Road opposite what was then Victoria Mills. In 1957 it is labelled Wadehouse Methodist church. On the 1968 map the building exists but has no label. On Google Street View it is Wade House Shelf Community Centre
Reference
Primitive Methodist magazine 1866 July page 436
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Thanks for the clarification Ben
Yes, it is. The schoolroom at Wade House (Primitive Methodist) Chapel was built onto the right hand side/eastern end of the Chapel in 1854, extended in 1866 and then re-built in 1901. The 1901 bit still stands and has a datestone. The building is now known as the Wade House Community Centre. The Chapel itself was built between 1822 and 1823 and is still pretty much the same as it originally was except for the extension.
Ben Stables (shelfhalifax.wordpress.com)
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