John Wesley frequently visited Brentford, where a Methodist group existed in 1745. Congregations met in a large building, perhaps near St. George's Church. The former Presbyterian chapel at Ferry Lane, Old Brentford, was used from 1783. In 1811 a new meeting house north of the High Street was opened. As attendance grew the church was expanded and in 1890 it was replaced by an ornate Gothic building at the corner of Windmill and Clifden Roads. The church was restored in 1951 after bomb damage sustained during the Second World War. In 1964, after union with the Jubilee Chapel, the current Clifden Road Methodist Church, was built on part of site in Clifden Road, off Windmill Road, and has been used ever since. The church is part of the Richmond and Hounslow Methodist Circuit.
Ealing Broadway Wesleyan Methodist church originated in services at 1 Milford Villas, the Mall, 1864. A new chapel seating 300 was built in Windsor Road in 1865 while an adjoining church seating 1,000 was added on the corner with the Mall in 1869. The chapel was replaced by a hall in 1925. This building was compulsorily sold in 1970 and the church members moved to Ealing Green United Reformed Church in 1972.
The Ealing Dean or West Ealing Primitive Methodist church on Uxbridge Road was built in 1900 with seating for 450. The congregation had been housed in a temporary chapel since 1861. The church was closed in 1959, when the congregation moved to the Kingsdown Methodist church. The buildings were sold in 1963.
The area of West Ealing was known as "Ealing Dean" until the late nineteenth century.
A Wesleyan chapel was first erected in 1810 on the eastern side of Lower Road, Roxeth, and accommodated 218 people. The chapel was registered in 1856, but was replaced in 1905 by a red brick Gothic building, with room for 650, in Bessborough Road. The chapel was closed in 1972 and the congregation joined the North Harrow Methodist Church.
There was said to be a congregation of about 30 Wesleyans at Isleworth in 1810, but they did not open a chapel until 1829, in North Street. A new chapel was built in 1924 in Twickenham Road, just south of North Street.
Earlsmead United Methodist Church and Central Hall, Tottenham had its origins in meetings over a shop in Saint Ann's Road, which led to the building of Earlsmead Bible Christian hall, registered in the High Road in 1886. The hall came to be used by Methodists from the nearby Westerfield Road hall. In 1909 the congregation joined the United Methodist Free Churches and opened a second chapel in the High Road, converting the older chapel into a schoolroom. Earlsmead United Methodist church was recertified as Central Hall in 1935. It had seating for 750 and was closed in 1953.
Northumberland Park Primitive Methodist church was founded in 1870. The church was constructed on the north side of Northumberland Park almost opposite Worcester Avenue and was registered in 1872. It was sold to the Calvary Church of God in Christ in 1971.
West Green Road Primitive Methodist church began in a temporary building, registered in 1877 but out of use by 1896. A new chapel of yellow brick was constructed on the south side of West Green Road opposite Belmont Road, in 1888, registered in 1894. The building was sold in 1969 and became the Derby Hall Christian Assembly room in 1972.
The Methodist Church in Britain is arranged into over 600 Circuits, which in turn are grouped into 32 Districts covering Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Each District is supervised by a District Synod. A Circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.
A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.
The Brunswick Church was constructed in 1834 while the Zion Church, Neate Street, was constrructed in 1855.
The Methodist Church established its first East-End Mission in 1885, hoping to combat the poverty and squalor of the area. Poverty and sin were fought by a combination of evangelism and social work, for example, handing out free meals during winter, organising trips to the seaside and showing films for a penny. The Mission had its own magazine, The East End, which included articles on the scale of the distress.
As the population of the East End changed after the Second World War, so too did the Mission. In 1985 the Mission celebrated its centenary and highlighted its continuing work in socially deprived areas, supporting the homeless, unemployed, single parents, immigrants, the disabled and the elderly.
The Bow Circuit was the first Home Mission circuit in Methodism, and the newly formed Metropolitan Wesleyan chapel Building Fund purchased land in Bow Road for future development. Alexander McAulay was appointed superintendent of the newly created Bow Circuit in 1861. In September 1900 Bow and Poplar Circuits were united to become the Poplar and Bow branch of the London Mission (the successor of the Metropolitan Wesleyan Chapel Building Fund which had helped to establish Bow in 1863). In 1961 Poplar and Bow Mission was divided into two separate circuits of Poplar and Bow.
The Whitechapel Methodist Mission was a Primitive Methodist foundation, arising from the home mission activities of one of the Methodists' greatest ministers, the Reverend Thomas Jackson, who worked in the East End of London for 56 years. His work at Whitechapel built on his earlier work in Bethnal Green, Walthamstow and Clapton.
The Whitechapel Mission combined social work with evangelical work. The station began in 1897 when Thomas Jackson bought the Working Lads' Institute which was due to close owing to a shortage of funds. He used this as the basis for his work in Whitechapel. In 1901 the Mission acquired a property on Marine Parade, Southend, to continue the provision of holidays and convalescent stays for the poor from the area. In 1906 Brunswick Hall was purchased, and this enabled a physical separation of the social and evangelical work. The Mission's many activities included free breakfasts and penny dinners for local children, a Medical Mission, free legal advice service, night shelter for homeless men, distribution of food, coal and grocery tickets to the poor and prison gate rescue work (especially amongst young men), which developed into full probation work with the opening of Windyridge Hostel.
Pembroke Road Methodist church was founded in 1904 by the main Muswell Hill Methodist church as a Wesleyan mission hall. In 1922 it moved to the Freehold mission hall in Sydney Road, which was replaced in 1954 by a new church in Pembroke Road. In 1975 a small red-brick church seated 150 and shared a minister with Manor Drive Methodist church.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate (1980), pp. 32-33.
The Hillingdon Methodist Circuit was made up of 9 churches on the western edge of London, north of Heathrow Airport. Since 2006 it has been part of the Harrow and Hillingdon Circuit of 17 churches, covering the London Boroughs of Hillingdon and Harrow and stretching from West Drayton and Hayes in the South to Kenton and Wealdstone in the North. A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.
Long Lane Methodist Church opened in new premises in Long Lane in 1933. A new church was built in 1967 and the old premises used as a Church Hall.
The building which was formerly the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel in Falmouth Road, Southwark, now houses the Nigerian church, the Church of the Holy Cross and Star.
Hounslow Chapel was built about 1874 as a Methodist church. Its use as a church ceased about 1939 and during the Second World War it was used as a British Restaurant. In 1948 the building was bought by the United Synagogues.
John Wesley visited Staines in 1771 and preached in a house which had just been fitted up for the purpose. He recorded an enthusiastic reception and according to the Anglican authorities the number of Methodists increased between 1778 and 1810. There does not seem to have been a proper chapel before about 1845, but the Wesleyan minister from Windsor registered a dwelling-house in Staines for religious worship in 1825. By 1865, and probably twenty years before, the Wesleyan chapel stood on the site of the present Salvation Army fortress in the Kingston Road. This chapel was replaced in 1890 by the present building in the Gothic style on the other side of the road. It is built in red brick with stone dressings and has a south-west spire. In 1957 the church had about 160 members.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 3: Shepperton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington, Heston and Isleworth, Twickenham, Cowley, Cranford, West Drayton, Greenford, Hanwell, Harefield and Harlington (1962), pp. 30-31.
The Sermon Lane Mission was founded in 1849 as the Sermon Lane Ragged School, Islington. The earliest surviving report in this accession locates the mission in Liverpool Road, Islington. By 1910 it is described as being in Mantell Street, Liverpool Road. By 1922 the Mission was known as the Sermon Lane Christian Institute and had moved to Vincent Terrace, Colebrook Row. The Institute closed in the early 1980's.
Trinity Church Methodist New Connexion was situated at Perry Vale, Forest Hill, 1865-1920. Forest Hill Methodist Church is now on Normanton Street.
The Angel Alley Methodist Chapel, Stepney was part of the London (City Road) Circuit.
The East Molesey Methodist Church is situated on Manor Road, off the main Walton Road, in East Molesey. It is part of the Teddington Circuit.
In 1878 the Primitive Methodists registered a chapel in Western Road, Southall.
The Wesleyan Methodists opened a chapel in South Road in 1885. In 1916 the King's Hall was erected on the same site, forming the headquarters of Wesleyan Methodism in the area and provided a place for their social and religious meetings.
The Uxbridge and Southall Circuit served Methodist churches in South West London. It was reorganised in 2006 and the churches redistributed, for example, to the Ealing Trinity Circuit and the Amersham Circuit.
Poplar Methodist Church is situated in Emery Hall, Annabel Close, near to Queen Victoria's Seaman's Rest. It is part of the Tower Hamlets Circuit.
Eastcote Methodist Church began as meetings in private houses, begun in around 1825. In 1848 the first Methodist chapel was built opposite the present chapel in Pamela Gardens. This served the Eastcote congregation until a new chapel in Pamela Gardens, the building of which had been delayed by the Second World War, was substantially completed. The chapel was occupied in 1950 and building work finished in 1962.
A Wesleyan Methodist church was opened in 1929 to serve the new Kenton estate, near Harrow, and was replaced by another church and a hall on the same site, Woodgrange Avenue, in 1937.
In Northwood Primitive Methodists met in a house called 'Elthorne' in the modern High Street from about 1896. In that year a school chapel to accommodate 250 people was built on the corner of High Street and Hallowell Road. The present church next to the school chapel was completed in 1903. It was further extended in 1910, and a new vestry added in 1927. Enemy action caused considerable damage to the building in 1944. From 1905 a group of about 20 Wesleyan Methodists worshipped in a house in Chester Road. Two years later a temporary corrugated iron church was erected in Hallowell Road. After the construction of a permanent building in Oaklands Gate in 1924, the temporary structure was transferred there for use as a church hall. A new hall and classrooms costing £22,500 were completed in 1962. After the Methodist Union in 1932 these two churches became known as the High Street and Oaklands Gate Methodist churches.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 145-146.
Ruislip Manor Methodist Church was built in 1937 on Torrington Road.
Harrow Methodist Church, Welldon Crescent, was opened in 1904. The church has now closed and the building has been converted into the Welldon Community Centre.
The Wealdstone Methodist Church has its origins in a Methodist mission room in Harrow Weald from 1889 to 1935. The congregation used a chapel in Station Road, Wealdstone, from 1892 to 1904, when it was replaced by the present chapel in Locket Road.
The Brunswick Methodist Chapel was situated on Balcombe Street, Saint Marylebone.
The Great Queen Street Chapel was founded in 1706 as a dissenting chapel constructed in the garden of a home on Lincoln's Inn Fields. In 1758 the chapel was purchased by the Reverend Thomas Francklyn and became a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel. The chapel was rebuilt in 1817 when land was bought in neighbouring gardens in order to construct a larger building with galleries.
The chapel was the centre of the Great Queen Street Circuit which was formed in the 1820s and stretched as far as Finchley and Barnet. In 1906 the Methodist Conference gave the Chapel to the West London Mission. The building was later condemned by the London County Council and the Mission was temporarily housed in the Lyceum Theatre, while on Great Queen Street at the old site a new place of worship, Kingsway Hall, was under construction. Kingsway Hall opened in 1912.
On 5 September 1688 James II issued letters patent incorporating a body of ten French ministers and granting them a licence to establish one or more churches for the Huguenot refugees in the City and suburbs. Two churches, both known as 'La Patente', were established by the ministers, one in Spitalfields and the other in Berwick Street in the parish of St. James, Westminster. In 1694 part of the congregation of the latter removed to Little Chapel Street (now Sheraton Street) off Wardour Street, Westminster, and became known as La Petite or La Nouvelle Patente.In 1784 the congregation merged with that of Les Grecs-La Savoie, which survived, latterly as the French Episcopal Church, in Shaftesbury Avenue, until c 1925.
For a period after 1784 the chapel was used by the Methodists, but in 1796 a lease of the building was taken by a part of Dr John Trotter's Scots Presbyterian congregation from Swallow Street (see LMA/4365). The Presbyterians continued to use the chapel, which by 1850 had become known as the Wardour Chapel, until 1889, when it was taken over by the Wesleyan West Central London Mission. The Wesleyans remained until about 1894, when the building was demolished to make way for Novello's printing works.
From: 'Wardour Street Area: Pulteney Estate', Survey of London: volumes 33 and 34: St Anne Soho (1966), pp. 288-296.
A Sunday School was established in 1798 at 74 Golden Lane, off the south side of Old Street, and in 1819 moved to Radnor Street, off the north side of Old Street in Islington. The Sunday School was situated near to the City Road Chapel and belonged to the Circuit run from that Chapel. It was the first Methodist Sunday School in London. In 1837 a Day School was also opened at the Radnor Street site. The Day Schools were closed 29 May 1903.
British Schools were run using the "Lancasterian Monitorial System of Education", which was developed by Quaker John Lancaster in 1798. The system allowed huge numbers of pupils to be educated under one school-master by using able pupils as monitors assisting the others and was intended to provide a basic education for poor children. The "Society for Promoting the Lancasterian System for the Education of the Poor" was founded in 1808 and had the support of many non-conformists. The Society changed its name to the "British and Foreign Schools Society" in 1814 and founded many 'British Schools' which were often attached to non-conformist churches.
The North West London Mission included the Gospel Oak, Paddington, Prince of Wales Road, Saint John's Wood, Sutherland Avenue, Harrow Road, Fernhead Road and Mill Lane Methodist Churches.
The Horace Jones Trust was established in 1933 to carry on the religious and philanthropic work of the founder, mainly in the Borough of Saint Pancras. The work included the provision of silver medals for 'good and meritorious conduct' for children in certain schools in the area.
The Prince of Wales Wesleyan Methodist Church stood in Prince of Wales Road, Kentish Town. The church closed in 1965 when it merged with the Gospel Oak Methodist Church, and the building was converted to a Dance Centre.
Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9: Hampstead, Paddington (1989), pp. 153-158.
A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan. There has been much reorganisation as chapels closed and circuits were altered; for further details and names and dates of circuits, contact the Society of Cirplanologists who collect Circuit plans.
The Methodist Church in Britain is arranged into over 600 Circuits, which in turn are grouped into 32 Districts covering Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Each District is supervised by a District Synod.
Harlesden Methodist Church was founded in 1869. It was damaged by enemy action in 1941, and rebuilt in the 1950s on its present site.
Willesden Green Primitive Methodist chapel was opened in the High Road, Willesden Green by 1897. The church was rebuilt in 1904 but closed in 1963.
Barking Road Wesleyan Methodist Church originated in 1857, when Thomas Jacob, a Wesleyan from Cambridge, started services in Sabberton Street. Services, Sunday school, and a day-school were later held in Hallsville Road. In 1862 a school-chapel, seating 250, was built on the north side of Barking Road, east of Canning Town railway station. Owing mainly to the efforts of the superintendent minister, J. S. Workman, a larger building was opened in 1868, heading a new Canning Town circuit, with a membership of 150. The society had previously belonged first to the Spitalfields, then to the Bow circuit. The old chapel continued in use as a day and Sunday school. The new one, with all its records, was destroyed by a fire of 1887 and rebuilt in the same year. Barking Road was transferred to the Seamen's Mission in 1907, when the Cory Institute was erected, costing £6,000, of which £2,000 was given by John Cory of Cardiff. Unemployment and movement of population after the closing of the Thames Ironworks weakened the church about this time, but it revived and flourished until the 1930s. It was destroyed by bombing in September 1940, and a temporary building was erected on the site in 1948. In 1957 it joined the London Mission (West Ham), with a membership of 50. The temporary building was sold and in 1960 the congregation amalgamated with Custom House Primitive Methodist Church and Shirley Street United Methodist Church in a new church at Fife Road, Canning Town. War damage compensation from Barking Road helped to build a new church at Harold Wood, Hornchurch, in 1962. In 1963 there was a petrol station on the Barking Road site.
From: 'West Ham: Roman Catholicism, Nonconformity and Judaism', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 123-141.
Barking Road Wesleyan Methodist Church originated in 1857, when Thomas Jacob, a Wesleyan from Cambridge, started services in Sabberton Street. Services, Sunday school, and a day-school were later held in Hallsville Road. In 1862 a school-chapel, seating 250, was built on the north side of Barking Road, east of Canning Town railway station. Owing mainly to the efforts of the superintendent minister, J. S. Workman, a larger building was opened in 1868, heading a new Canning Town circuit, with a membership of 150. The society had previously belonged first to the Spitalfields, then to the Bow circuit. The old chapel continued in use as a day and Sunday school. The new one, with all its records, was destroyed by a fire of 1887 and rebuilt in the same year. Barking Road was transferred to the Seamen's Mission in 1907, when the Cory Institute was erected, costing £6,000, of which £2,000 was given by John Cory of Cardiff. Unemployment and movement of population after the closing of the Thames Ironworks weakened the church about this time, but it revived and flourished until the 1930s. It was destroyed by bombing in September 1940, and a temporary building was erected on the site in 1948. In 1957 it joined the London Mission (West Ham), with a membership of 50. The temporary building was sold and in 1960 the congregation amalgamated with Custom House Primitive Methodist Church and Shirley Street United Methodist Church in a new church at Fife Road, Canning Town. War damage compensation from Barking Road helped to build a new church at Harold Wood, Hornchurch, in 1962. In 1963 there was a petrol station on the Barking Road site.
From: 'West Ham: Roman Catholicism, Nonconformity and Judaism', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 123-141.
The Walworth Methodist Church belongs to the Southwark and Deptford Circuit. The church was founded in 1813.
The London Central Mission Circuit of the Methodist Church had its origins in 1886 with the establishment of the London Central Mission at the already well-established Wesleyan Methodist church in St. John's Square, Clerkenwell, which became the principal church of the circuit. Many of the records of the circuit as a whole were lost when the St. John's Square church was destroyed by enemy action in 1941. The circuit was abolished in 1960, when its remaining churches were transferred to the London Mission (North) Circuit and the London Mission (Hackney and Clapton) Circuit.
The Wesleyan Methodist Church, Caledonian Road was built at the corner of Hillmarton Road in 1866. It was a member of the Highbury Circuit until its closure in 1916.
Haggerston Methodist Church was also known as Haggerston Mission Hall. It was established by Wesleyan Methodists at Hilcot Street as part of the Islington circuit. In 1900 it transferred to the Mildmay Park Circuit and then in 1905 to the London Central Mission Circuit. New premises were opened at Haggerston Road in 1932. The Church was transferred to the London Mission (Hackney and Clapton) Circuit in 1960.
Saint John's Square Church was built by Wesleyan Methodists in 1849. It established the London Central Mission in 1886. In May 1941 it was totally gutted on the worst night of the London Blitz. The congregation met in various temporary premises including St James' Anglican church, Clerkenwell and Finsbury Town Hall. In 1949 temporary buildings were opened on the original site, however, in 1957 the church was closed and the remaining buildings were demolished.
Gospel Oak Methodist Church on Agincourt Road originated in 1875 in Wesleyan Methodist meetings held in Lismore Circus. The meetings were recognized as a mission in 1877 and placed under the control of the Prince of Wales Road church. A site at the corner of Lisburne Road was bought but only a school was built at first. A permanent church building opened in 1900. In 1940 the Grafton Road Methodist Church was amalgamated with the Gospel Oak church. The need to carry out building repairs brought about a union with the Prince of Wales Road Methodist Church at the Gospel Oak site in 1965. The church was duly demolished in 1970 and the new building opened in 1971.
The Prince of Wales Wesleyan Methodist Church stood in Prince of Wales Road, Kentish Town. The church closed in 1965 when it merged with the Gospel Oak Methodist Church, and the building was converted to a Dance Centre.
In 1858 Mill Lane Primitive Methodist Church was located at Little Church Row in Hampstead. The church was relocated to Mill Lane, West Hampstead in 1886 and was registered in 1890 as the Ebenezer Primitive Methodist chapel. The church closed and was demolished in the late 1970s.
Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9: Hampstead, Paddington (1989), pp. 153-158.
In 1885 the Wesleyan Methodist Church established its first Mission at Saint George's Church, Cable Street, Shadwell, with the Reverend Peter Thompson as Superintendent. The Church aimed to combat the poverty and squalor of the East End of London with a combination of evangelism and social work. The Mission at Saint George's rapidly expanded and new Missions were opened at Stepney, Mile End, Bethnal Green and Tower Hill. Free meals were handed out during hard winters, medical care was provided and events were organised for children including trips to the sea-side, penny films and Christmas treats. The Mission also campaigned on political issues, particularly for temperance and the closure of Music Halls. Articles on such issues appeared in the monthly magazine of the Mission - the 'East End' and later the 'East End Star'.
Following the foundation of the welfare state after the Second World War the Mission shifted the focus of its social work. Saint George's was converted into a centre for the care of homeless men and the Mission as a whole developed its support for immigrant communities, single parents, the disabled, the unemployed and those in inadequate housing. A care home for the elderly was established in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex and a campsite opened at Lambourne End in the Hainault Forest, Essex. A Social Studies Centre was opened to provide voluntary placements for Sociology students.