Nonconformist Chapels in Morley

 

The pediment of the Baptist Tabernacle on Commercial Street

The ruined Congregational Church of St. Mary in the Wood, which I visited mainly to photograph its Grade II Listed tombs and monuments as part of a British Listed Buildings Photo Challenge, has a history going back to the mention of a church in Domesday Book, when the only Christian denomination was the Roman Catholic Church.  

 

The former school and chapel at 3 Observers Mews on Troy Hill

 

St. Peter’s church (1830) on Roams Lane was the first presence of the Anglican denomination in Morley which, along with Leeds, had been dominated by Nonconformism since the latter part of the C17 and I had already seen further evidence of this at 3 Observer Mews on Troy Hill, when looking for an entrance to St. Mary’s churchyard. 

 

The National Spiritual Church

 

According to the Morley Community Archives (MCA) website, the Old Town School was converted in 1867 to use by the Catholic Apostolic Church, which then moved to its current location in 1900 when Zoar Street was built. No information is provided by the MCA as to the actual date, but the building is now occupied by the National Spiritualist Church. 

 

The Morley Church of Christ

On the opposite side of the road is the Morley Church of Christ, which the MCA says was founded in 1895 as an offshoot of the Church of Christ in Liversedge and that the present chapel was bought in 1905; however, the inscribed plaque describes it as a Gospel Hall and the string course beneath it is dated to 1881, which indicates that there has been at least one change in the denomination who have occupied this chapel. 

 

Views of the Zoar Particular Baptist Church

 

Just around the corner on Commercial Street is the Grade II Listed Zoar Particular Baptist Chapel, which has a datestone of 1873 but the MCA states as opening in 1883. The building is locally known as the Labour Party Rooms and, following refurbishment, is hired out for various events. As with the other chapels mentioned above, it provides a further example of the use of the local Thornhill Rock but it is not a listed building.

 

St. Mary's in the Wood Church Hall

 

Adjacent to this is the Grade II Listed St. Mary’s in the Wood Church Hall, which was built in the second half of the C19 and is marked on the 1894 Ordnance Survey (OS) map as a Sunday school The Historic England description mentions that it was also occupied by the Wakefield Tutorial Preparatory School and the congregation of St. Mary’s in the Wood moved here in 2008. 

 

Views of the Baptist Tabernacle

 

Continuing along Commercial Street, past several stone built Victorian buildings that I will describe in a later Language of Stone Blog post, I soon came to the imposing Renaissance  Revival style Baptist Tabernacle (1897) – now converted to apartments – which has towers with pyramidal roofs flanking the central section, double entrance doors and a decorated pediment above.

 

The former Sunday school on Albion Road

 

Designed by the architects Hanstock and Co. of Batley, who were also responsible for Ossett Town Hall, it combines thinly coursed walling stone with massive stone for dressings, which judging by the uniformity of the colour I think are both Thornhill Rock. It has been added to the original Old Chapel (1874) on Albion Street, which was then used as a Sunday school. 

 

The Salvation Army Hall

 

Making my further along Commercial Street past the Grade II Listed brick built Commercial Street Mill, I turned off to have a quick look at a building that I had noticed on Ackroyd Street, which turned out to be the Salvation Army Hall, which had its foundation stone laid in 1907. 

 

The former Methodist Free Church

 

Returning to Commercial Street and passing a car park that occupies the space where there were once late Victorian back to back and other terraced houses, I was surprised to see yet another fine Nonconformist chapel, which again is not listed – presumably because it has the interior has been altered so much by the conversion into apartments. 

 

A detail of the pediment

 

The raised lettering on the pediment gives a date of 1895 and the ornamented band course above the ground floor describes it as a Methodist Free Church, yet the 1894 OS map - revised from 1889 to 1891 – shows that the now demolished corner site with Peel Street was occupied by the Bethel Chapel, but the 1908 edition shows the existing chapel as a Sunday school. 

 

The 1894 OS map showing the Bethel Chapel

After leaving Commercial Street to take a couple of photos of No. 37 High Street, I retraced my steps to Fountain Street, where I encountered another large building, which I thought must be another Nonconformist chapel, but is actually the Grade II Listed Morley Temperance Hall (1895), which is included by MCA on their list of churches and chapels in Morley. 

 

Views of Morley Temperance Hall

On the opposite side of the road is the Grade II Listed former Primitive Methodist School (1878), which is built with a combination of thinly coursed Thornhill Rock to the front elevation, larger rock faced blocks for the side elevations and massive sandstone for the dressings. It was originally built for the Primitive Methodist congregation in Morley, which goes back to 1820 and was converted to a Sunday school when a new bigger chapel was built next to it. 

 

Views of the former Ebenezer Methodist Chapel

I know very little about the various Nonconformist denominations or their membership and finances, but I have never encountered such a concentration of fine chapels, along with their associated Sunday schools, anywhere before and the Grade II Listed former Ebenezer Methodist Chapel (1885) is another example. 

 

The front elevation of the Central Methodist Church

 

Heading back towards the centre of Morley, the last of these to visit was the substantial Central Methodist Church (1862) on Wesley Street, which was designed by the architect John Simpson of Leeds and is the only one that I saw with a burial ground.

 

Views of the burial ground at the Central Methodist Church