Building record MLI94950 - Wesleyan Methodist Church, Finkin Street, Grantham

Summary

Wesleyan Methodist Church, Finkin Street, Grantham.

Type and Period (3)

Protected Status/Designation

Full Description

Wesleyan Methodist chapel built in 1840. The interior woodwork is of very good quality and includes benches, pulpit and gallery and altar rails. For the full description and the legal address of this listed building please refer to the appropriate List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. {1}{2} The Grantham Methodist Society was first recognised in 1788. Its members initially met in a room above a coppersmith's workshop in Back Lane. With increasing membership new premises were needed and the first Methodist Chapel on Finkin Street was built in 1802 on the opposite side of the road to the present chapel. By the mid 1830s the members had outgrown these premises and they built the present, larger chapel. The chapel is a large, Italianate building, it has a bold design, proudly proclaiming its purpose in the carved gable head, and it towers over the rest of the street. The south front and west side are faced in fine ashlar limestone, the less visible east side is stone laid in courses, and the rear is red brick. The apertures have stone dressings. All the interior fittings, with the exception of the central section of the pulpit and the organ, date from 1924 when the chapel was extensively remodelled by the architect Mr Lambert of Derby. The chapel was originally built by Messrs Greasley and Stretton who obtained the stone from Parker's quarry at Heydour. The foundation stone was laid in 1840 and the chapel was formally opened in 1841. A separate Sunday School was built to the east side of the chapel. In 1874 the Sunday School was rebuilt on the same site by Frederick Brewin and has since been subject to alterations. The chapel was attended by Margaret Thatcher (née Roberts) in her youth. Her father, Alderman Alfred Roberts, was a member at Finkin Street and a local preacher within the Grantham Circuit. The chapel is no longer used for worship and is for sale (January 2011). {3}{4}{5} White described the chapel as 'A handsome structure of the Tuscan order' and that it 'cost £5000. It has 1300 sittings and connected with it are seven vestries, a school-room … and a chapel-keeper's house'. {6}{7}{8} The statement above that the chapel is no longer used for worship is incorrect. The property was put up for sale but did not sell so remains a place of worship. In October 2011 the property/premises changed to a Local Ecumenical Partnership between the Methodist Church and the United Reform Church and it remains so to this day (2016). {9}

Sources/Archives (9)

  •  Index: Department of the Environment. 1972. List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. 8/34.
  •  Report: South Kesteven District Council. 2009. Grantham Conservation Area Appraisal. Commercial Centre character area.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Nikolaus Pevsner and John Harris, with Nicholas Antram. 1989. Buildings of England: Lincolnshire (Second Edition). p.325.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Christopher Stell. 2002. Inventory of Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting Houses in Eastern England. p.208, no.114.
  •  Unpublished Document: English Heritage / Historic England. 2011->. Advice Report from a Heritage Asset Assessment. Case No. 463476.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: Shepherdson, C.. 2007. The Lincolnshire Chapels in the Grantham & Vale of Belvoir Circuit, Past and Present. p.4.
  •  Digital Archive: Lincolnshire County Council. 2013. GIS layer depicting locations and survival of nonconformist chapels in South Kesteven. Grantham.
  •  Bibliographic Reference: William White. 1856. History, Gazetteer and Directory of Lincolnshire - Second Edition. p.403.
  •  Electronic Communication: 2016. Information from the Treasurer of Christchurch Local Ecumenical Partnership, Grantham. 14/03/2016.

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Location

Grid reference Centred SK 91467 35902 (24m by 32m) Surveyed
Civil Parish GRANTHAM, SOUTH KESTEVEN, LINCOLNSHIRE

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

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Record last edited

Mar 21 2021 8:35PM

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