The city of Stoke-on-Trent: Protestant Nonconformity

PROTESTANT NONCONFORMITY (fn. 1)

In 1760 John Wesley first visited Burslem, then the largest of the Pottery villages, and six years later the first Methodist chapel was built there. The building of this chapel marks the establishment of the first lasting nonconformist meeting in this area. Before 1766 only isolated vestiges of dissent can be traced. A house in Stoke parish, probably at Seabridge (now in Newcastle), however, belonging to Jane Machin, widow of an ejected minister, had been registered for Presbyterian worship in 1672. (fn. 2) The house of Thomas Yardley of Norton had been registered for worship in 1697 (fn. 3) and there was a Presbyterian or Unitarian meeting in Burslem in 1715.

When Wesley first preached at Burslem the population of the Potteries was still relatively small, not more than 7,500 altogether. (fn. 4) It was, however, already expanding and by 1785 according to one estimate had risen to 15,000. Longton showed the steepest rise, with Burslem, Hanley, and Stoke close behind. (fn. 5) During the period 1760–85 Wesley and his preachers were frequent visitors to the towns. (fn. 6) Methodist chapels were established at Hanley and Longton in 1783, while meetings at Fenton and at Tunstall had been started by 1782, the chapel at Tunstall being built in 1788. The religious revival to which the preaching of Wesley and his associates gave rise thus corresponded with the first rapid expansion of these villages. (fn. 7)

Although Methodism was to dominate the nonconformity of the area and undoubtedly led the religious revival of the 1780's, (fn. 8) other nonconformist bodies gradually established themselves. In 1780 Captain Jonathan Scott brought Congregational evangelism to Stoke and North Staffordshire, (fn. 9) a move that was bitterly resented by Wesley. (fn. 10) Congregationalism was established at Hanley and a chapel built there in 1784, followed by others in Burslem, Longton, Stoke, and Milton in the first 25 years of the next century. The Baptists also established themselves in this period; a Particular Baptist chapel was built at Hanley in 1789; a (New Connexion) Baptist chapel at Burslem followed it in 1806; and there was also a meeting of Baptists at Longton in the early 19th century. The Unitarians were also stirring. By 1820 they had a chapel at Longton and by 1825 there was a meeting at Burslem. There was also a small Sandemanian meeting by 1812 at Tunstall.

The two notable schisms in the Methodist movement which resulted in the formation of the Methodist New Connexion and the Primitive Methodist Connexion (later Church) greatly affected the future development of Methodism in the Potteries. The first, which was led by Alexander Kilham, a Methodist minister, found its strongest support in this area; the second started in Tunstall and the moorlands to the north and east of Tunstall. In July 1797, when the annual conference of the Methodist Church was held at Leeds, there were five Methodist chapels in the Potteries, at Longton, Fenton, Hanley, Burslem, and Tunstall, and a regular meeting at Stoke. Support for the Kilhamite demands, (fn. 11) the rejection of which at this conference resulted in the formation of the Methodist New Itinerancy or Connexion, had already been shown by the members of Hanley chapel and this had resulted in the temporary closing of the chapel by the trustees. By September 1797, less than two months after the formation of the Methodist New Connexion, there were five societies of this church in the Potteries, at Hanley, Burslem, Longton, Sneyd Green, and Etruria. Hanley Wesleyan Methodist society was almost extinguished by the New Connexion group there, while Fenton chapel went over to the New Connexion. A chapel at Stoke was added in 1806. Hanley circuit, formed by these societies and those at Newcastle, Silverdale, and Werrington, became increasingly important until by 1812 it was the strongest in the Connexion. It then had over 2,000 members. From the outset the New Connexion in Hanley commanded the support of influential manufacturers, notably the Ridgways of Cauldon Place, Shelton. Bethesda Chapel swiftly became the foremost place of worship in the town. In 1811 the chapel was enlarged to hold 1,000 and within a few months all the seats were let. By 1819 a new chapel had become necessary, which, erected in that year, seated 2,500. Bethesda was still the principal place of worship in Hanley in the mid-19th century (fn. 12) and in 1840 one-tenth of the total membership of the Methodist New Connexion was in the Hanley and Longton Circuits. (fn. 13)

The Primitive Methodist movement was different in character and origin from the New Connexion. It originated between 1800 and 1810 in the efforts of certain Methodists, notably John and James Bourne, William Clowes, and James Steele, to convert people in the moorland areas north and east of Tunstall. Their methods were extremely revivalistic and the Bournes particularly made great use of field-preaching and the Camp Meeting as a means of spreading Methodism. Their activities aroused the disapproval of the Wesleyan authorities, and one by one these men were expelled from their societies until in 1811 they formed their own itinerancy and gave their church the designation of Primitive Methodist. (fn. 14) Tunstall was by this date the centre of the new movement, which spread quickly in the North and the Midlands in the years of depression between 1815 and 1820. (fn. 15) In the Potteries it retained its original character of a working-class movement. (fn. 16) The chapels, consequently, were short of money, and although the leaders, particularly Hugh Bourne, contributed as much as possible, (fn. 17) they themselves had few resources. The new church acquired a large membership and its organization was rapidly developed, one side of which was the establishment of its own printing press or book room at Bemersley in 1822 with James Bourne as book steward and Hugh Bourne as editor. (fn. 18) In Tunstall Circuit the Primitive Methodists showed quick appreciation of the need to consolidate their position after the establishment of the first chapels. Tunstall chapel was replaced in 1822 by a larger chapel. Pitts Hill society, established in 1811, had an early failure, closing within a year, but the society there had been revived by 1823 when a chapel was built. Burslem society acquired a chapel in 1819. Hanley society, established by 1825, proved rather weak, having to compete with Bethesda Chapel, and the first and second chapels both failed and were sold. Penkhull chapel, however, was successfully established in 1815. Then there was a lull. Stoke and Fenton chapels were not established until the 1830's, while Longton had no Primitive Methodist chapel until 1843. In the north of the area, however, the position of the Primitive Methodists was further consolidated when yet another chapel was built at Goldenhill in 1833, and in the early 1840's two more in Burslem were added, at Sneyd Green and Middleport.

The effect of the spread of these two new Methodist churches on Wesleyan Methodism in the area is difficult to gauge. Undoubtedly the denomination was seriously weakened in the Hanley area by the New Connexion and in the Tunstall area by the Primitive Methodists. Yet it appears to have been only a temporary setback, and, although the Primitives and New Connexion were particularly influential in two areas, the Wesleyan Methodists maintained a steady rate of expansion throughout the Potteries. By 1830 there were 5 Primitive Methodist chapels in the Potteries, (fn. 19) 10 New Connexion chapels or regular preaching places, (fn. 20) and 12 Wesleyan Methodist chapels, a total of 27. (fn. 21) There were 4 or 5 Congregational chapels, (fn. 22) 2 Baptist chapels, one or two Unitarian meetings (fn. 23) and a Presbyterian Church of England church, (fn. 24) a total of 34 or 36 Protestant nonconformist places of worship while there were only 4 Anglican churches (fn. 25) and 2 Roman Catholic ones. (fn. 26)

Between 1831 and 1851 the population of the Potteries rose from about 54,000 to over 88,000. (fn. 27) The expansion of the Anglican and Protestant nonconformist churches kept pace with this increase. In 1851 the Primitive Methodists had 10 chapels in the area, the New Connexion 17, the Wesleyan Methodist Church 17, and the Wesleyan Methodist Association 2, a total of 46 Methodist chapels. The Congregationalists formed the next largest nonconformist church with 7 chapels. The Baptists had 4, the Christian Brethren or Barkerites 2 or 3, the Quakers one, the Swedenborgians one, and the Presbyterian Church of England one, a total of 63 or 64 Protestant nonconformist chapels or meeting places. The number of Anglican churches had meanwhile increased to 17. (fn. 28) The Roman Catholics built another church and had three churches, at Stoke, Cobridge, and Longton. (fn. 29) Both the Anglican and nonconformist churches had extended their activities from the centres of the towns to the areas of new development. The Anglicans and the New Connexion had built in the Harpfield-Hartshill area of Stoke, the Wesleyans and Anglicans at Trent Vale; (fn. 30) at Longton the New Connexion had three chapels; in Hanley the New Connexion had established new chapels at Eastwood Vale, at Shelton, and in Town Road, while the Wesleyans had a chapel at Northwood. Burslem had perhaps received most attention from the Methodist churches; the Primitive Methodists by this date had 3 chapels there, the New Connexion 4, the Wesleyan Methodists 4, and the Wesleyan Association two.

In the next twenty years the population continued to increase though not so rapidly, Burslem and Hanley showing the greatest growth. (fn. 31) The nonconformist churches continued to spread into the areas of new development, though not all of the denominations were still expanding. The Methodist New Connexion had more or less come to a standstill, establishing only one new church in these 20 years, at Dresden in Longton. This denomination had temporarily lost ground, particularly in Tunstall, to the ephemeral Christian Brethren. Also John Ridgway, who had been the driving force behind much of the expansion of the connexion in the first half of the century, had died in 1860. The Wesleyan Methodist Church built five new chapels between 1851 and 1871 but that denomination also had been affected by secessions: the Methodist Reform Church and the Wesleyan Association which joined together in 1857 to form the United Methodist Free Church. The Primitive Methodists, however, had gone from strength to strength in these two decades and had exactly doubled the number of their chapels to a total of twenty in 1871. The United Free Methodist Church had 6 chapels and the Wesleyan Reform Association one, a total of 66 Methodist chapels. The Congregationalists had built 3 new chapels, the Baptists had lost 1 but built 2 more, the Quakers still had 1 meeting, the Christian Brethren had dispersed completely, the Presbyterians still had 1 church, the Unitarians had 1 or 2 churches, and although the Swedenborgians were temporarily inactive, the Latter Day Saints had 1 or 2 churches, making a total of some 85 nonconformist churches. Compared with this over-all increase of 22 chapels, the Church of England had built only 5 new churches, (fn. 32) while the number of Roman Catholic churches had increased to five. (fn. 33) There were no areas in the Potteries without a church or a chapel, (fn. 34) although the figures of chapel membership or attendance available suggest that a smaller percentage of the population than might be expected attended a place of worship. In Longton, for example, if the 1851 census returns can be trusted, slightly less than one-ninth of the population was attending a nonconformist place of worship, while only one-seventh attended any place of worship. (fn. 35) In Hanley and Shelton one-tenth of the population attended nonconformist chapels, and only one-eighth attended any place of worship. (fn. 36) The figures for the rest of the Pottery towns are similar. They show that despite the efforts of the nonconformist, Anglican, and Roman Catholic churches to provide places of worship in these rapidly increasing communities, most of the population attended no church or chapel, while, of those who did, the nonconformists were by far the greater in number. Chapel-going as evidence of respectability and the place of the chapel in the social life of the Potteries are well brought out in the Five Towns novels of Arnold Bennett.

In the Potteries the Sunday schools made an important contribution towards both religious and secular instruction and were for most children the only means of gaining secular education. The best known of these was Burslem Sunday School. Founded in 1787 by the Methodists of Burslem, its board of trustees included men of other denominations, (fn. 37) and its aim was 'not to promote the religious principles of any particular sect, but, setting aside all party distinctions, to instruct youth in useful learning, in the leading and uncontrovertible principles of Christianity'. (fn. 38) It taught reading and writing on Sundays as well as the principles of religion. By 1798 it had nearly 700 pupils (fn. 39) and by 1816, including branch schools at Longport and Norton, 1,687 pupils with 182 teachers. (fn. 40) In 1828, however, the Wesleyan Methodist Church decided against secular instruction on Sundays and in 1834 the name of this school was changed to the Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School. (fn. 41) Two years later, the trustees having determined to restrict the curriculum to religious teaching only, the teachers who opposed this policy were expelled. The latter set up an independent Burslem Sunday School with a branch at Longport. (fn. 42) Notwithstanding the Burslem dispute, other branches of Methodism continued to provide secular education in their Sunday schools long after this date. In 1843, for example, about 1,000 pupils at the Methodist New Connexion Bethesda Sunday School in Hanley were being taught reading and writing on Sundays. (fn. 43) The Baptist Sunday School in Hanley also taught reading and writing at this date, and although the Independents there were not teaching writing on Sundays, it was taught in the evening on weekdays. (fn. 44) This side of the work of the Sunday schools lessened with the establishment of more day schools, and probably, as in the case of Burslem Sunday School, ceased altogether when the provisions of the 1870 Education Act became operative.

The 30 years between 1870 and 1900 was the great era of chapel building in the Potteries. The towns were still spreading; many new chapels were established in recently developed areas, many of the older chapels were rebuilt. By 1900 the number of Wesleyan chapels had increased to 36; the New Connexion then had 25 chapels, the Primitive Methodists 31 and the United Methodists 8, a total of 100. The Baptists had 9 churches and the Congregationalists 14, the Presbyterians 2 (one Welsh, one English), and the Quakers 1, a total of 126 chapels of the older established denominations. (fn. 45) There was also a strong Free Church in Goldenhill, an evangelical splinter from the Church of England there; the Swedenborgian Church had a meeting in Longton about this date; and the Catholic Apostolic Church had established itself at Stoke. This period is remarkable, too, for the growth of evangelical missions, headed by the Salvation Army, and the establishment of Spiritualist churches. The Salvation Army first 'opened fire' in the Potteries in 1881 and by the end of the 1880's had centres in all the Pottery towns. For a short period there was also an organization called the Salvation Navy. Borough Missions, Gospel Missions, and Temperance Missions became numerous. Little is known about their fields of work, but presumably like the Burslem Gospel Mission they concentrated mainly on the poor and overcrowded areas.

These years were marked not only by the building or rebuilding of many chapels but by an increase in congregations. For example, among the Baptist churches, Longton expanded from a membership of 21 in 1862 to 283 in 1890 and Fenton from 15 in 1881 to 40 in 1892. Stoke had a membership of 114 in 1900, and New Street, Hanley, 87. Burslem increased from 44 members in 1862 to 97 in 1900. Membership of Bethesda Chapel, Hanley, stood at 447 in 1897 and there were 982 Sunday school children. (fn. 46) Mount Tabor Chapel, Fenton, was said to have a strong congregation in 1900. Comparable attendance figures of other denominations are unobtainable.

The early 1900's were definitely a period of decline for the various Baptist churches in the area, which adopted a limited form of connexionalism in an attempt to consolidate their position. The movement towards unity and consolidation became of national importance for the Methodists. In 1907 the New Connexion Church joined with the United Free Methodist Church. In the Potteries this meant that the surviving three Methodist churches were of more or less equal strength.

Except in Longton the circuits of the two uniting churches were merged, (fn. 47) but the union did not result in the closing of chapels in places where each of the churches had previously been established. Two new temporary churches were established by the new church in Fenton but otherwise the union did not result in expansion.

The union in 1932 of the Wesleyan Methodist, Primitive Methodist, and United Methodist Churches brought all the surviving Methodist chapels in the Potteries into the newly created Methodist Church. In Tunstall, Longton, Fenton, and Stoke, the circuits of the three churches were merged, (fn. 48) but in Hanley and Burslem remained intact except for alterations in Burslem in 1949 when Swan Bank Wesleyan Chapel became the Central Methodist Church. (fn. 49) In Longton the merging of the circuits after the union of 1932 excluded Stafford Street Wesleyan Chapel which then became Longton Central Mission. A few of the larger chapels were closed after the union partly on account of population shift and decline in numbers and partly because of the close proximity of the main chapels of each denomination. (fn. 50) There are now (1959) 76 Methodist chapels in Stoke-on-Trent. Only 14 of the former New Connexion chapels are now in use, 4 of the former United Methodist Free Church, one former United Methodist Church, built after the union of these two churches, 24 former Primitive Methodist and 30 former Wesleyan chapels. Three new chapels have been built since Methodist Union in areas of recent development.

The other Free Churches were also facing the same difficulties of decline in membership in the later 1920's and the 1930's and the Methodists were not alone in trying to check this by co-ordinating their activities. In 1934 a Free Church Council was founded in the Potteries under the auspices of the North Staffordshire Federation of Free Church Councils, the first president being the minister of Trinity Presbyterian Church, Hanley. The council has been supported by all the Free Churches but various factors have militated against its success; among them are the overwhelming preponderance of the Methodist Church in the area, which at the time of the formation of the council was much concerned with the problems arising from the Methodist Union; the decline of the Free Churches in the 1930's; the scattered nature of the city; and the comparatively late date at which the council was formed. In recent years, however, the council has effectively co-ordinated the work of the Free Churches in hospital and other chaplaincies and in representation on civic bodies, and has averted a multiplicity of Free Churches in the new housing areas. It has also furthered discussions on Free Church unity and has tried to promote closer relations with the Church of England. (fn. 51)

The main trends of the Free Church movement in the Potteries during the last half-century have, therefore, been towards greater co-operation and solidarity, not only within but between denominations. A policy of retrenchment has been forced on the Free Churches through the decline in their numbers, and there are some signs that this has been successful in arresting the regression of the remaining churches. (fn. 52) But while the older churches have been declining in numbers and membership, particularly since 1930, new sects have arisen. These new arrivals have usually been American in origin, and intensely evangelical and fundamentalist. They have often been Pentecostal as well. The Christadelphian Ecclesia was established in 1916, the Church of Christ Scientist in 1913, the Apostolic Church in 1931, the Plymouth Brethren in 1936, the Bethel Evangelistic Society in 1932, the Assemblies of God in 1939, the International Holiness Mission or Church of the Nazarene in 1931, Elim Four Square Gospel Alliance in 1956, (fn. 53) and, of a rather different order, the British Israelites in 1934, as well as various missions and the Jehovah's Witnesses. The impact of these new denominations on the membership of the older churches has probably been insignificant and the decline in membership of such churches is presumably attributable to causes general throughout the country.

Apostolic Church

FENTON. An Apostolic church in Foley Street was registered for worship in 1931. (fn. 54)

BURSLEM. Three rooms on the first floor of 20A Market Place were registered as an Apostolic church in 1931. (fn. 55)

TUNSTALL. The first floor of 50 Goodfellow Road was registered as an Apostolic church in 1908. (fn. 56) The church moved to 266 High Street in 1932. (fn. 57)

Assemblies of God

LONGTON. A group belonging to the Fellowship of the Assemblies of God had been formed in Longton by 1940 and then met at 135 High Street. (fn. 58) In 1944 it moved to Wharf (later Bridgewood) Street, (fn. 59) and c. 1954 to the former Primitive Methodist chapel in Alexandra Road (fn. 60) where it still met in 1958.

HANLEY. An Assembly of God church in St. John Street was registered in 1952. (fn. 61)

BURSLEM. A room at 1 Wycliffe Street was registered for worship in 1953 by the Church of God (Pentecostal), possibly affiliated to the Fellowship of Assemblies of God. (fn. 62)

TUNSTALL. The first floor of 101 Roundwell (formerly Well) Street was registered by the Assemblies of God in 1939. (fn. 63)

MILTON. A Bethel mission hall in a room under the Archway, 2A Leek Road was registered by the Assemblies of God in 1941. (fn. 64) The meeting may have lapsed or moved in 1944 when the rear of 4 Leek Road was registered as Bethel Hall. (fn. 65) In 1950 the group moved to the rear of 2 Leek Road. (fn. 66)

NORTON IN THE MOORS, BALL GREEN. A meetingroom of the Assemblies of God in Wilding Road (previously North Street) was registered in 1940. (fn. 67) It apparently ceased to be used in 1945 (fn. 68) but was restarted and again registered in 1946. (fn. 69)

Baptist Churches

LONGTON. Before 1820 a room in St. Martin's Lane had been used by Baptists. (fn. 70) In 1853, supported by the General Baptist Association, H. Wileman, a master-potter, who had come to Longton from Paddington, reserved the use of the town hall on Sundays for a year in the hope of starting regular Baptist services. (fn. 71) These began in the July of the same year, 120 being present in the morning and 200 in the evening on the first day. (fn. 72) In November of the following year a church was formally founded. (fn. 73) For some years the Court House was used for services which were conducted mainly by lay preachers, but later a regular minister, the Revd. H. Freckelton, was in charge. (fn. 74) In 1858 he seceded to the Unitarians and became their minister at Newcastle-underLyme. (fn. 75) Shortly after this the upper story of a building in Trentham Road, not far from the present chapel, was secured for services. (fn. 76) By 1862 the church had 21 members (fn. 77) and in 1867 was again served by a regular minister. (fn. 78) In 1873 the church was reconstituted and in 1876 the present red-brick Romanesque chapel with blue-brick dressings was erected in Trentham Road. (fn. 79) By 1890 Longton church had 283 members and Sunday-school attendance in that year averaged 290. (fn. 80) A period of recession for the local Baptist churches followed. To arrest this tendency, a limited form of connexionalism, known as the North Staffordshire Federal Scheme, was introduced in 1905. By this Longton, Newcastle, and Burslem Baptist churches were grouped together with two ministers in charge of them. The scheme was abandoned in 1918 but it apparently proved a successful means of arresting decline and was imitated elsewhere. (fn. 81) In the early 1920's Longton church membership rose; it was 133 in 1925. (fn. 82) By 1937, however, it had decreased to 122 (fn. 83) and has steadily declined since; it was 93 in 1946 (fn. 84) and 73 in 1956. (fn. 85) The average Sunday-school attendance has also decreased, from 120 in 1937 (fn. 86) to 59 in 1946 (fn. 87) and 76 in 1956. (fn. 88)

LONGTON, NORMACOT. In 1883 there was a branch church from Longton Baptist Church at Normacot. (fn. 89) This survived into the following year but had apparently ceased by 1885. (fn. 90) In 1897, however, Baptists there were meeting in a hall. (fn. 91) The church then had 30 members and there were 200 pupils at the Sunday school. (fn. 92) This meeting was still being held in 1900, but had ceased by 1937. (fn. 93)

FENTON. In 1877 the North Staffordshire Baptist Association with the help of the British and Irish Home Mission appointed Clarence Chambers as Home Mission Evangelist in the North Staffordshire area. Through his mission work attention was drawn to the possibility of starting a Baptist church in Fenton. (fn. 94) In May 1881 a public hall at Fenton was taken for 12 months and in November of that year the church was formally constituted with 15 members and 5 candidates for baptism and church membership. (fn. 95) Chambers became its first minister. (fn. 96) Under the leadership of W. Bonser, minister 1882–5, the church expanded steadily through its Sunday school, open-air meetings, and cottage meetings. (fn. 97) A new schoolroom was completed in 1891 and a new chapel in 1892 (fn. 98) at the corner of Victoria Street and Brunswick (now Beville) Street. By 1890 membership of the church had risen to 40 and the Sundayschool attendance then averaged 150. (fn. 99) In 1892 the church joined the West Midland Baptist Association, (fn. 100) but by 1905 was still not in the Baptist Union. (fn. 101) The membership remained almost stationary until 1900, (fn. 102) but between that date and 1937 rose slightly, being then 56; (fn. 103) it dropped again to 46 in 1946 (fn. 104) and rose sharply in the succeeding ten years to 86 in 1956. (fn. 105) The average attendance at Sunday school rose slightly to 196 in 1937, (fn. 106) declined to 86 in 1946, (fn. 107) but, like the church membership, had increased again by 1956 to 115. (fn. 108) Under the North Staffordshire Federal Scheme the minister of New Street Baptist Church, Hanley, became joint minister of that church and Fenton, but since then Fenton has usually formed a joint pastorate with Eastwood Vale Church, Hanley. (fn. 109)

STOKE, QUEEN STREET. In 1818 a house in Stoke Lane, occupied by Ellen Ratcliffe, a widow, was being used for worship by a group of Particular Baptists. (fn. 110) In 1851 there was a Particular Baptist chapel in Queen (now Rebecca) Street, called Zoar Chapel, but the congregation was very small (fn. 111) and its subsequent history oannot be traced.

STOKE, LONDON ROAD. In 1841 a number of Baptists, formerly members of the General Baptist Church, Brook Street, Derby, and of Stoney Street Baptist Church, Nottingham, hired a room over a smithy in Church Street near the later Rialto Ballroom. The room was opened in June 1841 and a church was formed later in the same year with 6 members. (fn. 112) In 1851 the room seated 80 and the congregation averaged about 50. (fn. 113) In 1850 a site for a chapel in London Road was given by two members of the Church, (fn. 114) and the chapel was opened three years later. (fn. 115) A new Sunday-school building was added behind and at right angles to the chapel in 1869. (fn. 116) The latter was extended in 1879 (fn. 117) and reopened in 1880. (fn. 118) It seated 500 in 1900 and the membership was 114 with an average attendance of 250 at Sunday school. (fn. 119) This church, along with many other nonconformist bodies, showed strong resistance to the 1902 Education Act and the minister was imprisoned for non-payment of the education rate. (fn. 120) The membership of the church increased to 131 in 1913, (fn. 121) but suffered a serious decline in subsequent years and by 1920 had dropped to 86. (fn. 122) Because of serious financial difficulties a plan was then made to merge with Stoke Congregational Church, but no agreement could be reached over which church should be closed. (fn. 123) After 1932 the position of the church improved. Membership had increased to 161 in 1937, (fn. 124) and to 170 in 1946, (fn. 125) but in recent years there has again been a decline, membership numbering only 123 in 1956. (fn. 126) Attendance at the Sunday school appears to have steadily declined, averaging 250 in 1900, (fn. 127) 175 in 1937, (fn. 128) 95 in 1946, (fn. 129) and 70 in 1956. (fn. 130) The chapel is a rectangular two-story red-brick building, the front of 1879 having stone dressings. (fn. 131) The Sunday school is a red-brick building with blue-brick dressings and round-headed windows.

HANLEY, MEIGH STREET. A Particular Baptist Church was formed at Hanley in 1789; the minister in 1790 was John Hinde (fn. 132) and a chapel in New (now Goodson) Street was built in that year (fn. 133) and registered for worship early in 1791. (fn. 134) In 1794 the church had no minister, (fn. 135) but by 1798 it again had a regular minister (fn. 136) and became a member of the Midland Association of Baptist Churches in 1801. (fn. 137) It was closed, however, c. 1803. In 1819 L. J. Abington, a deacon of the Baptist Church, Little Wild Street, London, settled in Hanley and bought the chapel in an attempt to revive the Baptist movement there. (fn. 138) The chapel was reopened in 1820. (fn. 139) In 1843 the chapel seated 400 (fn. 140) and attendance at chapel in 1851 averaged 190 and at Sunday school 166. (fn. 141) In 1870 the chapel had a sub-station at Joiner's Square, Hanley, later Eastwood Vale Church. (fn. 142) By 1900 membership of New Street Chapel numbered 87 and Sunday school attendance averaged 180. (fn. 143) Membership suffered a decline between the two world wars, being 42 in 1937, (fn. 144) but has since steadily risen, numbering 78 in 1946 (fn. 145) and 107 in 1956. (fn. 146) The average attendance at Sunday school has also risen since the Second World War, being 95 in 1946 (fn. 147) and 141 in 1956. (fn. 148) A new church was built in 1952 (fn. 149) at the junction of Old Hall Street and Meigh Street and is a large brick building with a square tower over the entrance. The church is on the first floor and the schoolroom below. The old chapel which stood in New (now Goodson) Street, on a site facing Burton Place, has been demolished and an extension of the British Home Stores erected there. (fn. 150) It was a small brick building of two stories with a vestibule of one story at the front. (fn. 151)

HANLEY, EASTWOOD VALE. There was a branch of New Street Baptist Church, Hanley, at Joiner's Square in 1870. (fn. 152) The congregation of the Joiner's Square mission subsequently moved to Eastwood Vale (fn. 153) where a chapel was erected at the corner of Clifford and Paxton Streets in 1876; (fn. 154) a church was formally constituted in 1877. (fn. 155) The building was improved c. 1889. (fn. 156) The church was still not a member of the Baptist Union in 1905 (fn. 157) but by 1937 had joined both the Baptist Union and the West Midland Baptist Association. (fn. 158) The chapel seated 300 in 1937 when there were 10 full members of the church and also a Sunday-school class of 80. (fn. 159) The membership rose during the Second World War to 17 in 1946 (fn. 160) and has remained more or less constant, being 16 in 1956. (fn. 161) Sunday-school attendance averaged 60 in 1946 (fn. 162) and 55 in 1956. (fn. 163)

HANLEY, YORK STREET. A Welsh Baptist church was organized in 1856 and its chapel in York Street, which seated 100, was possibly built at the same date. (fn. 164) It was a member of the North Wales Eastern Baptist Association by 1861, (fn. 165) and had a membership of 43 in 1862 when Sunday-school attendance averaged 40. (fn. 166) By 1900 membership had dropped to 39 and Sunday school attendance to 34. (fn. 167) It was not in the Baptist Union in 1905. (fn. 168) The society was dispersed c. 1930. By 1936 the chapel was occupied rent-free by the Brethren to whom it was sold in the following year. (fn. 169)

BURSLEM. A Baptist group was first founded in Burslem in the early 19th century. Thomas Thompson, a minister, who settled in Newcastle-underLyme in 1798 and preached on supply there to 'our Independent brethren' later extended his missionary activities to Burslem and Hanley, finding support at Burslem. (fn. 170) He and an inhabitant of Burslem erected a chapel in High Street in 1806 (fn. 171) and shortly afterwards they with other Baptists, who had come to the area, formally founded a church (fn. 172) of Old, Particular, or Calvinistic Baptists. (fn. 173) Thompson was invited to be its first minister and was ordained to the church in 1809. (fn. 174) By 1838 there was a Sunday class attached to the church with c. 115 pupils. (fn. 175) In 1851 the attendance at the chapel averaged 80 and at Sunday school 50. (fn. 176) By 1861 the church was a member of the Lancashire and Cheshire Baptist Union; (fn. 177) in 1862 it had 44 members and attendance at Sunday school averaged 80. (fn. 178) The chapel, which seated 120, (fn. 179) was sold c. 1873 to the Burslem Ragged School and a new chapel seating 370, also in High Street, was built. (fn. 180) The membership had increased by 1900 to 97 (fn. 181) and the Sunday-school attendance then averaged 200. (fn. 182) By 1937 there were only 57 members. (fn. 183) The chapel was burnt down in 1944, (fn. 184) but the church continued until 1949, its members, who in that year numbered 46, (fn. 185) worshipping either at Hanley or Newcastle. (fn. 186) The site of the chapel was then sold, its funds wound up, and the church dispersed. (fn. 187) Part of the funds went in 1949 towards the cost of the new manse at Newcastle, part to the building of Hanley New Street Baptist Church, and part in 1952 to the cost of the new Sunday school at Newcastle. (fn. 188) The first chapel remained the Ragged School until the 1930's but is now used by the Shaftesbury Society which has local preachers here although no permanent minister. (fn. 189)

BURSLEM, WATERLOO ROAD. Ebenezer Baptist Church in Waterloo Road, Burslem, was registered for worship in 1902 but the registration was cancelled in 1906. (fn. 190)

TUNSTALL. A Baptist chapel was opened in Market (now Tower) Square in 1888, and probably occupied the former New Connexion Chapel there; by 1890 the church had 13 members. (fn. 191) It had been closed by 1900. (fn. 192)

LATEBROOK. A Baptist church was founded at Latebrook in 1877 and in 1890 seated 150. (fn. 193) It then had 22 full members. (fn. 194) In 1900 it was still autonomous, (fn. 195) but by 1905 it had become a branch of Newcastle Baptist Church. (fn. 196) By 1937 it had apparently reverted to its independent status, with a membership of 17 and a Sunday-school class of 72 members. (fn. 197) The membership rose slightly during the Second World War and stood at 22 in 1946. (fn. 198) Subsequently it dropped, and when the church closed in 1956 there were only 12 members. (fn. 199) The chapel is a small brick building in Broadfield Road.

Bethel Evangelistic Society

LONGTON. The Bethel Evangelistic Society registered the Bethel Temple in Dunrobin Street for worship in 1932. (fn. 200) Meetings were still being held in 1958. (fn. 201)

HANLEY, CAULDON ROAD. Bethel Temple at the junction of Boughey and Cauldon Roads, Hanley Park, was registered for worship in 1930. (fn. 202) It apparently left the Bethel Evangelistic Society in 1933 (fn. 203) and closed the following year. (fn. 204)

HANLEY, NEWHALL STREET. In 1932 Bethel Temple in Newhall Street was registered for worship. (fn. 205) In 1945 the society acquired the lease of Hope Congregational Church where it still held meetings in 1958.

BURSLEM. A Bethel Mission hall on the first floor of 12 St. John's Square was registered for worship by the Bethel Evangelistic Society in 1931. (fn. 206)

TUNSTALL. A Bethel Mission hall at 101 Well (now Roundwell) Street was registered for worship in 1931. The registration was cancelled in 1939. (fn. 207)

MILTON. A Bethel Mission hall in Market Street was registered for worship in 1931. The registration was cancelled in 1944. (fn. 208)

The Brethren (Plymouth Brethren)

STOKE, TRENT VALE. Swan Lane Gospel Hall, Claytonwood Road, Trent Vale, was registered for public worship by the Brethren in 1939. It had ceased to be used by 1954. (fn. 209)

HANLEY. By 1936 the Brethren were occupying the former Baptist Chapel in York Street, Eastwood Vale. In 1937 they bought the chapel. (fn. 210)

British Israel World Federation

HANLEY. Two rooms on the second floor of 61 Stafford Street were registered for worship by the British Israelites in 1934. (fn. 211)

Catholic Apostolic Church

STOKE AND FENTON. A Catholic Apostolic Church in Church Street, Stoke, was registered for worship in 1879, (fn. 212) and in 1880 daily services were being held in it. (fn. 213) In 1896 a new church was erected at the corner of Whieldon Road and City Road, Fenton. (fn. 214) This was still in use in 1940 (fn. 215) but was probably closed in 1955. (fn. 216) The church, which has a Sundayschool building attached to it, is a large brick building and by 1958 was in use as a Gospel Hall. The former church, which for a time was also used as a Gospel Hall, is a smaller brick building and is faced with stone. It stands at the junction of Bowstead and Church Streets and in 1958 was used as a workshop.

Christadelphians or Brethren of Christ

The small Christadelphian Ecclesia in North Staffordshire was formed in 1910 and worshipped originally on the first floor of Sutherland Chambers, High Street, Stoke. (fn. 217) After a period at Hanley, it returned to Stoke, where it used no. 9 Majestic Chambers, Campbell Place, in 1935 (fn. 218) and Lonsdale House, Woodhouse Street, in 1936. (fn. 219) It moved to Newcastle c. 1938 and thence to the Co-operative Guildroom, Tunstall, in 1953. (fn. 220) In addition to the normal meetings the activities of this group included in recent years a Bible study class which was held for some time in the Moorland Cafe, Burslem. (fn. 221)

Christian Brethren (fn. 222)

LONGTON. In 1851 a group of Christian Brethren was using the Vauxhall schoolroom for worship. (fn. 223) Attendance was about 40. (fn. 224) This group was still meeting in 1859 (fn. 225) but nothing more is known of it.

STOKE. The Stoke meeting of the Christian Brethren probably started in 1842. (fn. 226) In 1851 attendance was small but there was a Sunday school which about 100 children attended. (fn. 227) The society was still in being in 1859, (fn. 228) but nothing more is known of it.

HANLEY. There was a Christian Brethren Preacher's Library at Hanley, in Market Street, in 1845; this lasted until at least 1848. (fn. 229)

TUNSTALL. Joseph Barker, after his expulsion from the Methodist New Connexion in 1841, started preaching in the shells of three cottages recently built in Tunstall, which formed a Sunday school and preaching-room. About 1842 the Christian Brethren movement reached its height there and greatly decreased the strength of Tunstall Methodist New Connexion Chapel. (fn. 230) Nothing further is known about this group.

The Christian Society (fn. 231)

BURSLEM. In 1838 there were said to be meetings of the Christian Society in most of the Pottery towns. (fn. 232) The group in Burslem used Zoar Chapel, (fn. 233) which it bought in that year. Zoar was sold by the Christian Society in 1842 to the Primitive Methodist Connexion. (fn. 234) Nothing further is known of this society in the Potteries. (fn. 235)

Church of Christ

BURSLEM. Wedgwood Mission Hall in Wedgwood Street was registered for meetings of the Church of Christ in 1890. (fn. 236) The group moved to the Church of Christ Meeting House in Macclesfield Street in 1913. (fn. 237) This was still in use in 1958. (fn. 238)

TUNSTALL. In 1897 the Church of Christ registered the Christian Meeting Room, Goodfellow Street, as a place of worship. (fn. 239) This continued in use until 1927 when the Church of Christ, Pinnox Street, was opened. (fn. 240) This was still in use in 1940 (fn. 241) but was closed by or in 1955 (fn. 242) and the building sold. (fn. 243)

Church of Christ Scientist

STOKE. Two rooms, 5 First Floor, Glebe Buildings, Glebe Street, were registered for public worship in 1913 by Christian Scientists. (fn. 244)

LONGTON, NORMACOT. A Christian Science meeting-place in Uttoxeter Road was registered for public worship by Christian Scientists in 1937. (fn. 245)

HANLEY, SHELTON. In 1940 the First Church of Christ Scientist, Avenue Road (formerly Park Avenue), was registered for public worship. (fn. 246)

Church of the Seventh Day Advent

HARTSHILL. An Advent Church in 'The Schoolroom', in The Avenue, Hartshill, was registered for worship in 1940. (fn. 247) The registration was cancelled in 1949. (fn. 248)

Congregational Churches

LONGTON. The first Congregational church at Longton resulted from a secession from the parish church after the departure of a low-church minister. This group, after using a room in St. Martin's Lane previously used by the Baptists, erected a temporary meeting-house in a court off Market Square and then a chapel in Caroline Street which was opened in 1820. A church was formed at the beginning of 1821. Membership was then 17. (fn. 249) In 1841 Sundayschool attendance averaged 200. (fn. 250) In the first quarter of 1851 average attendance at the church was 150 in the morning and 250 in the evening and the Sundayschool attendance still averaged 200. (fn. 251) In 1957 membership was 59. (fn. 252) A new chapel was built in 1905 (fn. 253) in front of the old chapel. It is a brick building in the Perpendicular style.

LONGTON, DRESDEN. A second Congregational church in Longton came into being when the Staffordshire Congregational Union sent an evangelist to preach at Dresden c. 1868. There was difficulty in finding premises, but in 1869 the Union provided an iron chapel which was described as 'an ornament to the locality'. (fn. 254) Part of the proceeds of the sale of Alton chapel went towards the erection of a schoolroom in 1872 which cost £200. (fn. 255) A new chapel was erected in Belgrave Road in 1885, (fn. 256) replaced by another in 1906. (fn. 257) The membership was 25 in 1957 and the chapel then seated 450. (fn. 258)

STOKE. About the year 1780 Jonathan Scott, commonly known as Captain Scott, preached in the streets of Stoke, but there is no evidence that a Congregational church resulted immediately from his visits. (fn. 259) About the turn of the century interest was aroused and in 1823 a chapel was built in Thomas Street (now Aquinas Street). (fn. 260) This meeting was short lived and the chapel was sold before 1834 to the Quakers. (fn. 261) In 1833 an attempt was made to revive Congregationalism in Stoke by meetings in a room at an inn, but this was unsatisfactory and the attempt was abandoned. (fn. 262) Land was bought for a chapel c. 1838, but subsequently resold. (fn. 263) In 1850, however, the Congregationalists started to hold services in the town hall (fn. 264) and in 1851 formed themselves into a church. (fn. 265) Attendance then averaged about 70 people. (fn. 266) Shortly afterwards the worshippers moved to a building in Queen Street where they remained until 1855 when Copeland Street Chapel was built. (fn. 267) Lecture rooms and classrooms costing £1,100 were added in 1876. (fn. 268) In 1920, because of financial difficulties, amalgamation with Stoke Baptist Church was considered, but the proposal fell through because of disagreement over which church should be closed. (fn. 269) This church, which seated 450, was closed in 1937. (fn. 270) Proceeds of the sale of the building helped to pay for the erection of the new Congregational church at Clayton. (fn. 271)

HANLEY, THE TABERNACLE. Hanley Congregationalism originated in the visits of Captain Jonathan Scott, who preached in the streets of Hanley, and of George Burder who, on one day in 1781, preached in the morning at Burslem, in the afternoon at Hanley, and in the evening at Newcastle. (fn. 272) A long room was taken at Hanley and in 1784 a chapel was built called The Tabernacle after George Whitefield's Tabernacle in London. (fn. 273) The Sunday school was opened in 1785 by the Tabernacle's first minister, James Boden, (fn. 274) who, besides furthering the work of his own chapel, greatly helped in Congregational evangelical work and was responsible for the founding of Stafford Congregational church. (fn. 275) This tradition of evangelical work was carried on by The Tabernacle's second minister, James Little, (fn. 276) and by 1800 The Tabernacle not only had a good congregation but was also regarded as the centre of Congregational work in the north of Staffordshire. (fn. 277) For example, there was a meeting at Hanley in 1799 of all Congregational ministers from Shropshire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire to discuss plans for the maintenance of itinerant preachers and for training ministers. Although this project was not realized, (fn. 278) the later North Staffordshire Lay Preachers' Association regarded Hanley Tabernacle as its centre and usually held its meetings there. (fn. 279) Later ministers also carried on the tradition of mission work in the surrounding country. (fn. 280) In 1840 The Tabernacle was enlarged (fn. 281) and in 1851 seated nearly 900. (fn. 282) Average attendance was then said to be 400. (fn. 283) Sunday-school buildings were added in 1860; (fn. 284) in 1883 a new Tabernacle was erected in High Street (now Town Road) opposite the old Tabernacle, (fn. 285) which was then sold. (fn. 286) It cost over £16,000 and a further £1,000 was spent in 1893 in enlarging the Sunday schools. (fn. 287) The building seats 1,050 and the membership of the church in 1957 was 83. (fn. 288) A mission was established in Union Street from The Tabernacle in 1879 (see below). In 1960 the first chapel was in use as a roller-skating rink and the original brick front, dating from 1784, is partly obscured by a modern addition. It still retains, however, a central pediment above a Venetian window and one of its two pedimented doorways. The former minister's house, which adjoins the chapel on the south side, appears to be of the same date or a little later. The present chapel on the opposite side of Town Road is a large red-brick building in the Perpendicular style with stone dressings.

HANLEY, THE TABERNACLE TOWN MISSION. In 1879 Union Street Mission Hall was erected by members of The Tabernacle church. (fn. 289) In 1957 there were 40 members. (fn. 290) The original red-brick building was extended in 1901. (fn. 291) Seating capacity in 1957 was 300. (fn. 292)

HANLEY, HOPE STREET. A second Congregational church was formed when a number of members seceded from The Tabernacle after the expulsion of one of the deacons for drunkenness. (fn. 293) After worshipping for some years in a temporary building, this group built a chapel for themselves in Hope Street which was opened in October 1812 (fn. 294) and seated 600. (fn. 295) Attendance averaged about 70 in 1851. (fn. 296) Alterations and renovations were carried out in 1891. (fn. 297) The church declined after 1938, and in 1945 the chapel was let as the Hanley Bethel Temple to the Evangelical Free Church. (fn. 298) It is a two-story red-brick building with stone dressings fronting upon New Hall Street. A stone pediment bears the words '1812 Hope Congregational Church 1891', the latter date presumably referring to the alterations of that year. Twin doorways of the original date have semicircular fanlights and are flanked by Tuscan pillars. There is a schoolroom behind, erected in 1835, (fn. 299) also of red brick. In 1840 about 300 children attended the school, (fn. 300) but in 1851 only about 80. (fn. 301)

HANLEY, WELSH, OR CAPEL YR ANNIBYNWYR. A Welsh Congregational church was founded in 1850 in Market Square. (fn. 302) It had an average attendance of 70 in 1851. (fn. 303) Later a chapel was built in Mayer Street. Its seating capacity in 1957 was 350 and it then had 40 members. (fn. 304) The chapel is a red-brick building in the Gothic style with a rose window in its front wall. It has a small tower at the side over the porch.

HANLEY, HANLEY PARK. In 1898 an iron tabernacle was erected on land in Cauldon Road, Hanley Park, acquired mainly through the efforts of T. W. Harrison. The following year a church was formed mainly of members transferred from Hanley Tabernacle. The Twentieth Century Fund of the Staffordshire Congregational Union helped to provide a new chapel, with a school, which was opened in October 1901. (fn. 305) The iron chapel was moved to Wolstanton. (fn. 306) The membership of the church was 25 in 1957 (fn. 307) and the chapel, which is a building in the Gothic style, seats 450.

BURSLEM. The first Congregational meetings began in the house of a Mr. Bailey at Greenhead c. 1819. Previously there had been a more ambitious scheme of building a chapel in Burslem, but the promoters of it appear to have turned their attention to Hanley Tabernacle, completed in 1784. However, R. W. Newland, minister at Hanley from 1816 to 1839, took great interest in the group at Burslem. He enlisted the help of Thomas Wilson of London, who sent a student to act as pastor under Newland's guidance. After removing for a while to a crate shop at the rear of Navigation Road the worshippers obtained a larger building fronting on the same road and in May 1821 formed themselves into a church. (fn. 308) Early in 1825, however, they leased Zoar Chapel, 'The Salt Box', from Aaron Sant, who had purchased it from the Methodist New Connexion, at a rent of £40 yearly. (fn. 309) The Congregationalists used Zoar until 1826 when they relinquished it because they could not afford the rent, (fn. 310) and moved back to Mr. Bailey's house at Greenhead. (fn. 311) In 1828, however, Newland was instrumental in purchasing Zoar for the Congregationalists and they continued to use it until 1838 when a new chapel in Queen Street, erected at a cost of £3,300, was opened. (fn. 312) Zoar was then sold. (fn. 313) In the first quarter of 1851 the congregation on Sundays averaged 180 in the morning and 160 in the evening, and attendance at Sunday school 60 in the morning and 130 in the afternoon. (fn. 314) Wycliffe Hall was opened as a mission church from Queen Street on 1885. (fn. 315) Queen Street Church was replaced in 1906 by the present church in Moorland Road, called the Woodall Memorial Church in memory of William Woodall, M.P. This seats 550, (fn. 316) and had 128 members in 1957. (fn. 317)

Queen Street Church was described in 1841 as 'a handsome structure of brick with very lofty windows'. (fn. 318) It had an open vestibule on the ground floor formed by Tuscan columns and pilasters of stone within which were two flights of steps leading to the chapel. The chapel seated 400 and had an end gallery in which there was an organ. The ground floor also contained schoolrooms and a vestry. (fn. 319) The William Woodall Memorial Church is a red-brick building with stone dressings.

Wycliffe Hall in Furlong Parade, was built in 1885 at a cost of £3,300 as a mission church and Sunday school attached to Queen Street Congregational Church. (fn. 320) It was in use until at least 1916 for services (fn. 321) and was used as a Sunday school attached to Woodall Memorial Church after that date. It was abandoned because of a shift in the population to new development areas and was sold in 1942 to Burslem Gospel Mission. (fn. 322)

BURSLEM, DALE HALL. In 1867 the Congregationalists registered for worship the former Wesleyan Reform Chapel in Dale Street. (fn. 323) It had ceased to be used by 1886. (fn. 324)

TUNSTALL. The Revd. W. Moseley, Congregational minister at Hanley Tabernacle, 1802–14, occasionally preached in Tunstall. (fn. 325) About 1807 he was offered a site for a chapel but no chapel was built, (fn. 326) and it was nearly 50 years before a church was founded. The impetus came from the North Staffs. Itinerant Lay Preachers' Association who discussed the possibility of starting a church in Tunstall at their quarterly meeting held in December 1852 at Hanley Tabernacle. (fn. 327) Nield's Assembly Room (the former Methodist New Connexion chapel), Market Place, Tunstall, was rented and the first services were held in July 1853. (fn. 328) In 1854 Thomas Bostock of Port Vale Potteries, one of the founder members, tried to interest the Home Missionary Society in Tunstall but a request for one of their ministers was rejected. (fn. 329) The church secured its first minister in 1857. (fn. 330) Land was acquired in 1856 for a chapel but it was not until 1862 that a school-chapel in High Street was opened. (fn. 331) The Sunday school had started in 1855 with about 30 children and by 1862 had an average attendance of 115. (fn. 332) A new chapel was completed in 1879 which seats 500. (fn. 333) The church, which was frequently without a minister, has had a chequered history. For example, between the end of the Second World War and 1952 there was no minister and the Sundayschool attendance dwindled to about 50 or 60. In 1953, however, attendance was almost twice that number, (fn. 334) while in 1957 membership of the church numbered 80. (fn. 335) The chapel is a brick building on the west side of High Street.

MILTON. Congregationalism at Milton dates from the beginning of the 19th century. (fn. 336) Lay preachers from Hanley preached at Bagnall, Baddeley Edge, and Milton. (fn. 337) Jonas Forrister's house was registered as a nonconformist meeting-place in 1806. (fn. 338) A small chapel in Eaves Lane was opened in 1808. (fn. 339) James Cartledge was largely responsible for the erection of a new chapel which was registered in 1819. About 40 years later Samuel Adams added a schoolroom and in 1880 a new chapel was built on the corner of Market Street (now Millrise Road) and Adam Street. (fn. 340) The chapel seated 230. (fn. 341) In 1922 after unavailing requests from the Congregational Union that the congregation should conform to the trust deeds, the Union as trustees closed the chapel. (fn. 342) The property was sold and by 1937 was used as a Gospel Mission. (fn. 343) The sum raised contributed to the building of Clayton Congregational Church. (fn. 344)

GOLDENHILL. There has never been a Congregational Church in Goldenhill, but for a time Christ Church was served by Congregational ministers. (fn. 345)

Elim Four Square Gospel Alliance (fn. 346)

LONGTON. An Elim Four Square Gospel Alliance church at Longton was registered for worship in 1956. It stands in Lightwood Road (fn. 347) and is a long weather-boarded building.

Free Church (Undenominational)

GOLDENHILL, CHRIST CHURCH. Christ Church originated in an evangelical secession from St. John's Church, Goldenhill, on the appointment in 1873 of a high churchman to the benefice. (fn. 348) When the living became vacant, Bishop Selwyn, himself a high churchman, appointed the Revd. Osmond Dobree, formerly chaplain of a private chapel at Knypersley and a known high churchman. Immediately a petition against the appointment was presented by the parishioners to the bishop and also published in the local press. Dobree offered to withdraw but the bishop refused the offer and instituted him in September of the same year. Only six parishioners were present, however, and even before the institution the schismatics were holding services in private houses. J. Henshall Williamson provided a corrugated-iron church which was erected in what was later called Williamson Street. Services began there in 1874. The first two ministers are believed to have been ordained members of the Congregational Church. On Williamson's death the church was offered by his widow to the Bishop of Lichfield on condition that there should always be an evangelical curate there, but Bishop Maclagan could not accept the condition. On Mrs. Williamson's death the congregation bought the building and for some time the Congregational minister from Tunstall helped with the services. During the present century, however, the church has had to rely on the services of lay preachers. A new church has been erected since 1944 in front of the old and is a weather-boarded building.

International Holiness Mission or Church of the Nazarene (fn. 349)

FENTON. In 1920 the International Holiness Mission, later designated The Church of the Nazarene, registered a mission chapel at the corner of Victoria Road and Church Street for public worship. (fn. 350) In 1935 the group moved to Regent (now Smithpool) Road. (fn. 351)

SHELTON. In 1931 the International Holiness Mission registered Leek Road Tabernacle, Leek Road, for worship. (fn. 352) The Tabernacle is a long single-story wooden hut and was still used in 1958.

Jehovah's Witnesses

LONGTON. In 1940 the Jehovah's Witnesses registered the ground floor of 104 Stafford Street as a Kingdom Hall. (fn. 353) The registration was cancelled in 1948, (fn. 354) but in 1956 they again registered a Kingdom Hall at 22 Market Street. (fn. 355)

STOKE. In 1944 the Jehovah's Witnesses registered the former B.B.C. studio, on the first floor of Majestic Buildings, South Wolfe Street, as a Kingdom Hall. It was re-registered in 1950. (fn. 356)

STOKE, BASFORD. The Jehovah's Witnesses registered a building in Victoria Street as a Kingdom Hall in 1940. The registration was cancelled in 1948. (fn. 357)

HANLEY. In 1940 the Jehovah's Witnesses registered the first floor of a building in Glass Street as a Kingdom Hall. (fn. 358) They moved to 10 Percy Street Chambers in 1945. (fn. 359)

BURSLEM and TUNSTALL. In 1943 the Jehovah's Witnesses registered 20 Brick House Street as a Kingdom Hall. (fn. 360) In 1949 this group moved to 473 High Street, Tunstall, (fn. 361) and in 1952 to 71 Roundwell Street, Tunstall. (fn. 362)

SMALLTHORNE. In 1956 the Jehovah's Witnesses registered a building as a Kingdom Hall. (fn. 363)

Latter Day Saints

LONGTON. In 1841 the Mechanics' Institute was used by the Latter Day Saints for worship. (fn. 364) This group had apparently ceased to meet by 1851 as there is no return for it in the census of that year.

STOKE, TRENT VALE. In 1856 the Latter Day Saints registered the premises of John Edwards, previously a joiner's shop, for worship. The group had ceased to meet there by 1876. (fn. 365)

HANLEY. A room in Hanley was registered for worship by the Re-organized Latter Day Saints in 1889. (fn. 366) In 1892 the group moved to The Saints Mission Hall, 35–36 Bath (now Garth) Street, Hanley. (fn. 367) Nothing further is known of it.

HANLEY. Two rooms on the first floor of Florence Chambers, 14 Perry Street, were registered for worship by the Latter Day Saints in 1942. (fn. 368)

BURSLEM. There was a meeting of Latter Day Saints at Burslem by 1860. (fn. 369) In 1884 the group registered the Gospel Hall, Queen Street, for worship. The registration was cancelled in 1896 (fn. 370) but the meeting may have ceased by 1892. (fn. 371)

Wesleyan Methodist Church

LONGTON, CHAPEL STREET and STAFFORD STREET (now The Strand). A building was erected in Longton for Methodist worship in 1783. (fn. 372) Wesley first preached there in the following year in the open air, as the meeting-house was too small to hold the congregation. (fn. 373) In 1804 a new chapel was built in what became Chapel Street (fn. 374) and was subsequently used both for worship and as a Sunday school. (fn. 375) As the congregation grew need arose for a new chapel; this was erected in 1842 on land in Stafford Street (fn. 376) and in 1851 seated 500. (fn. 377) Attendance on 30 March 1851 was returned as 250 in the morning and 400 in the evening. (fn. 378) In 1877 alterations, including ornamentation of the interior pillars, were made to the chapel. (fn. 379) In 1940 it seated 1,100 (fn. 380) and is a brick building with Classical features. In 1933 it became Longton Central Mission. (fn. 381) Shortly after the building of Stafford Street Chapel, Chapel Street Chapel was converted into Sunday-school buildings. By 1855 new schools had been built at the rear of Stafford Street Chapel and the old chapel was sold. (fn. 382)

LONGTON. HIGH STREET (now UTTOXETER ROAD).A second and smaller Wesleyan chapel was erected in High Street c. 1812. (fn. 383) In 1851 it seated 390 and had an attendance of 170 in the morning and 102 in the evening of 30 March of that year. (fn. 384) Probably by 1853 this chapel had seceded from the Wesleyan Methodist Church and joined the Methodist (or Wesleyan) Reform Church. (fn. 385) Its subsequent history is treated below. (fn. 386)

LONGTON, EAST VALE. A school-chapel was erected at East Vale in 1875. (fn. 387) It was probably rebuilt at a later date, since in 1940 the buildings, standing in Kendrick Street, consisted of a chapel, which then seated 100, and a school-hall. (fn. 388) The chapel was still in use in 1958.

LONGTON, HEATHCOTE ROAD. By 1887 the need of a Wesleyan chapel in the thickly populated area known as the Nook was thought to be urgent as services had to be held in cottages in Weston Place. (fn. 389) The first part of the chapel in Heathcote Road was then built; (fn. 390) a second building was added later. (fn. 391) In 1940 the chapel seated 200. (fn. 392) It was closed in 1957. (fn. 393)

LONGTON, NORMACOT. Wesley Memorial Chapel, Chaplin Road, Normacot, was built in 1892. (fn. 394) In 1940 it seated 291 (fn. 395) and had a membership of 69 in 1942. (fn. 396) It was still in use in 1957 (fn. 397) and is a brick building in the Gothic style with stone dressings.

FENTON, MARKET STREET. Mount Tabor Chapel in Market Street was founded by the Wesleyans in 1762, but, on the formation of the Methodist New Connexion in 1797, seceded to that body. (fn. 398)

FENTON, TEMPLE STREET. A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in Temple Street in 1812. (fn. 399) In 1851 it seated 300 and had an attendance on 30 March 1851 of 65 in the morning and 85 in the evening. (fn. 400) A new chapel was erected in 1873 (fn. 401) which seated 600 in 1940. (fn. 402) It had a membership of 166 in 1942 (fn. 403) and was still in use in 1957. (fn. 404)

FENTON, CLARENCE STREET. The ground floor of Nos. 22 and 24 Clarence Street was registered as a Wesleyan mission room in 1920. (fn. 405) It was still in use in 1932 (fn. 406) but had closed by 1935. (fn. 407)

STOKE, EPWORTH STREET. In 1799 a group of Methodists, who, it is believed, had a previous meeting-place just off London Road, built a small chapel in Epworth Street (formerly Cross Street and earlier still Chapel Street) at the junction with Market Street. (fn. 408) In 1805 additional land adjoining the chapel was acquired. A school and two dwelling houses had been built on this land by 1813. (fn. 409) These and the chapel were demolished when a new chapel was built on the site; this was opened in 1816 under the name of Wesley Chapel. (fn. 410) In 1851 Wesley Chapel seated 900. (fn. 411) Average attendance was then about 80 in the morning and 200 in the evening. (fn. 412) In 1958 this chapel had 178 members. (fn. 413) The chapel faces into Hide (formerly Market) Street from which it was once approached. In the mid-19th century this entrance was closed, a window placed where the entrance had been, and a new doorway, opening on Cross (now Epworth) Street, (fn. 414) made. Two side vestries were added in 1859 and the building was again enlarged c. 1880. (fn. 415) The Sunday school building was erected in 1838 and for some years before the erection of Cross Street Board Schools in 1875 was used also as a day school. (fn. 416) The chapel is a square red-brick building, its former entrance front having five bays and a central pediment, bearing a date tablet of 1816.

STOKE, TRENT VALE. Wesleyan Centenary Chapel, Trent Vale, was built in 1839 (fn. 417) and seated 90. (fn. 418) In 1851 it had a fairly small attendance, numbers on 30 March being reported as 35 in the morning and 50 in the evening. (fn. 419) A new chapel was built in London Road in 1888. (fn. 420) In 1940 it seated 196 (fn. 421) and had 106 members in 1957. (fn. 422)

STOKE, COPELAND STREET. A Wesleyan preaching room in Copeland street was registered for worship in 1876. It had ceased to be so used by 1879. (fn. 423)

STOKE, QUEEN STREET (now REBECCA STREET). A Wesleyan mission room in Queen Street was registered for worship in 1879 (fn. 424) and seated 154 in 1881. (fn. 425) It had ceased to be used by 1882. (fn. 426)

STOKE, PENKHULL. A Wesleyan chapel had been opened in Frederick Avenue, Penkhull, by 1912. (fn. 427) It was still in use in 1933 (fn. 428) but had been closed by 1940. (fn. 429)

HANLEY, CHARLES STREET. The first Methodist chapel was opened in Hanley in 1783, (fn. 430) and when John Wesley preached there in 1784 he recorded that it was too small to hold the congregation. (fn. 431) It lay in Chapel Fields, now Chapel Street, and has been described as 'an old-fashioned place enough, somewhat after the fashion of the lower rooms of three cottages with the inner walls taken out and, at the end where a pulpit was provided for the speaker, the upper room of the cottage added, by the floor and joists being removed.' 'The pulpit', the same account, continues 'was high for the building and only those in the front room could see the minister's face as he stood with his head and part of his body above the ceiling of the greater part of the room.' (fn. 432) Of all the Methodist societies in the Potteries this was the most seriously affected by the formation of the Methodist New Connexion in 1797. (fn. 433) It regained ground, (fn. 434) however, and in 1819 the makeshift chapel described above was replaced (fn. 435) by the present building at the corner of Charles Street and Old Hall Street. (fn. 436) A Sunday school was built at the rear of the chapel in 1835 (fn. 437) which was extended c. 1867. (fn. 438) In 1851 the chapel seated 770 and average attendance on Sundays was 310 in the morning and 550 in the evening. (fn. 439) Sunday-school attendance then averaged 180. (fn. 440) The chapel was enlarged c. 1879 when the present elaborate front in the Renaissance style was added. (fn. 441) In 1940 it seated 900. (fn. 442) It was formerly the head of Hanley Wesleyan Circuit and in 1958 was head of Hanley Trinity Circuit. The minister of the church benefits under the Robert Sherwin Charity. (fn. 443)

HANLEY, ETRURIA. A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built at Etruria in 1808 (fn. 444) and stood on the site of the present colour works of Wengers Ltd. (fn. 445) In 1820 it was replaced by a new chapel a little higher up the village street. (fn. 446) There was a Sunday school attached to this chapel occupying a thatched building that stood on the site of the present church school. (fn. 447) In 1851 attendance at the Wesleyan chapel averaged 140 and at the Sunday school 180. (fn. 448) The chapel, which stands in Lord Street (now Etruria Road), seated 428 in 1940, (fn. 449) and is a brick building with a Classical plastered front surmounted by a pediment and a date tablet. It was still in use in 1958.

HANLEY, NORTHWOOD. A building called Old House, Northwood, was being used by Wesleyan Methodists for services in 1851. (fn. 450) The congregation was small. (fn. 451) The Sunday-school building was opened in 1857 (fn. 452) and in 1873 the present chapel was built in Keelings Lane. (fn. 453) The chapel seated 382 in 1940 (fn. 454) and was still in use in 1958. (fn. 455)

HANLEY, SUN STREET. A Wesleyan chapel had been built in Sun Street by 1860. (fn. 456) It was still in use in 1932 (fn. 457) but had closed by 1940. (fn. 458)

HANLEY, HIGH STREET. A Welsh Wesleyan chapel was built in High Street (now Town Road) between 1860 and 1868. (fn. 459) It had ceased to be used by 1927. (fn. 460)

HANLEY, BOTTESLOW STREET. An iron chapel was erected in Botteslow Street in 1880 by Isaac Dixon, a mineral-water manufacturer. (fn. 461) There was a Sunday school by 1890 when permission was given to enlarge it. (fn. 462) The present chapel was built in 1906. (fn. 463) It seated 200 in 1940 (fn. 464) and was still in use in 1958. (fn. 465)

HANLEY, MILL STREET. A Wesleyan Methodist Church in Mill Street (now Etruria Road), was registered for worship in 1892, but had closed by 1896. (fn. 466)

HANLEY, CAULDON ROAD. A Wesleyan chapel was built in Cauldon Road, Shelton, in 1897. (fn. 467) In 1940 it seated 400. (fn. 468) It was still in use in 1957, when it had 35 members. (fn. 469)

HANLEY, ETRURIA ROAD. There was a Wesleyan mission in Etruria Road by 1916. (fn. 470) It was probably still in use in 1928 (fn. 471) but had closed by 1932. (fn. 472)

BURSLEM, SWAN BANK. John Wesley first visited Burslem in March 1760. (fn. 473) One of the converts, Abraham Lindop, opened his cottage for services. (fn. 474) The first chapel was built in 1766. (fn. 475) In 1783 Burslem was made head of a circuit. (fn. 476) The society was considerably weakened, however, by the formation of the Methodist New Connexion in 1797. (fn. 477) In 1801 a new chapel, the present building in Swan Square, was built. (fn. 478) This was enlarged in 1816. (fn. 479) The society again suffered a setback in 1836 on the division of the Burslem Sunday school. (fn. 480) In 1851 it was still the strongest chapel in Burslem and seated 1,290; attendance then averaged 500 in the morning on Sundays and 800 in the evening. (fn. 481) The chapel was again extended and improved in 1870 when a new front with a portico was added. (fn. 482) Vestries were added c. 1884. (fn. 483) In 1949 the chapel, which has always been the centre of Wesleyan Methodism in the area, became The Central Methodist Church (fn. 484) and now (1958) forms a single church circuit. (fn. 485) The history of its Sunday school began in 1798. (fn. 486) In 1801, when the new chapel was built (see above), the school occupied the old building and also used the Free School in Moorland Road and a house in Hot Lane. (fn. 487) In 1805 a new school adjacent to the chapel was erected and had been enlarged by 1809. when the pupils numbered 1,260. (fn. 488) After the 1836 dispute, (fn. 489) the school was re-opened under the management of the Wesleyan trustees. (fn. 490) New Sunday and day school buildings were erected beside the chapel in 1850–1 at a cost of £1,500, of which £400 was granted by the government. (fn. 491) The poor of the chapel benefit under Elger Robinson's Charity. (fn. 492)

The chapel and schools, which form an impressive range of buildings, were built of brick, but the entrance front was remodelled in stone in 1870. It is in the Renaissance style with a Corinthian order and a tall recessed arch beneath a pediment. Two large angle turrets flank the pediment.

BURSLEM, LONGPORT. A collection was allowed in Burslem Circuit for a chapel at Longport in 1815, (fn. 493) probably already erected. (fn. 494) In 1851 this chapel seated 222 and attendance on Sundays averaged 50 in the morning and 60 in the evening. There was a Sunday school attached with an average attendance of 60. (fn. 495) This chapel was still in use in 1940 when it seated 380 (fn. 496) but has subsequently been closed, the congregation being merged with that of Alexandra Road Methodist Church (formerly United Methodist). (fn. 497)

BURSLEM, SNEYD GREEN. A Methodist chapel was erected in Sneyd Street, Sneyd Green, in 1823, to be used under the terms of the trust as a charity school as well as a chapel. In fact it was only used as a Sunday school and chapel. (fn. 498) Attendance at services on 30 March 1851 was reported as 15 in the morning and 25 in the evening, and at Sunday school 84 in the afternoon and 24 in the evening. (fn. 499) The chapel then seated 115 (fn. 500) and in 1940 170. (fn. 501) It was still in use in 1957. (fn. 502)

BURSLEM, HOT LANE. A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was erected in Hot Lane in 1840. In 1851 it seated 68. Attendance on 30 March 1851 numbered 22 in the afternoon and at the Sunday school 27. (fn. 503) It had ceased to be used by 1868. (fn. 504)

BURSLEM, MIDDLEPORT. A Wesleyan Methodist school-chapel had been erected in Newport Lane, Middleport, by 1877. (fn. 505) By 1898 it was used solely as a chapel. (fn. 506) In 1940 it seated 330 (fn. 507) and was still in use in 1957. (fn. 508) It is a brick building at the corner of Dimsdale Street and Newport Lane.

BURSLEM, WESTPORT. A Wesleyan chapel was erected in Liverpool (now Westport) Road in 1878. (fn. 509) In 1940 it seated 280. (fn. 510) It was still in use in 1957 (fn. 511) and is a red-brick building with stone and terracotta dressings. There is also a Sunday-school building.

BURSLEM, STANFIELD. A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was erected at High Lane, Stanfield, in 1890. (fn. 512) In 1940 it seated 210. (fn. 513) It was still in use in 1957. (fn. 514)

TUNSTALL, WESLEY PLACE (now WESLEY STREET). About 1783 a Methodist society was established at the house of Joseph Smith, (fn. 515) attached to the Burslem society. (fn. 516) By 1775 it had 30 members (fn. 517) and in 1787 a fund for a chapel was raised by John Wesley, the site being given by Joseph Smith. The chapel was erected at a cost of £650 and was opened in 1788. (fn. 518) Wesley on visiting it in 1790 declared that it was 'the most elegant I have seen since I left Bath'. (fn. 519) The chapel, a building in the Gothic style with a turret on its south-east side, (fn. 520) was then the only place of worship in Tunstall and the largest Methodist chapel in the Potteries. It stood at the corner of America Street and Temple (now Buren) Street by the windmill. (fn. 521) Discontent arose in the early days of the society over Wesley's ruling that only Church of England prayers were to be used. (fn. 522) It was more seriously disturbed from 1808 to 1813 by the growth of the Camp Meeting Movement in the area and in 1811 the society expelled its steward and Sundayschool superintendent, James Steele, one of the leaders of this movement and subsequently a founder of the Primitive Methodist Connexion. (fn. 523) The establishment of that Connexion, however, was only a temporary setback (fn. 524) and by 1834 the chapel was too small for the society. A new chapel in Wesley Place was then begun and officially opened in March of the following year. (fn. 525) In 1839 it became head of the newly created Tunstall Wesleyan Circuit. (fn. 526) Attendance in 1851 averaged 300 in the morning and 520 in the afternoon. (fn. 527) In 1958 it had 176 members. (fn. 528) The chapel which seated 740 in 1940 (fn. 529) is still (1958) largely unaltered. Its brick pedimented front is dated 1834 and has a stone porch of three bays supported on Roman Doric columns. In 1869 it was reseated; in 1890 new windows were inserted and in 1898 an organ was installed. (fn. 530)

A Sunday school was started in 1799 which met until 1816 in the chapel. A school building was then erected in America Street. An additional wing was added in 1832, but in 1835 the school moved into the old chapel. In 1838 new schools near Wesley Place Chapel in Farndale Street were opened. Reading and writing were taught in the Sunday school until c. 1844 when a Wesleyan day school was established. A night school for general educational purposes in connexion with the Sunday school was established c. 1834 and lasted until 1874. (fn. 531)

In 1950 the chapel benefited under the will of John Dunning Chesters to the extent of £3,000, subject to the life interest therein of his widow. (fn. 532)

TUNSTALL, GOLDENHILL. A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built at Goldenhill in 1822. (fn. 533) In 1851 it seated 248 people and had attendances of about 70. (fn. 534) In 1868 it was replaced by a new chapel (fn. 535) which in 1940 seated 750. (fn. 536) This chapel, which lies in High Street, had a membership of 81 in 1958 (fn. 537) and is a large red-brick building with a portico.

TUNSTALL, SANDYFORD. A Wesleyan chapel in Cartlich Street was built in 1852. (fn. 538) It was rebuilt in 1872 (fn. 539) and enlarged by 1877. (fn. 540) It was again rebuilt in 1909 (fn. 541) and is a large red-brick building at the junction of Cartlich and High Streets. The earlier building in Cartlich Street is of red brick dressed with blue and yellow brick. In 1940 the chapel seated 250 (fn. 542) and membership in 1958 numbered 36. (fn. 543)

TUNSTALL, KING STREET (now MADISON STREET). In 1871 a Band of Hope mission, otherwise the Wesleyan Home Mission Chapel, was started in Cooper (now Jefferson) Street. (fn. 544) Although this was said to be still in use in 1876 (fn. 545) it was replaced by King Street Chapel and Schools erected in 1873 (fn. 546) and opened in 1874 to accommodate the growing population at the north end of Tunstall. (fn. 547) This chapel seated 850 in 1940 (fn. 548) and had 178 members in 1958. (fn. 549) The chapel is a large brick building in a Romanesque style.

TUNSTALL, CHELL. A Wesleyan Methodist schoolchapel at Great Chell was built in 1874. (fn. 550) It is a brick building in St. Michael's Road and in 1940 seated 135. (fn. 551) It had ceased to be used by 1958. (fn. 552)

TUNSTALL, CHURCH STREET. A Wesleyan mission hall in Church Street, Tunstall, was registered for worship in December 1915. It had ceased to be used for this purpose by 1925. (fn. 553)

TRENTHAM. A Wesleyan chapel was erected in Barlaston Old Road in 1883. (fn. 554) In 1940 it seated 132 (fn. 555) and was still in use in 1958. A school built at the same date (fn. 556) stands on the south side of the chapel.

MEIR. Meir Central Chapel was built in 1870 (fn. 557) but was subsequently replaced by another chapel in Uttoxeter Road, Meir. (fn. 558) This seated 400 in 1940. (fn. 559) In 1942 it had 42 members (fn. 560) and was still in use in 1957. (fn. 561)

ADDERLEY GREEN. In 1862 a Wesleyan Sunday school and chapel was erected at Adderley Green. (fn. 562) A new chapel was built in 1925 in Mossfield Road, (fn. 563) which seated 200 in 1940. (fn. 564) In 1942 it had 27 members (fn. 565) and was still in use in 1957. (fn. 566)

BUCKNALL, RUXLEY ROAD. A house at Bucknall was being used for Wesleyan Methodist services in 1851, attendance on 30 March of that year being 26. (fn. 567) A chapel was built in 1882, called Townsend Chapel, the old one being retained as a Sunday school. (fn. 568) Schoolrooms were completed in 1891. (fn. 569) The chapel, which was still in use in 1958, seated 120 in 1940. (fn. 570) It is a brick building in Ruxley Road.

MILTON. A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was erected at Milton in 1841. (fn. 571) In 1851 attendance figures stood at about 50. (fn. 572) A new chapel was built in 1862 (fn. 573) in memory of the Revd. Samuel Leigh. (fn. 574) The site was given by Anthony Shaw of Burslem and the architect was George B. Ford of Burslem. (fn. 575) Permission was given to build schoolrooms in 1871, (fn. 576) but the project fell through, the old chapel still being used by the Sunday school in 1958. (fn. 577) The chapel, which stands in Baddeley Road, was extended in 1897 and is built of brick in the Gothic style and in 1940 seated 411. (fn. 578) It was still in use in 1958.

SMALLTHORNE. A Wesleyan chapel was built at Smallthorne in 1857. (fn. 579) It was replaced in 1867 by a new chapel, the old one being sold. (fn. 580) This chapel was enlarged in 1886. (fn. 581) In 1940 it seated 400 (fn. 582) and was still in use in 1957. (fn. 583) A Sunday school, behind the chapel, was built in 1872. (fn. 584)

BRADELEY. A Wesleyan chapel was built at Bradeley in 1884. (fn. 585) In 1940 it seated 216 people. (fn. 586) It was still in use in 1957 (fn. 587) and is a brick building in Brammer Street.

NORTON-IN-THE-MOORS. In 1814 and 1817 there were collections in the Burslem Circuit for a Wesleyan chapel at Norton, (fn. 588) which was probably built in 1819 (fn. 589) in the High Street. A new chapel dedicated to St. John was built in 1893–4 on the opposite side of the road. In 1940 the chapel seated 280 (fn. 590) and was still in use in 1958. (fn. 591) Both chapels are of brick and stand opposite each other in Knypersley Road (formerly High Street), the earlier having Classical features and the later Gothic. The first chapel was in private occupation in 1958.

FEGG HAYES. A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built at Fegg Hayes in 1874. (fn. 592) In 1940 it seated 250. (fn. 593) In 1958 membership numbered 22. (fn. 594) The chapel is a brick building standing in Fegg Hayes Road (formerly North Parade).

BRINDLEY FORD. A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built at Brindley Ford in 1861. (fn. 595) A Sunday-school building had been added by 1864. (fn. 596) In 1940 the chapel, a brick building on the west side of Biddulph Road, seated 260 (fn. 597) and was dedicated to the Trinity. In 1957 it had 54 members. (fn. 598)

HANELY, GITANA STREET. A Methodist Hall in Gitana (formerly Frederick) Street was registered for worship in 1942. (fn. 599)

BURSLEM, STANFIELD. In 1942 a Methodist church in Haywood Road, Stanfield, was registered for worship. (fn. 600) It was still in use in 1957. (fn. 601)

BURSLEM, SNEYD GREEN. A temporary Methodist church in the abandoned Holden Lane Farm, off Milton Road, was registered for worship in 1957. (fn. 602) In 1958 foundations for a new church on an adjoining site were being laid.

ABBEY HULTON. Carmountside Chapel in Abbots Road, Abbey Hulton, was opened in 1940 (fn. 603) and seats 200. (fn. 604) It was still in use in 1958. (fn. 605)

Methodist New Connexion

LONGTON, COMMERCE STREET. By September 1797, shortly after the formation of the Methodist New Connexion, there was a society at Lane End. (fn. 606) In 1799 a chapel there was registered by George Ridgway. (fn. 607) This was an inconvenient building and in 1803 another chapel, called Zion, was built in what is now Commerce Street. (fn. 608) This chapel was enlarged in 1812 and in 1822 became head of a new circuit formed out of Hanley Circuit. (fn. 609) The chapel was again enlarged in 1822 (fn. 610) and in 1841 entirely replaced by a new and larger chapel on the same site. (fn. 611) It was said to be the strongest nonconformist chapel in Longton at this date. (fn. 612) This Zion Chapel seated 1,606 in 1851 and attendance on 30 March of that year was returned as 300 in the morning and 500 in the evening. There was also a Sunday school with an attendance of 300 in the morning and 252 in the afternoon. (fn. 613) The chapel continued to be used until 1938, (fn. 614) when the society amalgamated with Bourne Chapel. (fn. 615) It has since been demolished. It was described in 1841 as a 'building of large dimensions . . . with an ornamental and elegant front of brick and stonework intermixed.' (fn. 616) The poor widows of the chapel benefited under William Cook's Charity. (fn. 617)

LONGTON, NEW STREET. A Methodist New Connexion chapel was erected in 1827 in New Street. In 1851 it seated 300 and had an attendance of about 40. It was not used solely as a place of worship. (fn. 618) It was still in use c. 1865 (fn. 619) but had closed by 1896. (fn. 620) The chapel stood on the south side of the present (1958) Greendock Street midway between Wellington Court and Boulton's Court. (fn. 621)

LONGTON, DRESDEN. A New Connexion chapel was built at Dresden in Carlisle Street in 1866. (fn. 622) This seated 250 in 1940. (fn. 623) It had 28 members in 1942. (fn. 624) It was subsequently closed for several years but reopened in 1951. (fn. 625) It was still in use in 1958. (fn. 626) The chapel is a medium-sized rectangular building of red brick with red- and white-brick buttresses and triangular-headed windows.

LONGTON, NORMACOT. In 1876 Zion Chapel, Longton, established a mission room at Normacot. An iron chapel was erected in Meir Road in 1880. The Duke of Sutherland subsequently gave a site for a new chapel opposite this which was built in 1910. (fn. 627) It seated 480 in 1940 and is designated Christ Church. (fn. 628) On the closing of Alexandra Road Primitive Methodist Chapel (fn. 629) the congregation joined Christ Church. Christ Church was still in use in 1958. (fn. 630) The church, which is in the late Gothic style, is cruciform on plan with nave, transepts, and choir. It has a vestibule and stair-turret at the front. The minister's vestry is at the rear and the schools are at the side separated from the church by a corridor. (fn. 631) The iron chapel was still standing in 1957 and was used as the junior Sunday school.

LONGTON, EDENSOR ROAD. A Methodist New Connexion chapel was erected in Edensor Road in 1889. (fn. 632) In 1940 it seated 250 and had a membership of 29 in 1942. (fn. 633) It had been closed by 1957. (fn. 634)

FENTON. Mount Tabor Wesleyan Chapel in Market Street was taken over by the Methodist New Connexion in 1797. (fn. 635) A new chapel was erected in 1811. (fn. 636) In 1851 this seated 350 and had an attendance of 85 in the morning and 203 in the evening. (fn. 637) There was also a Sunday school by this date. (fn. 638) The chapel was rebuilt in 1869 on a large scale in the Gothic style. In 1900 the society was said to be strong. (fn. 639) The chapel seated 900 in 1940 (fn. 640) and had 166 members in 1942. (fn. 641) It was still in use in 1958. (fn. 642)

FENTON, MOUNT PLEASANT. Bethel United Methodist Church, Whieldon Road, Fenton, was registered for worship in 1912. (fn. 643) In 1940 it seated 200 and was a wooden building. (fn. 644) It has since closed and the congregation has united with that of Jubilee Chapel, Mount Pleasant, Fenton. (fn. 645)

FENTON, CARRON STREET. A temporary wooden building, Ebenezer Chapel, was erected by the United Methodist Church in Carron Street in 1920. (fn. 646) It held 400 in 1940 (fn. 647) and was still in use in 1957. (fn. 648)

STOKE, HILL STREET. A meeting-house called Mount Zion was registered for worship in 1806. (fn. 649) In 1816 Mount Zion Chapel, Hill Street, was built (fn. 650) and seated 300 in 1851. Attendance on 30 March of that year was reported as 100 in the morning and 140 in the evening. (fn. 651) The chapel was closed in 1939. (fn. 652) In 1957 it was in use as a boys' club. (fn. 653) The red-brick front of the chapel has two stories and five bays. The two entrance doors are flanked by Tuscan columns. The roof has evidently been lowered.

STOKE, SHELTON NEW ROAD. A Methodist New Connexion chapel founded from Ebenezer Chapel, Newcastle, was built in 1833 in Stoke Road. (fn. 654) In 1851 it seated 150 and on 30 March had an attendance of 23 in the morning and 61 in the evening. (fn. 655) It was rebuilt in 1897 and renamed Providence Church. (fn. 656) In 1940 it seated 220. (fn. 657) The chapel has gained in strength as the residential area of Newcastle and Stoke has spread, and in 1957 had 110 members. (fn. 658)

HANLEY, BETHESDA. Shortly before the annual Wesleyan Conference of 1797 at Leeds the congregation of Hanley Wesleyan Chapel were locked out of the chapel by the trustees (fn. 659) for supporting a resolution embodying the demands made later in the year at the Leeds Conference by the group led by Alexander Kilham. These demands resulted in schism and the formation of the Methodist New Connexion. (fn. 660) At its first conference held in 1797 immediately after the separation from the Old Connexion, the New Connexion was asked by William Smith, a prominent Hanley Methodist, to station a minister at Hanley. (fn. 661) Smith, Job Meigh, and George and John Ridgway were foremost in forming the new church at Hanley which began to meet in William Smith's house at Shelton in 1797 immediately on the latter's return from the conference. Shortly afterwards a coach-house in Albion Street was acquired and converted into a meeting-house. (fn. 662) The first Bethesda chapel was built on the site of this coach-house in 1798 and seated 600. (fn. 663) The group received a regular minister in the same year. (fn. 664) During its first twenty-five years Bethesda Chapel grew rapidly. It not only attracted a large proportion of the worshippers of Hanley but Hanley Circuit, of which it was head, became by 1812 the strongest in the Connexion. (fn. 665) In 1811 the trustees decided to enlarge the chapel and it was extended at the rear by a semicircular addition. The seating accommodation was thereby increased to 1,000. (fn. 666) All seats were let within a few months of the reopening of the chapel. As the chapel was still too small, it was demolished and a new one erected on the same site in 1819. (fn. 667) In 1851 this chapel seated 2,500. (fn. 668) Attendance on 30 March of that year, the largest for any place of worship in Hanley, was reported as 383 in the morning and 625 in the evening, but was said to average 600 in the morning and 900 in the evening. (fn. 669) Meanwhile a Sunday-school building had been erected in 1802, where the chapel-yard vestry now stands. (fn. 670) In 1819, before the rebuilding of the chapel, this was replaced by a new school building, which was used for services whilst the rebuilding took place. (fn. 671) The schools were enlarged by the addition of another story in 1836. (fn. 672) Although Ward, writing c. 1840, stated that more than 1,000 children attended Bethesda Sunday schools, (fn. 673) the census of 1851 gave only 250 in the morning and 150 in the evening as an average. (fn. 674) In 1859 alterations and additions were again made to the chapel including the erection of a colonnade of Corinthian pillars at the front, and the insertion of a centre window above it with a cornice surmounting the whole. (fn. 675) In 1887 various alterations were carried out within the chapel, including the extension of the minister's vestry and the replacement of the windows. (fn. 676) In 1897 the chapel had 447 members and 982 children in the Sunday school. (fn. 677) In 1940 it seated 1,500. (fn. 678) Bethesda was at first head of a circuit covering all New Connexion chapels in the area, but, as these multiplied, new circuits were formed: Longton in 1882, Burslem in 1857, and Newcastle in 1872. After the union of 1907, Bethesda became head of the Hanley United Methodist Circuit. (fn. 679)

The chapel, which dates largely from 1819, is built of chequered brickwork and has a curved end to the south-east. The front, which has been faced with stucco, has a colonnaded Corinthian portico, a central Venetian window, and much Classical detail applied in 1859. The lofty interior contains the original gallery with its curved front on all four sides. In the gallery there is a mural tablet in memory of Richard Hicks (d. 1844), a founder and trustee of the chapel. There are also mural tablets to members of the Ridgway family, Job Ridgway (d. 1814), Elizabeth his wife (d. 1810), John Ridgway (d. 1860), William Ridgway (d. 1864), George Ridgway (d. 1899).

Bethesda school, separated from the chapel by an extensive graveyard, is a long two-story brick building with a central pedimented feature. (fn. 680) The stucco gable-end facing Bethesda Street is surmounted by a pediment and has a tablet commemorating the erection of the school in 1819.

HANLEY, ETRURIA. By September 1797, shortly after the formation of the Methodist New Connexion, there was a society at Etruria. (fn. 681) The first chapel was possibly built in 1819. (fn. 682) A new building was apparently erected in 1845, (fn. 683) the foundation stone of which was laid by John Ridgway. (fn. 684) In 1851 it seated 60 people and had a small Sunday school attached. Attendance at the chapel on 30 March of that year was reported as 18 in the morning and 13 in the evening. (fn. 685) This chapel, called Salem, was rebuilt in 1886. (fn. 686) It seated 250 in 1940 (fn. 687) and was closed in the same year. The building was sold in 1947. (fn. 688) There was also for a time a mission in Cobridge Road in connexion with this chapel. (fn. 689)

HANLEY, SHELTON. Bedford Chapel, Bedford Road, Shelton, was built in 1834 by John Ridgway with a schoolroom beneath it. (fn. 690) It seated 300 in 1851 and attendance on 30 March of that year numbered 90 in the morning and 80 in the evening. (fn. 691) A new chapel was built opposite and named Ridgway Memorial Church in 1867. (fn. 692) This seated 426 in 1940. (fn. 693) The former chapel was then used by the Sunday school. (fn. 694) The chapel and school were still in use in 1958. (fn. 695)

HANLEY, EASTWOOD VALE. A Methodist New Connexion Sunday school, also used as a chapel, was built in Palmerston Street, Eastwood Vale, in 1839. (fn. 696) It seated 120 people in 1851 and attendance on 30 March of that year was 60 in the morning and 70 in the evening; a Sunday school was then attached to the chapel. (fn. 697) The present chapel, which stands at the corner of Victoria Road and Cotesheath Street, was built in 1909 and named Zion. (fn. 698) It seated 300 in 1940 (fn. 699) and was still in use in 1958. (fn. 700)

HANLEY, TOWN ROAD. Providence Chapel, Upper Hanley, was built in 1839 (fn. 701) on land given by the Duchy of Lancaster. (fn. 702) A new chapel was built in 1924 (fn. 703) and in 1940 seated 440; (fn. 704) it was still in use in 1958. (fn. 705) The former chapel was described in 1851 as 'the handsomest in the Potteries' (fn. 706) and was a brick building with a stone portico supported by Doric columns. A Sunday-school building was built at a right angle to the chapel on its east side. (fn. 707)

HANLEY, PORTLAND STREET. A Methodist New Connexion school-chapel was erected in Portland Street in 1876. (fn. 708) A separate chapel was built in 1893. (fn. 709) This seated 254 in 1940 (fn. 710) and was still in use in 1958. (fn. 711)

HANLEY, JASPER STREET. In 1874 Bethesda Town Mission, presumably attached to Bethesda Chapel, was erected in Jasper Street. (fn. 712) This was called the Worthington Town Mission by 1884, and by this date had evidently separated from the Methodist New Connexion. (fn. 713)

HANLEY, BUCKNALL OLD ROAD. There was an Ebenezer Methodist New Connexion Mission in Elizabeth Street, Hanley, in 1889. (fn. 714) In 1908 this was replaced by Bethesda Mission, Bucknall Old Road. (fn. 715) In 1940 the chapel seated 220 and there was a Sunday-school building attached. (fn. 716) It was still in use in 1958. (fn. 717)

BURSLEM, WATERLOO ROAD. The first Methodist New Connexion meeting in Burslem had started from Bethesda Chapel in the house of a Mr. Rowley in Hot Lane by 1797. (fn. 718) This soon became inadequate and in 1798 Job Ridgway built Zoar Chapel, locally known because of its style of building as 'The Salt Box', on land called Kiln Croft, in Princes Row, Nile Street. (fn. 719) Zoar was a plain brick building with Classical features and seated 500, having a gallery round three sides. (fn. 720) In 1802 a Sunday school was started. Zoar remained the property of the Ridgway family until sold in 1825 by John and William Ridgway to Aaron Sant who subsequently let it to the Independents. (fn. 721) Meanwhile John and William Ridgway had acquired a site for a new chapel on the newly constructed highway (Waterloo Road) between Burslem and Hanley, and the chapel was built and opened in 1824. (fn. 722) In 1851 this chapel, called Bethel, seated 660; attendance on 30 March of that year was reported as 210 in the morning and 320 in the evening. (fn. 723) Also in 1851 a new trust made the chapel independent of Bethesda Chapel, Hanley. (fn. 724) Meanwhile the Sunday school had used the chapel for eleven years after the move to Bethel. In 1835 school buildings consisting of three rooms were erected on the north side of the chapel with a minister's house on the south side. (fn. 725) In 1853 these and the chapel were repaired and renovated, the main alterations being to the design of the orchestra. Gas lighting was also introduced. (fn. 726) In 1877 a school hall, the Dr. Cooke Memorial School, was built on land behind the old schools which had been acquired by the chapel in 1851. This hall was connected with the old schools by a covered passage. (fn. 727) A Classical stone vestibule was added to the front of the chapel in 1883 and the shape of the windows was altered by the introduction of circular heads. (fn. 728) The chapel was again renovated in 1904 and seated 650 in 1940 (fn. 729) when it was head of Burslem Bethel Circuit. (fn. 730) It was closed in 1955, (fn. 731) because of the population shift from the centre of Burslem and its proximity to other large Methodist chapels. In 1960 it was used by Broadhurst Bros., china and earthenware manufacturers. The long two-story stucco front facing Waterloo Road has a central pediment with a date tablet of 1824. The original school and the minister's house form two projecting blocks which flank the main chapel.

BURSLEM, DALE HALL. The chapel at Dale Hall probably originated in a class meeting held at Longport to which William Ford was appointed assistant leader c. 1816. (fn. 732) No regular meeting for worship was established, however, until 1825. (fn. 733) A chapel, Zion, was erected in Globe Street in 1840 and seated 170 in 1851. (fn. 734) Attendance on 30 March 1851 was reported as 42 in the morning and 48 in the evening. A Sunday school was also held in conjunction with the chapel by that date and had an attendance on 30 March of 90 in the morning and 56 in the afternoon. (fn. 735) A Sunday-school building was erected in 1852. (fn. 736) The chapel was rebuilt on the same site but slightly nearer the road in 1867 (fn. 737) and in 1940 seated 400. (fn. 738) It was apparently closed between 1935 and 1948 and again closed in 1955. (fn. 739)

BURSLEM, COBRIDGE. There was a Methodist New Connexion society at Sneyd Green by September 1797. (fn. 740) The first Providence Chapel, said to be at Sneyd Green, was registered for worship in 1819. (fn. 741) A new chapel was built in 1822 at Cobridge (fn. 742) at the corner of Elder Road and Grange Street, then Grange Lane. (fn. 743) Attendance on 30 March 1851 was reported as 81 in the morning and 70 in the evening and these were said to be average congregations. The Sunday school had respective attendances of 76 and 20. (fn. 744) The chapel was rebuilt in 1884 (fn. 745) and in 1940 seated 600. (fn. 746) It was closed in 1957. (fn. 747)

BURSLEM, HOT LANE. In the early 1880's the Methodist New Connexion were stated to have a chapel in Hot Lane, (fn. 748) but this is probably a confusion with the Primitive Methodist chapel there. (fn. 749)

BURSLEM, MIDDLEPORT. The Methodist New Connexion had a chapel in Brindley Street in 1892. (fn. 750) This was still in use in 1896. (fn. 751) Its later history is unknown.

TUNSTALL, LASCELLES STREET. In the early 1820's a class meeting of the Methodist New Connexion began in the house of William Evans, 13 Williamson Street. By 1821 there was a regular meeting in Tunstall for worship. (fn. 752) The Sunday school usually assembled in the open air in a timber yard belonging to Thomas Walker of Walker Street, Brownhills, or if wet in the joiner's shop there. (fn. 753) The congregation also went there after it grew too large for Evans's cottage. John Ridgway acquired land at the top of the new market-square (now Tower Square) from the lord of Tunstall manor in 1823, and a chapel called Mount Tabor was built in 1824. (fn. 754) The chapel grew in strength, seatingspace being extended by the building of galleries, until the expulsion of Joseph Barker from the New Connexion in 1841. (fn. 755) The Connexion then generally lost ground and was greatly disrupted and weakened by the Barkerite opposition in the town. (fn. 756) It survived, however, and in 1851 the chapel which seated 420 had a congregation of 80 in the morning and 90 in the evening. (fn. 757) About 1851 a religious revival took place; a site was purchased for a new chapel as the old became inadequate, especially for the Sunday school. New schools were built in the same year; the old chapel was sold in 1852 and worship carried on in the upper schoolroom for five years until the new chapel was built in 1857 in Victoria Terrace (now Lascelles Street). (fn. 758) This chapel seated 394 in 1940. (fn. 759) It was closed in 1953. (fn. 760) The chapel is a brick building with a stone Classical front, having a recessed Ionic portico surmounted by a pediment. The lower floor of Mount Tabor Chapel has been converted into a shop but the upper part of the front retains its original Venetian window below the pediment. The poor of the chapel benefited under the charity of Thomas Ford. (fn. 761)

TUNSTALL, GOLDENHALL. There was a Methodist New Connexion chapel in Goldenhill between 1892 and 1900. (fn. 762)

LIGHTWOOD. In 1831 the Methodist New Connexion took over a chapel, now named Mount Zion, in Stone Road (now Lightwood Road) which is said to have belonged to the Quakers. (fn. 763) In 1940 it seated 250 (fn. 764) and was still in use in 1958. (fn. 765) It is a rectangular cement-faced brick building with Classical features. The school building is of red and blue brick.

BUCKNALL. A New Connexion chapel was erected at Bucknall in 1821. (fn. 766) In 1851 it seated 150 and had an attendance of 50 in the morning and 70 in the evening on 30 March. By this date there was a Sunday school attached to the chapel which had attendances of 70 in the morning and 30 in the evening. (fn. 767) In 1854 the chapel was still owned by a Joseph Hawley. (fn. 768) A new chapel was built in 1894 and extended in 1914. (fn. 769) In 1940 the chapel, which stands at the corner of Ruxley Road and Heming Place, seated 140 (fn. 770) and had school buildings attached, situated behind the chapel. The chapel was still in use in 1958. (fn. 771)

SMALLTHORNE. Thomas Walker founded a group of the Methodist New Connexion by starting the first Sunday school in the village in his house in the Leek road, directly opposite the present St. Saviour's Church. A few people also met for religious worship there. In 1827 a larger cottage, two doors farther up the street, was rented, and Smallthorne became a regular preaching place for the Methodist New Connexion; a Sunday service was started in 1830. (fn. 772) The first chapel was built in 1838, on the site of the present one but facing Lord Street. (fn. 773) In 1851 this had an attendance on 30 March of 39 in the morning and 60 in the evening. Sunday school attendance was 150 in the morning and 30 in the afternoon. (fn. 774) In 1874 the foundation stone of the present chapel with the schoolroom beneath was laid by John Ridgway and John Cope. (fn. 775) The chapel, a large brick building in Ford Green Road, seated 380 in 1940 (fn. 776) and was still in use in 1957. (fn. 777)

Primitive Methodist Church

LONGTON, LIGHTWOOD ROAD. A Primitive Methodist chapel in Victoria Place (fn. 778) was in use by 1843. (fn. 779) By 1851 the society had moved to the former Independent Methodist chapel, Ebenezer, in the High Street. (fn. 780) This chapel seated 264 in 1851 and attendance on 30 March of that year was returned as 200 in the afternoon and 250 in the evening. (fn. 781) There was also a Sunday school by this date. (fn. 782) This chapel continued in use until the opening of Sutherland Road Primitive Methodist Chapel c. 1863. (fn. 783) In 1901 the society again moved to a new chapel, called Bourne, in Lightwood (formerly Stone) Road. (fn. 784) Bourne Chapel seated 600 in 1940 (fn. 785) and in 1942 had 230 members. (fn. 786) It was still in use in 1958. (fn. 787) On the closing of Zion Chapel, Commerce Street, in 1938 that society amalgamated with Bourne Chapel. (fn. 788) Since then the poor of Bourne Chapel have benefited under William Cook's charity. (fn. 789) The first chapel is still standing and is a Romanesque redbrick building with blue-brick dressings.

LONGTON, SANDFORD HILL. The Primitive Methodists bought a site at Sandford Hill in 1863 for a chapel (fn. 790) which was completed by 1868. (fn. 791) In 1940 it seated 200 (fn. 792) and had 58 members in 1942. (fn. 793) The chapel, which stands in Edgefield Road, was still in use in 1957. (fn. 794)

LONGTON, NORMACOT. A Primitive Methodist chapel, called Florence Chapel, was erected in Alexandra Road, Normacot, in 1876. (fn. 795) It seated 300 in 1941. (fn. 796) It was sold to the Assemblies of God c. 1954. (fn. 797) The chapel is of red brick and stone with round-headed windows.

FENTON, CHINA STREET. A Primitive Methodist chapel was opened at Lane Delph between 1834 and 1843. (fn. 798) By the latter date it had ceased to be used by the Primitive Methodists and was occupied by the Congregational Methodists. (fn. 799) In 1849 it was acquired by the Church of England. (fn. 800)

FENTON, BOURNE STREET. Heron Cross Primitive Methodist Chapel was built in 1878. (fn. 801) In 1940 it seated 180 (fn. 802) and was still in use in 1957. (fn. 803)

FENTON, VICTORIA ROAD. A Primitive Methodist chapel was erected in Victoria Road in 1884. It was rebuilt in 1904. (fn. 804) In 1940 it seated 200 (fn. 805) and was still in use in 1957. (fn. 806)

FENTON, WHIELDON ROAD. Jubilee Primitive Methodist Chapel was built in 1860. It was rebuilt in 1867 (fn. 807) and in 1940 seated 215. (fn. 808) The present chapel is a brick cement-faced building with round-headed windows and door.

STOKE, PENKHULL. The first Primitive Methodist chapel in Stoke was built at Penkhull in 1815. (fn. 809) It was rebuilt in 1836 (fn. 810) and in 1851 it seated 184. (fn. 811) Attendance on 30 March of that year was reported as 43 in the morning and 61 in the evening, while the Sunday school had an attendance of 66. (fn. 812) In 1940 the chapel seated 130 (fn. 813) and had a membership of 76 in 1957. (fn. 814) The chapel which lies in Newcastle Lane at the corner of St. Thomas Place is a small brick building with a plastered front and has a school adjoining it built in 1878.

STOKE, LONSDALE STREET. The second Primitive Methodist chapel in Stoke was built in John (now Leese) Street, off Liverpool Road, in 1834. (fn. 815) In 1851 this chapel seated 40, but attendance on 30 March of that year was reported as being 43 in the afternoon and 151 in the evening. (fn. 816) By 1860 a new chapel had been built in Queen Street (fn. 817) and this in turn was replaced by a chapel in Lonsdale Street in 1878. (fn. 818) Lonsdale Street Chapel seated 350 in 1941 (fn. 819) and had 80 members in 1957. (fn. 820)

STOKE, BOOTHEN. A Primitive Methodist chapel was built in New Street, Boothen, between 1868 and 1872. (fn. 821) In 1941 it seated 100 (fn. 822) and had a membership of 32 in 1957. (fn. 823)

STOKE, TRENT VALE. A mission room at Trent Vale was registered for worship in 1894. It had ceased to be used by 1899. (fn. 824)

HANLEY, ETRURIA ROAD and BRUNSWICK STREET. The first Primitive Methodist chapel in Hanley was built in 1824 in Etruria Road on the site of the present railway station. (fn. 825) This chapel was put up for auction in 1829 (fn. 826) and the congregation probably transferred to a chapel built in Brunswick Street. (fn. 827) This was sold in 1850 to 80 working men by Thomas Bundred, (fn. 828) who had registered the first chapel for worship (fn. 829) and who is variously stated to have been the owner (fn. 830) or mortgagee (fn. 831) of Brunswick Street Chapel. This became the People's Hall and stood on the site of the present Theatre Royal. (fn. 832)

HANELY, MARSH STREET. A Primitive Methodist chapel had been built in Marsh Street by 1857, (fn. 833) probably by the group who had given up Brunswick Street Chapel shortly before 1851. It apparently closed at some time between 1884 and 1892. (fn. 834)

HANLEY, NORTHWOOD. A Primitive Methodist chapel, Ebenezer Chapel, was erected in Bold Street, Northwood, in 1865. A school was added in 1876. (fn. 835) In 1940 the chapel seated 405. (fn. 836) It was still in use in 1958. (fn. 837)

HANLEY, PADDOCK STREET. A Primitive Methodist chapel had been built in Paddock Street by 1880. (fn. 838) It had probably been closed by 1892, (fn. 839) and certainly by 1925. (fn. 840)

HANLEY, ETRURIA. A Primitive Methodist chapel was started in Cavour Street, Etruria, by 1892. (fn. 841) It closed c. 1905. (fn. 842)

BURSLEM, WILLIAM CLOWES STREET. The first Primitive Methodist society in Burslem was founded in 1819, meetings taking place in a disused crateshop. (fn. 843) In 1822 the site of the crate-shop and the adjoining land were acquired for a chapel which was completed in the same year. (fn. 844) This chapel which stood on the south side of Navigation Road seated 250 and was a plain brick building with rectangular windows. (fn. 845) Six cottages were also built by the trustees on the same site. In 1842 the society acquired the former New Connexion chapel, Zoar, in Nile Street but leased it out for the two ensuing years until the Navigation Street chapel was sold. (fn. 846) The chapel had considerable financial difficulties at this period, responsibility for which until 1849 was mainly taken by Hugh Bourne. (fn. 847) In 1851 Zoar Chapel seated 320 and attendance on 30 March of that year was reported as 66 in the morning and 120 in the evening; Sunday-school attendance was 115. (fn. 848) Extensive alterations to the chapel were made in 1854; the porch was built, the chapel raised, and a new roof constructed. (fn. 849) In 1859 an adjoining cottage was bought as a caretaker's house. (fn. 850) About 1872 a plan was made to build school premises on an adjoining site. These were to be so constructed as to be easily convertible into cottages. (fn. 851) In 1876, however, the trustees decided on a more ambitious plan and acquired a site in Church (now William Clowes) Street for a new chapel, to be called Clowes Memorial Church. Zoar was sold in 1878 and Clowes was completed in the same year. (fn. 852) In 1898 additional land was purchased for Sunday-school buildings and the foundation stone laid in 1900, the schools and an institute being opened later in the year. (fn. 853) In 1940 Clowes seated 648. (fn. 854) Mining subsidence in the area seriously affected the whole range of buildings and in 1956 the chapel and Sunday schools were closed and the society disbanded. (fn. 855) The designation, Clowes Memorial Church, was then transferred to Hamil Road Chapel whither many of the congregation also went. (fn. 856) Clowes Memorial Church and schools have now been demolished but were a long range of red-brick buildings, the chapel being in the Romanesque style.

BURSLEM, SNEYD GREEN. A Primitive Methodist chapel in Sneyd Street, Sneyd Green, was erected in 1841. In 1851 it seated 200 and had an attendance on 30 March of 15 in the morning and 40 in the afternoon. (fn. 857) It was rebuilt in 1864 (fn. 858) and named Bourne Chapel. In 1940 it seated 250, (fn. 859) and was still in use in 1957. (fn. 860)

BURSLEM, MIDDLEPORT. About 1845 a Joseph Challinor who had been associated with Tunstall Primitive Methodist Chapel moved to Dale Hall. He formed a Primitive Methodist society which met in a small upper-room in Stubbs Street, formerly used as a warehouse. (fn. 861) A site for a chapel in Albion (now Harper) Street was acquired in 1847 (fn. 862) and the chapel was completed in the same year. (fn. 863) In 1851 it seated 200 and attendance on 30 March of that year was returned as 42 in the morning and 50 in the evening; Sunday school attendance was 130 in the morning and 40 in the afternoon. (fn. 864) A site for a new chapel in Maddock Street was acquired in 1900 and plans in an elaborate Gothic style were drawn up. (fn. 865) However, they were never executed, possibly because of the First World War. The chapel seated 178 in 1940 (fn. 866) and was still in use in 1958.

BURSLEM, HOT LANE. Hot Lane Chapel was opened from Zoar Chapel. (fn. 867) J. Harrison, a member of Zoar, asked for permission to start a Primitive Methodist group in the area as many members of Zoar lived there. About 1867 services began in a cottage. In 1868, however, the Wesleyan chapel in Hot Lane, (fn. 868) which had proved a failure, was bought by the Primitive Methodists. The chapel was enlarged in 1869 and again in 1875. In 1876 vestries were added at the rear. (fn. 869) The chapel seated 214 in 1940 (fn. 870) and was still in use in 1957. (fn. 871)

BURSLEM, HAMIL ROAD. In 1897 Primitive Methodist services were started in a cottage to serve the rapidly expanding suburb north-east of Burslem Park. (fn. 872) Shortly afterwards the group moved to the Board Schools and in August of the same year a small chapel with two vestries was built. More vestries were added in 1901, part of a plan for the eventual replacement of the church. (fn. 873) In 1940 the church seated 214. (fn. 874) A new church was built in 1941–2 which was still in use in 1957. (fn. 875) The designation Clowes Memorial Church was transferred to it on the closing of that church in 1956. It is now the head of Burslem Clowes Circuit.

TUNSTALL, CALVER STREET. In March 1808 a group of revivalists began to meet in the kitchen of the house of Joseph Smith of Tunstall, (fn. 876) which was then registered for worship. (fn. 877) The houses of Hugh Wood and of William Clowes were both registered in the same year. (fn. 878) In 1810 after his expulsion from Burslem Wesleyan Society William Clowes began to preach at the meetings at Joseph Smith's house, and, as Bourne relates, the followers of Clowes 'began to look upon it as their regular place of worship'. (fn. 879) James Steele after his expulsion from Tunstall Wesleyan Society in April 1811, followed by a large number of the Tunstall Wesleyan Church, (fn. 880) began meetings immediately in a warehouse belonging to John Boden. The Clowes group from Joseph Smith's house joined in this Sunday worship and thus the Tunstall Society was formed. (fn. 881) In June 1811 the first chapel was built in the form of a shell of four cottages—'as it could not be known whether the Connexion would be of any long continuance'. (fn. 882) While the connexion was co-extensive with Tunstall circuit from 1811 to 1816, this chapel was its head. (fn. 883) From the nature of Methodist organization, however, as the church spread and other circuits were formed, (fn. 884) this chapel lost in importance connexionally. It has, nevertheless, remained one of the great centres of Primitive Methodism, frequently chosen for the annual conference of that church, (fn. 885) and was head of Tunstall Primitive Methodist Circuit until the union of 1932. (fn. 886)

The chapel itself was replaced in 1822 (fn. 887) by a new building at the corner of Calver Street and Wellington Place (now Oldcourt Street). This was enlarged in 1832–3 by the addition of extra space on the Calver Street side and the construction of a new front there replacing the plain entrance in Wellington Place. (fn. 888) In 1851 the chapel seated 800. Attendance on 30 March of that year was reported as 129 in the morning, 600 in the afternoon and 650 in the evening; Sunday school attendance was 316. (fn. 889) The chapel was altered again in 1859–60 and in 1906. (fn. 890) In 1940 it seated 1,200 (fn. 891) and in 1957 had 235 members. (fn. 892) There is still a Sunday school attached to the chapel.

TUNSTALL, PITTS HILL. In 1811 Pitts Hill occurred as a preaching place on the first plan of Tunstall circuit (fn. 893) but had been dropped by 1812. (fn. 894) A chapel was built in 1823 in the High Street (fn. 895) and enlarged in 1830. (fn. 896) It was either enlarged or rebuilt in 1841 (fn. 897) and in 1851 seated 340. (fn. 898) Attendance at chapel on 30 March of that year was reported as 100, both in the morning and evening, and at Sunday school 110 in the morning and 100 in the afternoon. (fn. 899) In 1865 a new chapel was built (fn. 900) on the same site (fn. 901) but was replaced in 1876 by yet another and larger chapel farther up the road. (fn. 902) The 1865 chapel was then presumably used by the Sunday school and in 1894 a further range of Sunday-school buildings was built between that and the new chapel, an arch connecting them with the new chapel. (fn. 903) In 1940 the chapel seated 494 (fn. 904) and in 1957 had a membership of 149. (fn. 905) The whole range of buildings are of brick in the Gothic style.

TUNSTALL, GOLDENHILL. In 1807 the house of James Nixon at Goldenhill was registered for worship. (fn. 906) The place does not appear on the early circuit plans of the new church, and it was not until 1833 that a chapel was built. (fn. 907) This was only ten yards by eight in size (fn. 908) but in 1851 seated 90. (fn. 909) In 1839 the Sunday school had 18 teachers and 156 children. (fn. 910) The congregation at the chapel was said to be 30 in the morning and 60 in the evening on 30 March 1851. (fn. 911) In 1855 the society moved to a larger chapel in Dale (now Andrew) Street. (fn. 912) A new Sunday-school building was erected in 1876, the previous one becoming the caretaker's house. (fn. 913) In 1940 this chapel seated 330 (fn. 914) and in 1957 had a membership of 76. (fn. 915) The chapel and school form a range of red-brick buildings in Andrew Street.

TUNSTALL, SANDYFORD. A Primitive Methodist chapel, called Zion Chapel, was built in Sandyford at the corner of Stewart Road in 1879. (fn. 916) It was closed in or before 1941 (fn. 917) and in 1958 was in use as a builder's store.

HANFORD. A Primitive Methodist chapel was erected in Mayne Street, Hanford, in 1883. (fn. 918) In 1940 it seated 84. (fn. 919) It was still in use in 1958 and is a small red-brick building.

ABBEY HULTON. A Primitive Methodist chapel was erected in Whitehouse Road, Abbey Hulton, in 1928 in place of an earlier chapel. (fn. 920) In 1940 it seated 250 (fn. 921) and was still in use in 1958. (fn. 922)

BUCKNALL. In 1880 a Primitive Methodist chapel was built in what was afterwards known as Chapel Street, Bucknall. A Sunday school was added in 1932. (fn. 923) In 1940 the chapel seated 450 (fn. 924) and was still in use in 1958. (fn. 925)

SMALLTHORNE. In 1808 the house of David Leak at Smallthorne was registered for worship. (fn. 926) Smallthorne, however, does not appear on the early circuit plans of the connexion. A Primitive Methodist chapel there was registered for worship in 1869. (fn. 927) This was rebuilt in 1904. (fn. 928) The new chapel seated 235 in 1940 (fn. 929) and was still in use in 1957. (fn. 930) It is a brick building in Sangster (formerly Chapel) Lane.

BRADELEY. A Primitive Methodist chapel in Unwin Street, Bradeley, was built in 1874. (fn. 931) In 1940 it seated 250 (fn. 932) and had 29 members in 1957. (fn. 933)

NORTON-IN-THE-MOORS. In 1807 a group led by Hugh and James Bourne registered a chapel at Norton in the Moors. (fn. 934) Coming before the definite expulsion of the revivalists from the Methodist Church this was taken over by the latter (fn. 935) and the further history of Wesleyan Methodism here has been treated above. (fn. 936) Houses at Norton were sub sequently registered for worship by Bourne, that of Enoch Goodfellow in 1808 (fn. 937) and that of Thomas Mountford in 1811. (fn. 938) The Connexion later built a chapel at Norton Green. This is reserved for treatment under Norton-in-the-Moors in another volume.

CHELL HEATH. A Primitive Methodist chapel was built at Chell Heath in 1868. (fn. 939) In 1940 it seated 230 (fn. 940) and in 1957 had 23 members. (fn. 941) It is a brick building in Chell Heath Road. The amount raised from the sale of Mount Tabor Chapel, Tunstall, has been given to a fund for a new chapel here. (fn. 942) The poor of the chapel have benefited under the charity of Thomas Ford since the closing of Mount Tabor Chapel, Tunstall. (fn. 943)

FEGG HAYES. A Primitive Methodist chapel, Lear Memorial Chapel, was built at the corner of East Terrace and Fegg Hayes Road in 1882. (fn. 944) It was extended in 1897 (fn. 945) and in 1940 seated 200. It is a red-brick building and contains a Sunday-school hall as well as a chapel. (fn. 946) It was still in use in 1957.

BRINDLEY FORD. A Primitive Methodist chapel was built at Brindley Ford c. 1862. It was rebuilt in 1898. (fn. 947) In 1940 this chapel, called Bethel, seated 350 (fn. 948) and in 1957 had 54 members. (fn. 949) It is a redbrick building in Outclough Road.

PACKMOOR. Packmoor Primitive Methodist Chapel was built in 1862. (fn. 950) In 1940 it seated 250. (fn. 951) It is a red-brick building with blue-brick dressings and stands in Samuel Street.

United Methodist Free Church

LONGTON. In 1851 there was a small chapel belonging to the Wesleyan Association in Longton. (fn. 952)

LONGTON, HIGH STREET (now UTTOXETER ROAD). Probably by 1853 the Wesleyan Methodist chapel in High Street (fn. 953) had joined in the secession from the Wesleyan Methodist Church which resulted in the formation of the Methodist (or Wesleyan) Reform Church. (fn. 954) It was closed in 1937, (fn. 955) and in 1957 part was in use as an antique shop and the remainder as a public house.

LONGTON, VICTORIA PLACE. The former Primitive Methodist chapel in Victoria Place had been taken over by the United Methodist Free Church by 1860. (fn. 956) It had ceased to be used by this church by 1876 (fn. 957) and had probably passed to the Wesleyan Reform Church by this date. (fn. 958)

FENTON. A Methodist Free Church preaching room at Fenton Park was registered for worship in 1877. (fn. 959) A new chapel was erected in Fenpark Road in 1900. (fn. 960) This seated 300 in 1940 (fn. 961) and had 123 members in 1942. (fn. 962) It was still in use in 1958. (fn. 963)

HANLEY. A United Methodist Free Church in Birch Terrace was registered for worship in 1881. (fn. 964) The registration was cancelled in 1906. (fn. 965)

BURSLEM, HILL TOP. Members of the Burslem Wesleyan Society who were expelled in 1836 as a result of a dispute over the running of the Sunday school (fn. 966) formed themselves into 'The Methodist Society'. (fn. 967) For a time they used a warehouse attached to the Churchyard Pottery Works as their chapel and Sunday school, but within a few months they had erected a wooden building called the Tabernacle in Moorland Road. (fn. 968) This was replaced by the present chapel and Sunday school at Hill Top, on the corner of Westport Road (formerly Liverpool Road) and Hall Street, built in 1836–7 to the designs of Samuel Sant. (fn. 969) Services were at first conducted by the new society's own local preachers and by the Baptist, Congregational, and New Connexion ministers. (fn. 970) In 1848, however, the society joined the Wesleyan Methodist Association and in 1849 received its first minister. (fn. 971) Attendances at the chapel were stated in 1851 to average 400 in the morning and 800 in the evening. (fn. 972) A house was built for the minister in 1862 and new Sunday school accommodation for the girls and infants in 1864. (fn. 973) In 1940 the chapel seated 900 and had 3 Sunday-school halls and 23 other rooms. (fn. 974) Since the closing of the Burslem Bethel Chapel in 1955 the Hill Top chapel has been the head of the circuit. (fn. 975) It is an impressive threestoried brick building with stone dressings. It is entered at first-floor level by a double flight of steps and a seven-bay stone portico with Doric columns. Above the portico the front has central roundheaded windows and a pediment. (fn. 976)

BURSLEM, LONGPORT. The Burslem Sunday-school dispute resulted in the expulsion of Wesleyans at Longport as well as at Burslem, and they too used the warehouse of the Churchyard Works. (fn. 977) In 1838 they erected a chapel and Sunday school in Bradwell Street. (fn. 978) Like the Hill Top Society they at first used the ministers of various nonconformist denominations for their services and in 1848 joined the Wesleyan Methodist Association. (fn. 979) In 1851 the average attendance was said to be 60 at chapel and 120 at Sunday school. (fn. 980) The present chapel at the corner of Scott Lidgett Road and Station Street was built in 1906. (fn. 981) In 1940 it seated 300. (fn. 982) It was still in use in 1957. (fn. 983)

BURSLEM, DALE HALL. A Wesleyan Reform Chapel in Dale Street, Dale Hall, was registered for worship in 1855. (fn. 984) It is not known whether this chapel joined the United Methodist Free Church on the union of 1857 or whether it joined the Wesleyan Reform Union on its formation in 1859. It had ceased to be used by Methodists by 1867 when it was registered by the Congregationalists. (fn. 985)

TUNSTALL. A United Methodist Free Church was built in Bank Street, Tunstall, between 1860 and 1868. (fn. 986) It had ceased to be used by 1940. (fn. 987)

NORTON-IN-THE-MOORS, BALL GREEN. A United Methodist Free Church at Ball Green was registered for worship in 1894. (fn. 988) This chapel which lies in North Street seated 264 in 1940 and had 3 school halls. (fn. 989) It was still in use in 1957. (fn. 990)

Wesleyan Reform Union

LONGTON. On the union of the Methodist (or Wesleyan) Reform Church and the Wesleyan (or Methodist) Association in 1857 to form the United Methodist Free Church, the Methodist Reform Chapel in High Street joined the newly formed church. By 1860, another society had been formed, using the ex-Primitive Methodist chapel in Victoria Place. (fn. 991) By 1876, however, this new society appears to have seceded to the minority of the Methodist Reform Church which refused to join in the union of 1857 and formed the Wesleyan Reform Union in 1859. (fn. 992) Victoria Place Chapel continued to be used by the Wesleyan Reform Union until at least 1880 (fn. 993) but had closed by 1884. (fn. 994)

Independent Methodists

LONGTON. In 1843 the Independent Methodists were using Ebenezer Chapel, High Street, Longton, later said to have been built in 1841. (fn. 995) This had passed to the Primitive Methodists by 1851. (fn. 996)

BURSLEM, SNEYD GREEN. An Independent Methodist chapel at Sneyd Green, Burslem, was registered for worship in 1854. It had ceased to be used by 1871. (fn. 997)

Missions (fn. 998)

LONGTON, HIGH STREET. The Blue Ribbon Gospel Army registered the Blue Ribbon Hall in High Street, Longton, in 1883. It had ceased to meet there by 1896. (fn. 999)

LONGTON, TRENTHAM ROAD. An unsectarian Christian mission registered a mission room in Trentham Road at the corner of Stafford Street in 1890. The room ceased to be used in 1901. (fn. 1000)

LONGTON, NORMACOT. An unsectarian Working Men's Temperance and Christian Mission, also known as the Newhall Christian Mission, was established in Longton by 1890 when a Mission Hall was built in Newhall Road. (fn. 1001) This mission was still in existence in 1957.

LONGTON, CLAYTON STREET. Victoria Hall in Clayton Street and Stafford Street was registered for worship by unsectarian Christians in 1901. The group had ceased to meet by 1925. (fn. 1002)

FENTON. A Temperance Mission Hall in Wesley (formerly Elsing) Street, Fenton, was registered for worship in 1908. (fn. 1003)

STOKE. A Gospel Hall in Bowstead Street, Stoke, presumably the former Catholic Apostolic Church, was registered for worship in 1895. (fn. 1004) This was succeeded in 1955 by a meeting in two rooms over 1–3 Whitfield Buildings. (fn. 1005) By 1958 the group was using the former Catholic Apostolic Church at the corner of Whieldon Road and Church Street. (fn. 1006)

STOKE, LONDON ROAD. A group of unsectarian Christians registered a room in the Library Buildings, London Road, for worship in 1908. It had ceased to meet there by 1925. (fn. 1007)

STOKE, WELCH STREET AND CHAMBERLAIN AVENUE. An Assembly Hall in Welch Street was registered for worship by a group of unsectarian Christians in 1912. (fn. 1008) In 1932 this group moved to other premises in Chamberlain Avenue. (fn. 1009)

STOKE, LIVERPOOL ROAD. Stoke Evangelistic Mission registered a room at 17 Liverpool Road for worship in 1949. (fn. 1010)

HANLEY, PADDOCK STREET. There was a Deaf and Dumb Mission Hall in Paddock Street in 1880. (fn. 1011)

HANLEY, JASPER STREET. By 1884 the former Bethesda Town Mission Hall in Jasper Street (fn. 1012) was being used by unsectarian Christians and had been renamed the Worthington Town Mission Hall. (fn. 1013) It was still being used by this group in 1896. (fn. 1014)

HANLEY, MARSH STREET. The Christian Mission Hall in Marsh Street was registered for worship by the Christian Mission in 1895, but ceased to be used by this group in 1906. (fn. 1015)

HANLEY, GLASS STREET. The Imperial Mission Hall, Glass Street, was registered for worship by a group of unsectarian Christians in 1901. This group had ceased to meet there by 1903. (fn. 1016)

HANLEY, NEW STREET AND MAJOLICA STREET. A Gospel Mission Hall at 4 New Street was registered for worship by Gospel Mission Worshippers in 1903. (fn. 1017) This was succeeded in 1931 by a Gospel Mission Hall and School in Majolica Street. (fn. 1018)

HANLEY, BEREH TERRACE. There was a Mission Room in Bereh Terrace by 1912, (fn. 1019) which was still in use in 1932, (fn. 1020) but had closed by 1940. (fn. 1021)

HANLEY, YORK STREET AND PERCY STREET. A Gospel Hall in York Street was registered for worship in 1927. (fn. 1022) In 1952 this group moved to a room on the second floor of the Old Post Office Buildings in Percy Street. (fn. 1023)

HANLEY, MILL STREET. Hanley Temperance Mission in Mill Street (now Etruria Road) was registered for worship in 1931. (fn. 1024)

HANLEY, LEEK ROAD. The Railway Mission (fn. 1025) registered the Railway Mission Hall in Leek Road for worship in 1937. (fn. 1026) The annual conference of the mission was held there in 1957. (fn. 1027)

HANLEY, PAGE STREET. A group of unsectarian Christians registered Hanley General Ragged School, Page Street (formerly Port Vale), for worship in 1950. (fn. 1028)

BURSLEM, COMMERCIAL STREET AND FURLONG PARADE. A Gospel Mission Room at 29 Commercial Street was registered for worship by the Gospel Mission in 1883. (fn. 1029) It moved to other premises in 1897. (fn. 1030) In 1942 the Mission purchased Wycliffe Hall from the Congregational Church. (fn. 1031)

BURSLEM, CORPORATION STREET. A Christian Mission Room in Corporation Street was registered for worship in 1882 by the Burslem Home Christian Mission. It had ceased to be used by 1883 (fn. 1032) when this mission registered an assembly room in Newport Street. This had ceased to be used by 1896. (fn. 1033)

BURSLEM, CORPORATION STREET. The Nazarene Christian Mission registered a mission hall in Corporation Street in 1884. This had ceased to be used by 1896. (fn. 1034)

BURSLEM, WEDGWOOD STREET. The Rescue and Evangelical Mission registered the Borough Auction Rooms for worship in 1886. The group has since ceased to meet. (fn. 1035)

BURSLEM, WEDGWOOD STREET. The Borough Mission registered the Borough Auction Room in Wedgwood Street for worship in 1887. (fn. 1036) In 1890 it moved to new premises in Wedgwood Place. (fn. 1037)

BURSLEM, HALL STREET. In 1889 a Mr. Wilkinson's bible class in the Hill Pottery Show Rooms at Top of Sytch was registered for worship. (fn. 1038) In 1924 this group moved to a mission hall in Hall Street. By this date it belonged to the P.S.A. Mission. (fn. 1039)

BURSLEM, COBRIDGE, AND HANLEY, DERWENT STREET. A Gospel Mission in Elder Road, Cobridge, was registered for worship in 1909. (fn. 1040) In 1925 it moved to premises in Derwent Street, Hanley. (fn. 1041)

BURSLEM, ALBION ROAD AND NAVIGATION ROAD. In 1938 a group of Pentecostal Christians registered rooms at 92 Albion Street as a Peniel Gospel Hall. (fn. 1042) This group moved to premises at 38 Navigation Road in the following year but ceased to meet in 1940. (fn. 1043)

BURSLEM, COBRIDGE. Cobridge Park Mission in Waterloo Road, Cobridge, was registered for worship in 1910. (fn. 1044)

BURSLEM, WATERLOO ROAD. A Mission Hall in Waterloo Road, Burslem, was registered for worship by unsectarian Christians in 1913. (fn. 1045)

BURSLEM, MARKET PLACE AND WATERLOO ROAD. The Order of the Golden Star registered a room at 20a Market Place, Burslem, for worship in 1937. (fn. 1046) In 1945 this group moved to 74 Waterloo Road, Burslem, but ceased to meet in 1955. (fn. 1047)

BURSLEM, NAVIGATION ROAD AND BATH STREET. The Universal Full Gospel Mission at 32 Navigation Road, Burslem, was registered for worship in 1938. (fn. 1048) In 1951 it moved to premises at 1 Bath Street, the members of the mission then being described as Pentecostal Christians. (fn. 1049)

TUNSTALL, MARKET SQUARE. A Mission Hall in Market Square, Tunstall (probably the former Methodist New Connexion chapel), (fn. 1050) was registered for worship by the Gospel Mission in 1884. This group had ceased to meet by 1896. (fn. 1051)

TUNSTALL, GOODFELLOW AND WELL STREETS. In 1933 a group of unsectarian Christians registered a Free Mission Hall at 50 Goodfellow Street. (fn. 1052) In 1937 this group moved to part of a building at the corner of Well and America Streets. (fn. 1053) It ceased to meet in 1951. (fn. 1054)

MILTON, SHOTSFIELD STREET. A Full Gospel Hall in the grounds of 51 Shotsfield Street, Milton, was registered for worship in 1937. (fn. 1055)

MILTON, MARKET STREET. In 1937 a Free Gospel Hall, occupying the former Congregational chapel in Market Street (now Millrise Road), was registered for worship. (fn. 1056) It was reregistered in 1949. (fn. 1057)

SMALLTHORNE. A Mission Hall, called Maranatha Hall and occupying rooms at 2 Cliff Street, Smallthorne, was registered for worship in 1938 by a group of unsectarian Christians. (fn. 1058)

Plymouth Brethren. See Brethren.

Presbyterian Church of England

HANLEY. The Presbyterian cause in Hanley originated in a secession from Hope Street Congregational Church. (fn. 1059) In 1824 some members of that church, led by the minister, W. Farmer, broke away and met for worship in a room at an earthenware manufactory belonging to a Mr. Simpson. (fn. 1060) Shortly afterwards one of the group, a Mr. Pawley, gave a site for a chapel. (fn. 1061) The foundation-stone was laid in 1824 and the chapel, called Brunswick Chapel, was opened in the following year. (fn. 1062) At this point it was still Congregational, W. Farmer remaining as minister until 1839. (fn. 1063) A Sunday school was built in 1834. (fn. 1064) In 1840 the church joined the Staffordshire Association of Congregational Ministers and Churches. (fn. 1065) It remained Congregational until 1846 when, on the resignation of the minister, it seceded to the Presbyterian Church of England. (fn. 1066) In 1885 a new church was opened in Trinity Street. (fn. 1067) A new school was opened in 1912. (fn. 1068) Attendance at the church has varied considerably. There were originally about 50 seceders from Hope Congregational Church. (fn. 1069) In August 1847 the communicants numbered 47. (fn. 1070) Average attendance in the first three months of 1851 was 250 in the morning and 300 in the afternoon. (fn. 1071) The peak was reached in 1909 when membership reached 212. (fn. 1072) It had dropped by 1919 to 88 but had risen again to 154 in 1958. (fn. 1073)

Brunswick Chapel was a one-story building with two small vestries and a single-span low ceiling. (fn. 1074) Trinity Church is a brick building in the Gothic style with a nave and two aisles. A tower, surmounted by a short spire, stands on the east side. The new schools, built in the same style, stand to the east of the chapel. Both face Trinity Street.

Presbyterian Church of Wales

HANLEY. There was a Welsh Presbyterian, or Calvinistic Methodist, chapel in St. John's Street by 1884. (fn. 1075) It was still in use in 1940, though without a minister, (fn. 1076) but its registration as a place of worship was cancelled in 1952. (fn. 1077) It was never in association with the Presbyterian Church of England. (fn. 1078)

Society of Friends

STOKE. A group of Quakers started a meeting in Stoke in 1831 (fn. 1079) and purchased by 1834 the former Congregational chapel in Thomas (now Aquinas) Street, Stoke, to which a burial ground was attached. (fn. 1080) The group in 1851 was very small, average attendance being only about 30. (fn. 1081) By 1951 it was impossible to repair the building satisfactorily because it lay below the level of the hill and it was abandoned in favour of a new meeting-house in Priory Road, Newcastle. (fn. 1082) The building was later sold to the British Red Cross Society, but the burial ground was retained. (fn. 1083)

Salvation Army

LONGTON. A Salvation Army barracks in Stafford Street was registered for worship in October 1884. (fn. 1084) It was probably superseded in December of the same year by a barracks in Stone (now Lightwood) Road, which was closed in 1910 (fn. 1085) on the opening of the Salvation Army Hall in Commerce Street. (fn. 1086)

FENTON. The Primitive Methodist Chapel in Canning Street was registered for worship by the Salvation Army in 1885, (fn. 1087) but was superseded in 1912 by the Salvation Army Citadel in Fountain Street. (fn. 1088)

STOKE. A Salvation Army barracks in Wharf Street was registered for worship in 1895. (fn. 1089) In 1916 it was superseded by a Salvation Army hall at 30 Cross Street, Stoke. (fn. 1090) In the same year the group moved back to a building in Wharf Street (fn. 1091) and in 1932 to the present hall in Fletcher Road, Stoke. (fn. 1092) The Divisional Headquarters of the Army for North Staffordshire is in Church Street, Stoke. (fn. 1093)

STOKE, BOOTHEN. A mission room was registered for worship by the Salvation Mission in 1892. (fn. 1094) The registration was cancelled in 1922. (fn. 1095)

HANLEY, GLASS STREET. Batty's Circus in Tontine Street was registered for worship by the Salvation Army in 1881. (fn. 1096) It was probably superseded in 1882 by the Imperial Circus, Glass Street, (fn. 1097) which in turn gave way in 1903 to the present Salvation Army Citadel in Glass Street. (fn. 1098)

HANLEY, NEW HALL STREET. A Salvation Army barracks in New Hall Street was registered for worship in 1889. It had ceased to be used by 1903. (fn. 1099)

HANLEY, JOINER'S SQUARE. A Salvation Army hall in Palmerston Street was registered for worship in 1932. (fn. 1100) It was still in use in 1958.

BURSLEM, CORPORATION STREET. A mission room in Corporation Street was registered for worship by the Salvation Mission in 1883. (fn. 1101) It had ceased to be used by 1884. (fn. 1102)

BURSLEM, MOORLAND ROAD. A mission hall in Moorland Road was registered for worship by the Salvation Mission in 1884. (fn. 1103) It had ceased to be used by 1896. (fn. 1104)

BURSLEM, MIDDLEPORT. A Salvation Army hall in Brindley Street was registered for worship in 1903. The registration was cancelled in 1906. (fn. 1105)

BURSLEM, WESTPORT ROAD. A Salvation Army temple in Hall Street was registered for worship in 1903. (fn. 1106) This was replaced in 1914 by a Salvation Army temple in Newcastle Street, (fn. 1107) and in 1933 the latter was superseded by the Salvation Army Hall, 12 Westport (formerly Liverpool) Road. (fn. 1108)

TUNSTALL, SNEYD STREET. A Salvation Army barracks, later designated a hall, in Sneyd Street (now Ladywell Road) was registered for worship in 1882. (fn. 1109)

TUNSTALL, GOLDENHILL. A Salvation Army hall at 34 High Street was registered for worship in 1933. The registration was cancelled in 1941. (fn. 1110)

SMALLTHORNE. A Salvation Army hall in Camp Road was registered for worship in 1925. (fn. 1111)

Salvation Navy (fn. 1112)

LONGTON. A body known as the Salvation Navy registered a Salvation Lighthouse in Uttoxeter Road, Normacot, in 1882, for public worship. It had ceased to be used by 1896. (fn. 1113)

BURSLEM. The Salvation Navy registered the Mission Room in Queen Street, Burslem, for worship in 1882. (fn. 1114) They had probably ceased to meet by 1884, (fn. 1115) and certainly by 1896. (fn. 1116)

The Sandemanians (Glassites)

TUNSTALL. In 1812 Anthony Keeling, a leading pottery manufacturer in Tunstall at the beginning of the 19th century, registered his house for worship by Sandemanians. (fn. 1117) The other witnesses of the certificate were H. Keeling, Thomas Baggaley, John Capper, Charles Stanier, Betty Marsh, John Hilliere, Enoch Keeling, and Charles Timpson. (fn. 1118) The group is said to have met for some time, even after Keeling's departure from Tunstall, but had ceased by c. 1838. (fn. 1119)

Spiritualist Churches

LONGTON, KING STREET. An assembly room in the Post Office Building, King Street, was registered for worship by the Spiritualist Society in 1893. It had ceased to be used for this purpose by 1896. (fn. 1120)

LONGTON, MARKET STREET. The Courier Buildings in Market Street were registered for worship by Spiritualists in 1896. The meeting has since ceased. (fn. 1121)

LONGTON, MARKET STREET. A room at 5 Market Street was registered for worship by Spiritualists in 1930. (fn. 1122)

LONGTON, MARKET STREET. Rooms at 22 Market Street were registered for worship by Spiritualists in 1932. (fn. 1123)

LONGTON, LIGHTWOOD ROAD. A Spiritualist church in Lightwood Road was registered in 1932. (fn. 1124)

LONGTON, CHURCH STREET AND UTTOXETER ROAD. The Christian Spiritualist Mission registered rooms at Portland Chambers, Church Street, for worship in 1932. (fn. 1125) In 1940 the group moved to rooms at 4 Uttoxeter Road but ceased to meet two years later. (fn. 1126)

LONGTON, NORMACOT ROAD. Rooms at 196b Normacot Road were registered for worship by Spiritualists in 1934. (fn. 1127)

LONGTON, BATHURST STREET. A room at 21 Bathurst Street was registered for worship by the Christian Spiritualists in 1935. (fn. 1128)

LONGTON, STAFFORD STREET. A room at 100 Stafford Street was registered for worship in 1942. (fn. 1129)

FENTON, MARKET STREET (later KING STREET). A Spiritualist church at 80 Market Street (later 60 King Street) was registered for worship in 1915. (fn. 1130) In 1921 62 King Street was also registered. (fn. 1131)

FENTON, KING STREET. A room at 27 King Street was registered for worship by the Christian Spiritualist Church in 1932. (fn. 1132)

STOKE, WATER STREET. A Spiritualist church in Water Street, Boothen, was registered for worship in 1922. (fn. 1133)

STOKE, WELCH STREET. Rooms in Welch Street were registered as a Spiritualist church in 1932. (fn. 1134)

STOKE, WHARF STREET. Rooms at 45a Wharf Street were registered as a Spiritualist church in 1932. (fn. 1135)

HANLEY, MARSH STREET. Rooms at 53 Marsh Street were registered as a Spiritualist church in 1919. They had ceased to be used by 1921. (fn. 1136)

HANLEY, TOWN ROAD (later HIGH STREET). A National Spiritualist church in Town Road (later High Street) was registered in 1927. (fn. 1137)

HANLEY, RATTON STREET. Rooms at 3A Ratton Street were registered as a Christian Spiritualist church in 1934. (fn. 1138)

HANLEY, LEEK ROAD. A room at 1103 Leek Road was registered as a Spiritualist church in 1957. (fn. 1139)

BURSLEM, NEWCASTLE STREET. A Spiritual Temple, Newcastle Street, was registered for worship in 1890, but had ceased to be used by 1896. (fn. 1140)

BURSLEM, MOORLAND ROAD. A Spiritualist church in Moorland Road was registered in 1925. (fn. 1141)

BURSLEM, MOORLAND ROAD. A Beacon Light Greater World Christian Spiritualist church, occupying rooms at 257 Moorland Road, was registered in 1936. (fn. 1142)

BURSLEM, LIVERPOOL ROAD. A Central Mission Spiritualist church at 4 and 6 Liverpool Road was registered in 1941. (fn. 1143)

TUNSTALL, BREWERY AND PICCADILLY STREETS. A Spiritualist church at Victoria Terrace, Brewery Street, was registered for worship in 1914. (fn. 1144) In 1917 the church moved to 1 Piccadilly Street, Tunstall. (fn. 1145)

TUNSTALL, HIGH STREET AND TOWER SQUARE. A room at 41a High Street was registered by Christian Spiritualists in 1935. (fn. 1146) This group moved to the upper floor of the former New Connexion chapel (fn. 1147) in Tower Square in 1941 and was still meeting there in 1958. (fn. 1148)

SMALLTHORNE, CLIFF STREET. Rooms at 2 Cliff Street, Nettlebank, were registered for worship by Spiritualists in 1934 and had ceased to be used for this purpose by 1938. (fn. 1149)

Swedenborgian (or New Jerusalem) Church (fn. 1150)

LONGTON and FENTON. There was a New Jerusalem Church in Longton in 1851 which met in an upper room, designated the New Jerusalem School Room, in Market Lane (now Cornhill Passage). It was a weak society, however, attendance at worship on the 30 March 1851 numbering only 16 and at Sunday school 14. (fn. 1151) By c. 1865 the group had moved to a chapel in Meir View Place at the corner of the present Park Hall Street and Bridgwood Street. (fn. 1152) The chapel evidently went out of use in the 1890's. (fn. 1153) There is then a long gap, with no record of a regular place of worship, until 1926, when a Swedenborgian church in Foley Street, Fenton, was registered for worship. The registration was cancelled, however, in 1931. (fn. 1154) The chapel in Park Hall Street, which is a simple brick building probably of the early 19th century, still stands and in 1960 was in use as a warehouse.

Unitarian and Early Presbyterian Meeting-Houses

LONGTON. In 1820 Mary Byerley, niece of Josiah Wedgwood, stated in a letter that there was a Unitarian chapel at Lane End with a small congregation. The chapel joined the Shropshire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire Unitarian Association on its foundation in 1824. This meeting lapsed, however, and a second Unitarian church was formed in 1862 in a room at the back of an inn in Queen Street. In 1870 the members built a chapel at Florence, Longton, and in 1874 James Clayton became its first minister. From 1877 to 1895 it shared a minister with the Meeting House, Newcastle. After that Longton had no settled minister. Services continued until April 1903 and in March 1904 the chapel was let to the Spiritualists. (fn. 1155)

HANLEY. By 1810 there was a Calvinist chapel in Hanley (fn. 1156) which had ceased to be used by 1812 (see below).

HANLEY, HILL STREET. In 1812, although the penal laws against Unitarians were still in force, Richard Wright, a Unitarian missionary, made the first of many visits to the Potteries and preached in a disused Calvinist chapel at Hanley. (fn. 1157) In 1820 there were said to be a few Unitarians at Hanley and Shelton. (fn. 1158) Thomas Cooper became joint minister of Newcastle and Hanley in July 1821 and a room was leased in Hanley. (fn. 1159) Wright again visited the Potteries in 1821 (fn. 1160) and in 1823 a Unitarian chapel was built in Hill Street, Josiah Wedgwood being among its trustees. (fn. 1161) In 1824 the chapel became a foundermember of the Shropshire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire Unitarian Association. (fn. 1162) By 1826 there was a debt of £230 on the chapel and attendances had fallen off partly because of the long absences of the minister, who then left the area. (fn. 1163) An appeal was made to the Unitarian Association for financial support and Wright again visited the area to help to raise the money. (fn. 1164) After the departure of the next minister in 1831 the chapel at Hanley closed. (fn. 1165)

HANLEY, ETRURIA. In February 1852 the Unitarians started to use the Infants' School, Etruria, for worship. (fn. 1166) Services were still being held in 1862. (fn. 1167) The building was taken over by the Etruscan Choral Society in 1945. (fn. 1168)

BURSLEM. In 1715 there was said to be a regular meeting in Burslem but no settled minister. (fn. 1169) Richard Wright, the Unitarian missionary, preached at Burslem as well as Hanley in 1812 in a Methodist chapel, the congregation having been warned to expect a Unitarian discourse. Unitarian meetings were being held in the town in 1825, and in 1826 the average congregation was 20. The Burslem meeting ceased in 1847. (fn. 1170) It has been impossible to identify their meeting-place. There was a second short-lived Unitarian church in Burslem from 1908 to 1912 which used premises in Liverpool Road. (fn. 1171)