The first chapel was “at the foot of the street”. In 1797 it was sold to Joseph Hall who converted it into a house and workshop.
The second chapel was built in 1797 and the third in 1867. It was designed by Mr Haswell of South Shields in a mixture of Norman and Italian styles. The builder was Thomas Cranston and the joiners were T Richardson and J Walton. The cost was £2000. New Sunday School premises were opened in 1933.
Sources
Carlisle Library, 1A287, St Paul’s Methodist Chapel, 1868 – 1968
Site visit, September 2008
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Nicola Simpson. By relative, do you mean Miss Rita Millican? Our Alston Moor Historical Society has access to press accounts of the Sunday School opening in 1934. On the web & Facebook.
I have a key presented to a relative when she opened the Sunday school in 1934, if you would like to have it you would be welcome
Alston, St Paul’s Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Front Street, Townhead, Alston, Cumberland, CA9 3SG
Addendum
By 1901 the seating provision had risen to 620, 400 for letting and 220 free, suggesting that a gallery or other extension had been added in the interval. The fall in capacity by 1940 suggests that it was taken out of use in the 1930s. The chapel was still in use as a Methodist place of worship in 1991 but was subsequently closed.
Sources
John Rylands Library University of Manchester, MAC Lawson Returns of Accommodation provided by Wesleyan Methodist Chapels and other Preaching Places, 1873/594, 1901/741, 1911/704, 1931/714
John Rylands Library University of Manchester DDPD2 Returns of Accommodation provided by Wesleyan Methodist Chapels and other Preaching Places,, 1931/714
Carlisle Library, 1A287, Methodist property statistics (Carlisle District) 1940, 1980, 1991
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