Hallbankgate WM Chapel, Cumberland

Grid ref NY581597

These are an impressive set of buildings for a small rural hamlet such as Hallbankgate now is, but 150 years ago when they were built it was the bustling hub of a busy coal mining and quarrying area. Lord Carlisle’s Railway passed close to the chapel. It is not easy to match the surviving buildings which consist of a central chapel flanked by two small buildings which are similar but not identical in appearance with the documentary evidence.

In 1851 services were being held in the Hall Bank Gate School room which had been built in 1817. It provided 100 free seats. A chapel and a house were built of stone in 1856 at a cost of £500. In 1871 a vestry was added  at a cost of £50. According to the date plaque on the gable the chapel was enlarged in 1883. This building seems to be all of a piece but the position of the main entrance on the side rather than on the gable facing road may represent the retention of an earlier design feature. In 1888 a schoolroom (perhaps the other side building) was added at an estimated cost of £266. The chapel had 180 sittings in 1873. By 1940 there were 213 sittings in the chapel and there was also a schoolroom and two other rooms. By 1980 the chapel had been closed and was awaiting disposal. The side buildings are now in residential use and the chapel for business purposes.

Sources

The National Archives HO129/566/2/7

Wesleyan Seating returns, 1873

Cumbria Archives Service, Carlisle DFCM1/2/82-97 Carlisle WM District property schedules, 1862-1877

Cumbria Archives Service, Carlisle DFCM3/1/43-62 Carlisle WM  District property schedules, 1898-1917

Cumbria Archives Service Carlisle DFCM11/32-4 Brampton Wesleyan Circuit trust schedules, 1860-78, 1879-98, 1918-37

Cumbria Archives Service, Carlisle DFCM/11/53

Carlisle Library, 1A287, Methodist Property Statistics 1940, 1980

Site visit 6.3.2016

Hallbankgate WM Chapel, schoolroom, 7.3.2016
G W Oxley
Hallbankgate WM Chapel, from the southeast, 7.3.2016
G W Oxley
Hallbankgate WM Chapel, from the north, 7.3.2016
G W Oxley
Hallbankgate WM Chapel, date plaque, 7.3.2016
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Hallbankgate WM Chapel, cottage, 7.3.2016
G W Oxley
Hallbankgate WM Chapel, from the east, 7.3.2016
G W Oxley

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