Poole, High Street chapel

The original Wesleyan chapel in Poole was built in Chapel Lane in 1793 at the expense of Robert Carr Brackenbury. It was extended in 1843, and is described by Stell (1991). It seated 680.

The building illustrated was designed by Charles Bell (1846-1899), a London architect responsible for the design of sixty Wesleyan chapels, and erected close to the previous chapel, on High Street in 1880.

At the time of the 1940 Statistical Returns, it could seat 850, and almost that many in 1970. It is still in use as the sole Methodist church in Poole, having been renamed The Spire. A collection of photographs of the chapel may be found here

An extension to the rear in 2016 replaced the Chapel Lane building.

Grid Ref: SZ013908

Reference: The twenty-sixth annual report of the Wesleyan Chapel Committee, 1880 page 149

Stell, Christopher An inventory of nonconformist chapels and meeting-houses in South-West England. London: HMSO, 1991 p125