New York Wesleyan Methodist Chapels, Lincolnshire

Not far from Coningsby, at the junction of Langrick and Dogdyke Roads, stands this former Wesleyan chapel – you can’t miss it!

It replaced an earlier chapel on the same site which opened on Sunday 11th February 1849. Taking part were the ex-President of the Wesleyan Conference, Rev James Dixon, and the celebrated Wesleyan evangelist, Charles Richardson.

The present building dates from 1872. With seating for 250, and generous Sunday school accommodation, this commodious structure would have made a statement that the Wesleyans were still in charge, for the Reformers made little headway in these parts. Even the village grocer was to advertise for a shop assistant: “A Wesleyan preferred”.

The stone laying ceremony took place on February 22nd (1872) in the presence of the Rev Luke Wiseman, President of the Wesleyan Conference. At the opening, on Thursday 19th September, an address was given by the Rev John W Greaves of London.

Architects were Messrs Bellamy & Hardy of Lincoln, and the construction – in a “reduced Gothic” style* – was by John Lee of Coningsby. The project cost upwards of £1,000, including £100 of outstanding debt on the old chapel. A separate Sunday school with adjoining cottage, on the old “Leeds Gate Road”, was sold as surplus to requirements.

Circuits: Coningsby Wesleyan; and Coningsby Methodist post union.

Diminishing numbers by the turn of the C21st led to the chapel’s closure. It was sold in 2011, and has since been converted for residential use – a pleasing example of preservation by combining the old with the new.

*So reduced in fact, that Pevsner called it “more Italianate than Romanesque”.

Sources include
Stamford Mercury 26th January 1849
Stamford Mercury 1st March 1872
Wesleyan Returns of Accommodation 1873
The Buildings of England (Lincolnshire) Pevsner N pub 1964