The first Methodist place of worship in Leamington dated from 1817, and a chapel in Portland Street opened in 1825. It was extended three times, but by the 1860s was still felt to be too small, so George Woodhouse of Bolton was commissioned to design the building illustrated, in Dale Street. He had an extensive practice, designing at least thirty chapels, as well as the training college at Didsbury and Methodist Central Hall in Manchester.
The Memorial stone was laid on 19 May 1869, and the building opened on 9 June 1870. It cost £8,700. Built in the Italian style, it could accommodate for 1,200.
The elaborate, decorated Victorian edifice eventually became too expensive to maintain, and a new chapel and meeting rooms were built on the site in the 1970’s, with funding partially from the sale of the former Primitive Methodist Chapel on Warwick Street.
Grid Ref: SP315657
Reference: The sixteenth annual report of the Wesleyan Chapel Committee, 1870 page 118
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