Registered Wesleyan Methodist places of worship in Northumberland, 1867

This is a list of chapels that had been registered by 1867, derived from ‘A list of places of meeting for public religious worship, certified to the Registrar General’.   Registration was not compulsory, which may be the reason why the Wesleyan Methodist returns of accommodation of only six years later record three times as many preaching places. On the other hand, the Northumberland coalfield was expanding at that time. As registration was valid until cancelled, however, there may be duplication: i.e.  both the old and new chapels in a place may be listed. We have also discovered that the official location may not be the same as the name by which the chapel is commonly described.

Unless otherwise stated each of these places of worship is described as a chapel.

The numbers on the list relate to places, and match those on the map. The base map is provided under this licence

The chapels in Northumberland were part of the Newcastle upon Tyne District, and for information about their capacity, go to The Returns of accommodation of 1873

Another useful map is Plate 15 of The Wesleyan Methodist Atlas This shows three times as many places of worship than the following list, but also confirms that Wesleyan Methodism was entirely absent from large parts of the county. It also shows that the large number of rural chapels in the south-west of the county were part of a lead mining district which included neighbouring parts of Cumberland and County Durham.

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