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Wesleyan Chapel, Kerridge

This large Methodist chapel was built in the late 19thC on Oak Lane, Kerridge, at a part of the lane known as Brazier Green. It was out of church use and converted to a domestic property in 1982. It seems that fund raising for its construction went on for almost 60 years. A subscription list opened in 1839 shows that the Swindells family were particularly generous in their donations towards construction of the church. It seems that many of them would not have lived to see the finished building, pictured right in 1896. Tradition holds that John Wesley himself preached here[4].

From the list of subscriptions at Bollington, 1839[1]:

  • Martin [I] Swindells Esq., 250Gns[2] (250 guineas, £262.50)
  • Mrs Swindells, 100Gns
  • Martin [II] Swindells junior, 100Gns
  • Mrs M Swindells, 10Gns
  • Master Swindells, 30Gns
  • Mr George Swindells, 50Gns
  • Miss Swindells, 30Gns
  • Mrs Sumner, 50Gns
  • Master George Sumner, 20Gns
  • M Swindells Esq. in memory of the late Miss Swindells, 50Gns
  • Mrs Swindells in memory of her mother Mrs Shepley, 50Gns

These subscriptions alone added up to 740Gns (£777.00, equiv. c.£800,000 in 2020).

A memorial plaque to those members of the Kerridge Methodist Sunday School who were killed in the two wars was originally installed at this church, and on closure in 1982, it was moved to Holy Trinity church, and on that closure was moved to St Oswald’s church at Bollington Cross.

The chapel was also used as the local library in the 1950s and 60s.[3]


References

Clicking the reference description takes you back to the text

  1. A Century of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Bollington, W.H. Lake (1908), p47. Copy in Macclesfield Library.
  2. A Guinea was £1 1s (shilling), £1.05 today. Although it generally went out of use when decimalisation came in 1971, Guineas are still used in some auctions – the shilling was the auctioneer’s commission, but is not enough for today’s charges!
  3. Usage as a library – thanks to Mick Dickens.
  4. Bollington in old picture postcards, p.29.

Acknowledgements

Our thanks go to those who researched and discovered the history that is presented in these pages. Please read the full acknowledgement of their remarkable achievement. Unless otherwise noted, the historical pictures are from the Civic Society picture collection at the  Discovery Centre  and also available online.

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