Alnwick Methodist Church

John Wesley's pulpit and over 260 years of Methodist heritage.

Alnwick Methodist Church in Chapel Lane was built in 1786 and remodelled 100 years later by F.R Wilson, another well-regarded and prolific architect of Alnwick and Northumberland.

Methodism in North Northumberland began in Alnwick with the work of a local preacher who established a society. The Wesleys themselves arrived on a preaching tour in 1748, and had a long and happy relationship with Alnwick Methodists.

In 1786 John Wesley laid the foundation stone of a new chapel - still in use today - in what is now, surprisingly, called Chapel Lane! The gallery was floored over by 1822, leaving the Chapel upstairs, and the building was remodelled to celebrate its centenary in 1886. It remains in this form today, with the addition of modern kitchen and meeting facilities on the ground floor.

John Wesley’s original 1786 pulpit is still preserved in the corner of the upstairs Chapel. It originally stood in an elevated position in the middle of the South Wall, and round pillars show the position and shape of the 1786 gallery that faced it. Wesley preached from this pulpit for the first time in May 1788, and for the last time on May 10th 1790, a few months before he died.

There have been other Methodist sites in Alnwick: the New Connexion built Bethel Chapel in St Michael's Lane (near the Sion Meeting House), then a chapel in Bondgate Without (near Alnwick Playhouse), which closed in 1960.

Visitor information

'Open Door' 10:00 - 11:30am on Thursdays for tea/coffee/chat and 2 minute meditation.

Additional Information

Sunday services: 10.30am Worship service. See the Methodist circuit website for more details of these and other services.

Alnwick Methodist web page: lindisfarnemethodistchurches.org.uk/Alnwick.html

Listed Grade II: britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/methodist-church-alnwick