Return to Main Menu Return to Church and Chapel
Click on picture to enlarge - use Back button to return to this page
The Methodist Chapel
The chapel was closed for services in 2001 and was sold for conversion into a private house in 2002.
(From 'Souvenir Handbook of the Centenary of the Settle Wesleyan Circuit 1830-1930)
"There can be little doubt," says Mr Walker in his account of Methodism in Langcliffe, " that the earliest Methodists in Langcliffe were those who had attended the services at Settle and joined the Society there".
In 1795 it is computed that out of the 19 members of the Settle Society, three were from Langcliffe, but in 1802 such an advance had been made that there were two classes at Langcliffe. In 1803 there is a record of a preaching service there and, two years later, one at Winskill. In 1814, Langcliffe had become a separate Society, with 36 members, and the following year these had increased to 51.
The Methodist community grew and thrived through the next generations and in 1952, at the celebration of the centenary of the opening of the old chapel and school at Langcliffe, an article, "This Significant Century" which told the history of Methodism in Langcliffe, culminated in the following paragraph:
"Methodism in Langcliffe has become firmly established through the passage of years. Today it is splendidly maintained by a loyal and zealous company of Methodists. The fellowship is deep and real, and great blessing is experienced in the Sunday Services and School, as well as in the Choir and Fellowship meetings. We praise God for all He has done throughout "This Significant Century" and "Trust him for all that’s to come". We ask you to pray for us in all the Centenary Celebrations."
Irene Bowker, Bob Monk and Derek Soames who were members of this thriving community can remember the people who were instrumental to its success.
"We had a lovely school superintendent called Mr Emmanuel Hayes. Everybody loved him and he had a wonderful choir – a choir of about thirty, at least. He was like Father Christmas with white whiskers and a white beard. He had a lovely smiling face and he was really good with children. I remember him saying in Sunday School, ’How many of you will help to keep the Chapel and Sunday School going when I’ve gone?’ A lot of hands went up but Bob and I, and a few others, are the only ones left ".
Mr Hayes was knocked down by a bicycle and killed outside his own house. He was an overlooker at the mill. "George Hallam was a really remarkable chap. He had a stern face but he was very learned and could keep your attention. Any murmuring was enough to get a tinkle from the little bell. We had two Sunday School sessions. The first one was at nine thirty for the tots". Edmond, Irene’s first husband, took the Sunday School and the choir.
"At Sunday School, Miss Burrroughs, who was head teacher of Helwith Bridge School used to produce operettas. We rehearsed in the Sunday School but staged them in the Institute for two or three nights. We produced one every year. ‘The Royal Jester’ was the title of one. The concerts and ‘Men’s Efforts’ toured the district. They played for charity round their own circuit of Settle and Bentham and further afield, at Haslingden, Malham and Cumbria. Little socials with entertainment were so full that people had to sit on the window boxes. We were fortunate in always having a good organist and a really good choir. We had some exceptional singers, Mary Benson, Doris West and Rowena O’Neill. Mr Hayes started the choir and we always had a good choir leader. It was Mr Hayes who started the singing under the tree at Christmas. It’s been going as long as I can remember and I’m eighty four (Irene). We sang anthems, Handel’s ‘Messiah’, Steiner’s ‘Crucifixion’,’ All in the April Evening ‘and ‘ Manger to Cross’. We were always fortunate. Mr Hayes, Mr Allen, Edmond and Mr Bannister were all good choir leaders".
"We used to go on Blua or right to the far end of Howson Lane (Pike Lane). We used to cart the tea up in back cans, ’Nearly scalding their backs! ´Two or three people carried baskets. We used to really look forward to the Sunday School party and really hoping to be old enough to go to the main party. We played games and we sang".
"We didn’t mix a lot in those days. We could be really good friends and then, if religion crept into the situation , even as children, footballing, ‘Oh, he’s a Churcher’, ‘Oh, he’s a Chapeller’. Some very good and deeply religious people wouldn’t have a good word for the vicar. It was bigotry really".
There was a period when there was no Sunday School at the church and a lot of 'Church' children attended the Chapel Sunday School. Irene was baptised in the church, because, at the time of her birth, the chapel was not licensed.
"In our younger days some people were very narrow-minded. Some of our local preachers were very narrow. It wasn’t always as loving as it should have been. Somebody, perhaps, would get into trouble and they were treated more like outcasts".
"They didn’t allow dancing, we always played games, because dancing meant putting your arms around each other. No cards, whist or anything. The question of drinking remains".
Irene was in the Sunday School , the choir and played the organ. Edmond, the Superintendent, was ten years older than her but ,’the music drew us together’.
"I’d like the chapel to survive but quite truthfully, with only twelve members, I can’t see it. They’d need a big influx of Methodists! There’s nobody to play the organ except me. The majority of us are in our seventies and eighties. Speaking for myself, I could go to Church quite comfortably. My husband’s last Communion was in Langcliffe Church. I played for a lot of services there. I played at Christmas too".
Control_Home to return to top of the page