Stop 4: Yarm Methodist Church
High Street Life
Chapel Yard, Yarm, TS15 9AJ
About This Stop
Built in 1763, Yarm Methodist Church is one of only three remaining octagonal Methodist chapels in Britain, which features unique Victorian interiors and has a capacity of 350 people.
How to Get Here
Continue down the High Street until you reach the alley next to Cooplands. Follow it to the church.
The History
Throughout the years, many changes have been made to the Methodist Church, first built in 1763. The first major change came about in 1815, when a gallery was added to the building, and then again in 1892 when the church hall was built.
It united with West Street Methodist Church in 1963 to form one congregation. It is octagonal in shape, one of the few remaining of this shape in the country. It remains to be the oldest Methodist octagonal chapel in the world still used by Methodism.
Did You Know?
John Wesley was an English cleric and played a central role in the revival of Methodism in England by travelling across Great Britain and Ireland, preaching and forming Christian Groups.
He first visited Yarm in August of 1748, preaching to a large crowd in the High Street, which started a deep connection between Wesley and Yarm. He preached in the new octagonal building for the first time on April 24th 1764, describing it as “by far the most elegant in England”, seen as a high honour.
Yarm Methodist Church: Then and Now
