Armathwaite United Methodist Free Church, Cumberland
Grid ref NY508459
The foundation stone for Armathwaite Chapel was laid on 22nd June 1876 and the chapel was opened 0n 26th November. A plan of the chapel dated 1876 shows building 35 feet by 25 feet in the gothic style with three windows on each side and larger windows in each gable. The entrance porch was at one side of a gable end. Inside there was a stove and two blocks of pews separated by a central aisle. There was a platform with a lectern at the opposite end to the entrance with two rows of pews facing it at each side. It was signed by John Roper, the joiner and by Thomas Pape, the builder, slater and plasterer. The stone came from Coombs Wood quarry. According to the plan the woodwork was to be second quality red pine and the roof Welsh slates. The windows were to be of cathedral glass tinted green with a white border.
The overall cost worked out at £329.6.8 or just under £3 per sitting. A Sunday school was added in 1889. The contractors were Isaac Gill, Mason (£64.13.9), Mr Gill, plasterer (£10.2.0), and Mr Penfold, painter and glazier (£15.17.4), Thomas Harrison, joiner (£15.3.3), Mr Jameson, plumber (£6), Mr Milburn, ironmonger (£3.10.0), . The timber and slate were provided by Miss Creighton (££66.14.8), a fire grate by Mr Ariston (£3), and heating apparatus by Mr Holden (£22). In 1924 and 1940 there were 120 in pews and there was a school room measuring 25‘ by 20‘.
In 1980 and 1991 the sittings were down to 100 and the schoolroom was not reported. The chapel was subsequently closed in 2007. In 2014 it was undergoing conversion for residential use.
Sources
Cumbria Archive Service, Carlisle DFCM1/3/9 United Methodist Special returns re seating
Cumbria Archives Service Carlisle DFCM1/3/20 – 25 Papers relating to the construction of Cumbria Archives Service Carlisle DFCM1/8/3 Notes relating to the 1940 accommodation returns
Carlisle Library, 1A287 Armathwaite and its Methodist Centenary
Carlisle Library, 1A287, Methodist property statistics 1940, 1980, 1991
Huggon, John, Carlisle Methodism, Part 3, Cumbria Wesley Historical Society, 75, Spring 2015, p10 -11
Site visit, 2014
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