Methodist Chapel and Schools. Fenton near Stoke-on-Trent

FENTON - At this place the memorial stone of a new chapel was laid last week. The new building will be built of bricks from Gothic designs. The cost, including the site, is estimated at over £4,000. The architect is Mr Pinchbeck of Manchester and the contractors are Messrs Wade Brothers of the same place. [The Architect. 9 October 1869 page 182]

FENTON. - A chapel for the Methodist New Connexion was opened at Fenton on Wednesday evening last. The new edifice occupies the site of the old chapel, with the addition of some ground at the rear, from which some old buildings have been removed. It is in the Gothic style of architecture, and the total length, exclusive of the entrance, is 65ft. 6in., the width 40ft. 8in; the height from ground line to the ridge is 51ft. The front gable, facing Market street, contains the principal entrance, and has three wide doorways with moulded arches, and stone labels with carved terminals, supported by circular stone shafts, with circular moulded bases, band, and richly carved caps, the whole surmounted by a large five-light stone window with tracery in the head. To the right and left of the entrance are staircases leading to the galleries and orchestra, the right staircase being surmounted with a tall, slated, spirelet roof, and the left staircase by a tower with buttressed angles and spire, the total height of which is 110ft. to the top of the metal finial with which it is to be crowned. There is a gallery around two sides and one end, with a circular enriched and moulded front. The school, which is at the further end of the chapel, is two stories high, entrances to which are from Park Street. The total length is 56 feet 6 inches, and the width 35 feet 6 inches. The rooms are divided into departments for boys and girls, with separate entrances, in which are a number of classrooms. Portable partitions are fixed in the upper room, so as to be readily taken down in order to admit of the room being used as a lecture hall or for public meetings The chapel will accommodate about 700, and the schools are sufficiently large for about the same number of children. The total cost has reached nearly £4,000. The architect is Mr Pinchbeck, and the contractors are Messrs Wade Brothers, all of Manchester. [Building News 2 September 1870 Page 175]

Reference    Manchester Guardian Saturday 12 June 1869 Page 4(Contracts)
Reference    Manchester Guardian Saturday 19 June 1869 Page 8(Contracts)
Reference    The Architect Volume II 9 October 1869 page 182
Reference    Building News 2 September 1870 Page 175
Reference    Building News 9 September 1870 Page 195 - Chapel cost 2640 and not 4000
Reference    Builder 8 October 1870 Page 812- + notes