Wesleyan Chapel and extension to burial ground: Cheetham Hill.

The new edifice is to be in the plain Ionic style, with a stone recessed portico in front supported by four Ionic columns in the proportions of the Ilissus. The wings will have anteas and plain pilasters supporting two pediments; and the side elevations will be recessed and finished in other respects to resemble the front. The dimensions of the edifice are 22 yards 18 inches by 17 yards 24 inches, and the height from the ground to the top of pediment is to be 34 feet. Altogether the building, which fronts to the south, will have a very pleasing effect, the style being neat without much of ornament. The architect is Mr E Beatty of Ridgefield, and Mr John Trees, Cheetham Hill, is the builder. As we have stated, the chapel will contain about a thousand persons. The basement story consists of upwards of thirty vaults for interment. The floor of the chapel is divided by two aisles, and on the same level, at the north end behind the pulpit will be three spacious vestries, one sufficiently large for the quarterly meetings, another for prayer and a third for the ministers. Galleries with separate entrances and stair-cases are to extend round the chapel: that for the Sunday scholars will contain about 150 children. The whole is expected to be completed in about six months, at a cost for erection of about ,3,000. [Manchester Guardian 24 September 1836 page 3]

This chapel replaced an earlier building on an adjacent site facing Street built about 1816. The Guardian report also noted: “We understand that when the new chapel is opened for worship, the present one will be taken down, and in its stead a sacristy or house for the funeral service, will be erected. By the removal of a thorn hedge, the whole of the land will be thrown together, and the burial ground will be considerably increased in extent.” However, the demolition of the first chapel was not as immediate as suggested in this report. The map of 1848 shows the chapel still in existence. Eventually it was replaced, later maps indicating a ** and lodge on the western boundary.

With the opening of a third church on Bury Old Road at Wilton Polygon in 1896 (architect William Waddington and Son), the Thomas Street Chapel was demolished. The burial ground was cleared in 2003, the site becoming the car park for Tesco at Cheetham Hill.

Note      One map indicates the seating of the Thomas Street Chapel at 760 sittings.

Reference           Manchester Guardian 24 September 1836 page 3 - foundation stone