Mobberley Methodist Church - Welcome
Mobberley Methodist Church - Welcome
In1783 the Chapel (right) was built at Knolls Green for the Wesleyan Methodists. Henry Ridgeway conveyed the land to Samuel Jepson who is assumed to have built it. Two years later, John Wesley himself preached here. In 1791 Samuel and his son conveyed the land and the chapel to Margaret Hope whose family resided in Marthall. The congregation soon began to hold different views and the older members left to join the Baptists at Great Warford. The chapel appears to have declined and become vacant before in 1803 it was taken up by Independents whose services were led by students of the Reverend Robert Roby from the Manchester Academy.
In 1808 The Reverend James Turner settled in Knutsford and the Knolls Green chapel came under his wing. In 1811 the chapel was formally taken on by the Paedo-Baptist Congregationalists, or Congregational Church as it became. As the 19th Century progressed the chapel at times had its own evangelist who also looked after the Pepper Street chapel, or reverted to its role under Knutsford supervision.
In 1902 two adjoining cottages were purchased and Mr Falkner Armitage, an architect from Altrincham oversaw their conversion into a Sunday School in memory of James Wood a Wilmslow Deacon who was known for his pastoral work in the area
The chapel closed in 1961
In the period before 1836 Methodists met in private houses but following a revival in Methodism, a chapel was built nearly opposite the entrance to what was the New Hall (now Sunrise and Barclay Hall) on Hall Lane on land given by James Ashton, a slater. The location was in front of the house now called White Lodge, (previously Seven Lights and Flaxedil).
James Ashton, when he sold the houses adjoining the chapel on all sides inserted clauses in the deeds that obliged the owners to find land for a new chapel if the trustees decided to relocate. The chapel had become unsafe, was hemmed in on all sides and the congregation was split as to whether to rebuild in Hall Lane or relocate to Faulkner's Lane (previously known as Antrobus Hall Lane). The land in Hall lane was offered by W J Harter along with £150 and materials from the old chapel. Mr. Oliver of Bollington who had purchased a property next to the chapel and resold it to the Squire of the Old Hall also offered £150, Those of the congregation who had not been in favour of Faulkner’s Lane and wanted to stay in Hall Lane started to meet at the Mission Room at Hall Bank. On 3rd March 1882 the first stone was laid and on 9th August in the same year the new chapel in Faulkner's Lane was opened. It was built by Isaac Massey of Alderley Edge and the architect was Mr. Willis of Derby. While it was under construction, the Rector lent the congregation the Infant School on Hall Lane for their services
No images survive of the old Methodist chapel in Hall Lane. But William Hulme, writing under the pseudonym of Cedric II wrote at length. It stood for forty-five years "and was certainly not attractive in outward appearance. There was a plain pulpit, narrow seated, straight-backed pews, and benches in the centre without support for the back. Near the middle of the chapel was an ugly stove with a long iron pipe. In the evening the place was lighted up by four candles. The choir was an important institution and became proverbial for its heartiness.
In 1867 a Congregational chapel was built in Pepper Street and survived, latterly under the wing of Hale URC until the 1980s.