Religious Faith in Wolverhampton

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There are records of Methodist preachers visiting Wolverhampton in the 1740's. William Allt visited the town in February 1745, and George Whitefield (who together with John Wesley was one of the founding fathers of Methodism) preached here on 26th October 1753.

Wesley's first visit to Wolverhampton was in March 1760 when he addressed a crowd from the steps of a shop in High Green (now Queen Square). On his next visit a year later he preached in the yard of the Swan Inn, Dudley Street, to "Such a number of wild men I have seldom seen".

The Methodists first met for worship in a large meeting room in Rotton Row (now Broad Street) though the first chapel was built at the rear of the Noah's Ark Inn (now the Posada) in Lichfield Street and was known as the Noah's Ark Chapel and opened by John Wesley in March 1787.

Entrance to the chapel was either through a gateway at the side of the building and across the inn yard, or from Wheelers Fold that ran behind it.

Noah's Ark Chapel, Wolverhampton, 1888 (E3/NOA/E/1b)

The building was 38 feet long by 32 feet wide and was furnished with a gallery, family pews in the main body of the chapel and free seating on either side. Male and female worshippers were seated apart, as was the custom at that time.

Such was the popularity of Methodism that the chapel was not adequate for the needs of the Society. The Old Meeting House in John Street, which had been built in 1701 by a society of Protestant Dissenters, was used as a chapel of ease. The Rev J Stubbs, a Calvinist and Trinitarian, was its first minister.

Noah's Ark Chapel was sold in 1825 following the opening of a larger chapel in Darlington Street.

Wolverhampton Chronicle, 31st August 1825

In 1800 there were three local preachers attached to the Wolverhampton circuit: Stephen Haswell, John Tyrer and Samuel Williams. They pioneered the establishment of a society of Methodists in the coal mining area known as Hell Lane (Ettingshall). Between 1804 and 1806 the first church at Ettingshall was built as a direct result of Williams's work.

A 19th century view of the Hell Lane chapel (D-JSR/44/371)

An interesting story about the fundraising of the building is recalled in The Beginnings of Methodism in Ettingshall involving a man called Bough, a local buty, who, when asked to make a donation allegedly said, "Well Mayser Williams, I'll gie yer a five pound note on one condition…if ye wo' axe me to cum ter chapel when it's built". However when the chapel was built, Bough did attend the church and later became a sunday school teacher and a member of the Society.

George Street Methodist Church, Ettingshall ,1984 (E3/GEO/E/1)

Rather than each chapel having a resident minister, Methodist preachers moved from chapel to chapel on what was called the circuit.

Click on the image to enlarge

Plan for the Wolverhampton Circuit, 1832 (DX-166)

Circuit plans list the itinerary of the preachers; in the above example one can see where a particular individual was preaching in July, August and the first two weeks of September 1832. For example Preacher Cooke, (No 1) was due to preach at the chapel in High Street, Bilston on 1st July at 9am, Can Lane chapel at 3pm and Wolverhampton chapel at 6pm on the same day. The circuit plan also gives us the names of all the preachers on the circuit, lists the locations of all of the chapels and the times of the services

In 1825, the elders of the chapel in Wolverhampton decided that the answer to the problem of overcrowding was to move from Noah's Ark to a new site in Darlington Street and to build an all-purpose chapel.

The site was purchased from the Earl of Darlington for £396 and work started in August 1824. The first sermon was preached a year later by Rev John Lomas.

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