Steyning Methodist Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Steyning Methodist Church |
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The church from the west
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| 50°53′16″N 0°19′35″W / 50.8877°N 0.3265°W | |
| Location | High Street, Steyning, West Sussex BN44 3GG |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Methodist Church of Great Britain |
| Website | www.steyningmethodists.org.uk/ |
| History | |
| Status | Church |
| Founded | 12 July 1877 |
| Dedicated | 13 April 1878 |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect(s) | James E. Lund |
| Style | Gothic Revival |
| Groundbreaking | 1877 |
| Completed | 1878 |
| Construction cost | £1,885 |
| Specifications | |
| Capacity | 300 |
| Number of floors | 1 |
| Materials | Flint, yellow brick, stone |
| Administration | |
| Circuit | Worthing Methodist Circuit |
| Division | Downs Section |
Steyning Methodist Church is a special place of worship for Methodists in Steyning, a village in West Sussex, England. It also serves nearby villages. This church was built for a group of Methodists who needed a bigger space than their old chapel.
The church building has a Gothic Revival style. It first opened its doors in 1878 and has been made larger over time. The church is built with flint and yellow bricks. It sits a bit back from Steyning's old High Street. The church is also part of the village's special conservation area. It is one of nine churches in the Worthing Methodist Circuit.
Contents
History of the Church
Early Days of Methodism in Sussex
Protestant groups who were not part of the main Church of England were common in Sussex by the early 1800s. Wesleyan Methodism was quite strong. In 1807, the Lewes and Brighton Wesleyan Circuit started. This group managed many churches across the county. By 1841, it looked after ten churches.
Methodists first started meeting in Steyning in September 1841. Steyning was an old village and an important place for trade. Its church was founded in the 8th century by St Cuthman. Even King Æthelwulf of Wessex was buried there later. Famous figures like George Fox and William Penn were linked to a Quaker meeting house in the 1600s.
Finding a New Home
In 1843, the new Methodist group bought a chapel. This chapel had been built eight years earlier for another local Methodist group. By March 1844, the Steyning Methodists joined the Lewes and Brighton Circuit. At that time, they had 33 members.
The chapel was called Trinity Chapel by 1855. Its Sunday school was very successful. In 1874, the church members thought about making the building bigger. However, they decided to move out and build a completely new, larger chapel instead. Henry Northcroft, who was active in other Methodist churches nearby, gave them a piece of land in 1875. This land was behind Steyning High Street.
Building the New Church
James E. Lund, an architect from Worthing, was chosen to design the new church. He was a Methodist himself. He designed a Gothic Revival-style chapel. It could hold 300 people for worship. It also had a schoolroom next to it for 200 people.
A building company from Steyning, Charles B. Oxley, won the job to build the church. The chapel officially started being built on 12 July 1877. Three important people laid the foundation stone. They were Henry Northcroft, Sir William McArthur (who was a Member of Parliament), and Caroline Spong. Caroline was the wife of a minister from a church in Hove.
There were speeches, a celebration meal, and a public meeting. Almost £100 was raised for the church that day. The building work was supposed to finish by October 1877. However, Oxley's company went out of business. Construction stopped for five months. Another builder was found, and the chapel was finished within a month. It opened for worship on 13 April 1878. The total cost, including the land, was £1,885.
Challenges and Growth
The church faced some difficulties in its first few years. Its membership was low, and this was discussed throughout the 1880s. But the ministers and church members worked hard. They reached out to people in nearby villages and invited popular preachers. This helped the church grow. By 1892, membership had increased to 27.
For a long time, the church did not have its own full-time minister. It was managed by the Shoreham-by-Sea Methodist Church. In 1912, a minister was appointed to live in Steyning and also serve the Ashington Methodist Church. However, he left very soon after for another job.
At that time, most of the church members were farming families. There was not much contact with other churches in the village. When the Anglican vicar from St Andrew's Church attended the Methodist chapel's 50th birthday party in 1927, it was big news! The church building was used as a canteen for soldiers during World War I and World War II. A large air-raid shelter was also built during the second war.
Modern Improvements and Community
The church made structural improvements in 1907. In 1925, three extra rooms were added next to the schoolroom. These rooms had their own foundation stones. The church got electricity in 1952. Major updates to the inside of the church happened in 1968 and 1979. The 1979 update cost £21,050. It included a bigger kitchen and a new meeting room. Part of the cost was paid by the Joseph Rank Trust.
The church became stronger after the wars. It started reaching out more to the whole village. It also worked more with other local churches. Membership grew to 66 in 1962. Services also became popular with students from a nearby boarding school. For its 100th birthday, there was a parade from the church to St Andrew's parish church, where a special service was held. Another update to the inside of the church happened in spring 2001. After that, the church was rededicated.
Today, Steyning Methodist Church shares a minister with another Methodist church in nearby Storrington. They are part of the Downs Section of the Worthing Methodist Circuit. A third church in their section, Ashington Methodist Church, closed in October 2010. Steyning and Storrington are two of the nine churches still active in the Circuit. The others are in Worthing, Durrington, Goring-by-Sea, Southwick, Shoreham-by-Sea, and Lancing.
Architecture and Design
James E. Lund designed Steyning Methodist Church in the Gothic Revival style. The main materials used are flint and light yellow brick. It also has stone decorations and quoins (corner stones). This design is very different from the plain, plastered style of the congregation's old chapel, which is now called Jarvis Hall.
You enter the church through a porch into the lobby. The lobby was made wider in 1968. It used to have glass panels with Gothic-style letters that said: "Enter into His gates with praise." Other original features included special carpets, stone tablets with the Ten Commandments, a tall curved platform for speakers, and a wooden communion rail. A pulpit (a raised stand for preaching) was in the middle of the platform. An organ stood behind it.
During the 1968 updates, the old organ was replaced with one from another church. The tall platform was removed and replaced with a flat one. A side pulpit and a communion table were added in the center. A teak wood cross was put on the wall above.
The chapel is set far back from Steyning High Street. It has a garden in front that was planted with lawn and shrubs in 1879. The Steyning Society, which looks after the village's conservation area, said that the area around the chapel is "a delightful area with a mixture of buildings on both sides of the road with a pleasing irregularity of building line."
See also
