Swarthmoor Bethel Primitive Methodist chapel
Back Fox Street, Swarthmoor, ULVERSTON, LA12 0JA
Keith Guyler 1995
G.W.Oxley - July 2016
G.W. Oxley - July 2016
G.W. Oxley - July 2016
In the 1860s the whole of Furness was an area of increasing activity and prosperity. Iron ore mining was extending very rapidly together with the appropriate processing works. Swarthmoor was a new village to house the workers in the local iron ore mines. Many of the miners came from, particularly, Cornwall, Wales and the Isle of Man. The Swarthmoor Chapel was built to give these miners and their families a place to worship
The chapel was opened in 1864 and by 2011 was the only place of worship left in Swarthmoor. In 2014 it celebrated its 150th anniversary.
Although currently in Cumbria, it was historically part of Lancashire.
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Swarthmoor, Bethel PM Chapel, Lancashire
Grid ref SD373773
Swarthmoor WM Chapel was erected in the classical style in 1864. Most of the original building is rendered but red sandstone used for the window surrounds, quoins to the porch, and the coping of the perimeter wall is still visible. The same material may well have been used for the quoins on the main structure. The present date plaque is in very poor condition. The wording appears to be painted on a thin sheet of unidentified material which is beginning to disintegrate. There seems to be masonry underneath, perhaps bearing the now weathered original inscription. In 1940 the chapel had 100 sittings on forms, and a schoolroom. By 1991 the sittings had been reduced to fifty. The chapel remains in use as a Methodist place of worship.
Sources
Carlisle Library, 1A287, Methodist Property Statistics 1940, 1980, 1991
Site visit 23.July 2016
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