A historic Stoke-on-Trent chapel is expected to undergo almost £1 million worth of work as a local charity transforms it into a centre for education and events.
Re-form Heritage, which is based in the city, is set to become the new owner of Bethesda Methodist Chapel in Hanley.
The independent heritage organisation is now negotiating a charity-to-charity property transfer with the Grade II*-listed building’s owner, the Historic Chapels Trust (HCT), which is currently undergoing an estate-wide dispersal process ahead of the charity being wound up.
Following a viability study, plans for the site propose creating an educational centre in the chapel, with Pinc College, a specialist college for neurodivergent young people aged 16 to 24 years, as anchor tenant.
Studio workspaces for the college, which already has bases at Middleport Pottery and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, would be arranged under the first-floor gallery, with a multi-functional performance and exhibition space, available for public events, in the nave.
The organ and pews in the gallery would be retained, and new toilet and kitchen facilities would be built.
The estimated total cost of delivery, including capital works, building fabric repairs, activity costs and project management is £996,822.
It is hoped that events for Stoke-on-Trent’s centenary celebrations could be held in the chapel this summer, ahead of building works starting later in the year. The project could be completed in 2026.
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Dr Alasdair Brooks, Chief Executive of Re-Form Heritage, which owns and operates Middleport Pottery, said: “We’re delighted to be taking on Bethesda Methodist Chapel as our first major project under our new status as the Heritage Development Trust for Stoke-on-Trent, and to be developing a sustainable future for this much-loved site in partnership with Pinc College.
“We’re grateful to the Historic Chapels Trust for showing confidence in us as the building’s new custodians, and we look forward to working with the Friends of Bethesda Chapel and other local community stakeholders as we finalise plans for the site in the coming months.
“Our thanks also go to our funders from the Architectural Heritage Fund, The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England for supporting our work.”
Known as ‘the Cathedral of the Potteries’, the two-storey Bethesda Methodist Chapel dates from 1819 and is one of the largest surviving chapels outside London, seating 2,000 people. It closed for worship in 1985 after congregations dwindled and is currently on Historic England’s heritage at risk register, where its condition is described as ‘fair’.
In 2003, the chapel gained national attention when it came fourth in the BBC’s Restoration television series, which saw viewers vote for which listed building would win a grant for remedial works.
Chris Smith, Chair of HCT, which has owned the chapel since 2002, said: “It is with great regret that HCT has to bring its long involvement with Bethesda to an end. But since the building must pass into the hands of others, we are absolutely delighted that the new owner will be Re-Form Heritage.
“Re-Form’s origins and deep roots in Middleport and subsequent developing status and portfolio of initiatives across Stoke-on-Trent give us great reassurance for the future. We are confident that Re-Form’s commitment to the imaginative re-use of the great city of Stoke-on -Trent’s many heritage assets – Bethesda standing proud among them – and the important activities of Pinc, their chosen tenant, will bring exciting and wholly new life to Bethesda.”