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| Scotch Chapel Mount Pleasant |
Dear Historian,
I am trying to locate this church where my ancestors were married in 1846. I have the source citation of their marriage, No. 107; and it states clearly they were married in the “Wesleyan Chapel” according to the” Rites and Ceremonies of the Wesleyans” by Richard Bonner. My grandfather lived at 3 Stanley Street (which I googled) and my grandmother at 124 Duke Street (which I googled) so I figure the church must be in that down town area but I am unable to locate it. They lived with their respective families within a mile of each other.
Through my own research I found reference to Pitt St., Wesleyan Chapel, Pitt St., Liverpool Central and Wesley Wesleyan Methodist, Soho St., Liverpool Central…..but I can not find either one and I think the first one at Pitt St. fits best.
Thanks for any assistance you can offer,
Janet Hughes
Hello Janet,
ReplyDeleteIt could of been either Pitt Street or Mount Pleasant, but probably Pitt Street
Methodist Pitt St, Mt Pleasant, Liverpool Central, L3 5TQ Est 1790 - demolished 1905
Mount Pleasant Wesleyan, Mt Pleasant, Liverpool Central, L3 5SH
Pitt Street Wesleyan Methodist Church; Pitt Street, 1787-1905
The second Wesleyan chapel to be opened in Liverpool was Mount Pleasant, erected in 1790 to serve a new, expanding district of the town, for those families who found Pitt Street remote and distasteful. Even so, when in 1825 it became a member church of the South Circuit its membership (590) was only two thirds that of Pitt Street. The remaining influential families left with the opening of Grove Street in 1859, when it was proposed to close Mount Pleasant.
Pitt Street was the oldest Wesleyan chapel in Liverpool, erected in 1750 and registered in 1754 and replacing a room in Cable Street which had served the Methodist society since the mid-1740s. The church was enlarged in 1765 and had a Sunday School attached from 1785. A complete rebuilding took place in 1803. From the turn of the century Pitt Street was completely overshadowed by the more aristocratic Mount Pleasant and from 1863 when it was detached from the South Circuit and given a separate status was run as a Home Mission. The neighbourhood deteriorated rapidly and by 1875 the chapel despite the sentiment attaching to it was grievously in debt and nearly extinct. Gradually other mission stations took the evangelistic edge from this ancient sanctuary and it was finally closed and pulled down in 1905. Tenements were built on the site.
Records for the Pitt Street Chapel are in the Liverpool Record Office.
Regards
Rob Ainsworth
Web Administrator
Liverpool History Society
Web Site:http://liverpoolhistorysociety.org.uk
Mount Pleasant Wesleyan Chapel
ReplyDeleteAfter Pitt Street (1750) Mount Pleasant was the second Wesleyan chapel to be opened in Liverpool. A ‘plain building but well adapted to the purposes of public worship’ it was erected in 1790 in a new, expanding district of the town to serve those families who found the Pitt Street Chapel remote and distasteful.
Nevertheless, when in 1825 it became a member church of the South Circuit, its membership of 590 was only two-thirds that of Pitt Street. The character of the neighbourhood changed rapidly and the services became more spontaneous and evangelistic. The remaining influential families left with the opening of Grove Street Chapel in 1859 when it was proposed to close Mount Pleasant; however, the building was retained as a mission.
In 1875, it transferred to the new Liverpool Methodist Mission Circuit and was reconstructed in 1884 at a cost of £2,682 with seating for 780 persons. Its position led to its being renamed ‘Central Hall’ in 1889 with a lay missioner in charge.
Following the opening of the new Central Hall in nearby Renshaw Street the Mount Pleasant building closed for worship in 1905.
Regards
Rob Ainsworth
Web Administrator
Liverpool History Society
Web Site:http://liverpoolhistorysociety.org.uk
Is the Mount Pleasant Chapel still standing? I took a walk down Mount Pleasant this spring while on a visit to the UK, but could not locate the building.
ReplyDeleteHello Rob,
ReplyDeleteunfortunatley it has been demolished I have uploaded a print of the Scotch Chapel Mount Pleasant.
Regards
Rob Ainsworth
Liverpool History Society