Progress25 September 2007: Although Phase I of our work on Bethesda Chapel is now complete, there is still plenty to do before the building can be opened for its planned range of new uses. Phase II will see further repairs of the interior, the reinstatement of the cast-iron railings and gates outside, and the introduction of modern services. The vestry block will house lavatory and kitchenette facilities. We need to raise about £1.6 million to complete the works. Fund-raising will of course continue, but in the meantime the building will be open once a month to enable visitors to appreciate its splendour. 3 August 2007: We're delighted to announce that the first phase of repairs is complete, and that Bethesda Chapel will be OPEN TO THE PUBLIC between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on SATURDAY 8 SEPTEMBER. Please come along if you're in the area! (11 September: We're also opening on one Saturday afternoon a month for the rest of 2007: the dates and times are listed at the top of the home page.) Over the past 15 months, our architect has led the project to repair the leaking roof, carry out essential high-level repairs, remove and stop all dry rot, remove the pigeon guano that accumulated over many years, overhaul the drainage systems and repair the front elevation. It's now a pleasant experience to step inside and view the huge, impressive interior. By September the painting of the front elevation will be complete and the whole appearance of Bethesda Methodist Chapel will be transformed. Phase 1 has cost nearly £900,000. Much more remains to be done before the interior is restored and fitted out to enable the building to be used for a wide range of suitable activities, but the Open Day on 8 September marks the end of the beginning. Visitors will be able to appreciate what has been achieved, and see for themselves the potential of the building as a focal point at the heart of the community again. During Phase 1, we provided progress reports and photos here as each important job was completed. (Click on any photo of the building on this page for a larger version; some photos are by kind permission of Brownhill Hayward Brown Architects, Lichfield.) 11 April 2007: During the first 3 months of this year, there have been major improvements to both exterior and interior as Phase 1 nears its end. The first pair of pictures below, taken in mid-March, show the newly reslated roof and repaired brickwork to the rear wall and chimney, and some exquisite details of the front elevation.
The next group of four shows what had been achieved by mid-February in cleaning and restoring the interior — something of a miracle to anyone who saw how derelict it was a year ago.
The first two pictures below show examples of memorial windows, which can now be fully appreciated following the removal of plywood boarding. They will be restored along with all sash windows to the rear elevations as part of Phase 2. Windows are currently protected in situ using polycarbonate sheeting as a temporary measure, allowing natural daylight into the building. The third picture is of a sash window taken from the frontage. It has been restored by a specialist glazier, releaded and glazed using original glass augmented with new matching materials. It is one of many currently being reinstalled.
January 2007: Bethesda is to have its badly vandalised, drastically altered and water-damaged organ of 1864 replaced by another Kirtland and Jardine organ, which the Historic Chapels Trust (HCT) is rescuing from St Ignatius Church, Ordsall, Salford. St Ignatius has been made redundant and sold to new owners who have no use for its splendid instrument. A careful check of its measurements shows that it will be a perfect fit for the space behind the handsome organ case in Bethesda. The organ turns out not to have been originally installed at St Ignatius, but to have been built for St Paul, Kersal, in 1853. St Ignatius has never had money, and the organ suffered negligible alterations – it has only lost a little of its typical brilliance of the 1850s through the closing-up of some pipe footholes when it was placed in its chamber at St Ignatius in 1906. Its layout suggests that the space it occupied at Kersal would not have been much different. It has no case apart from a dreary oak front of 1906, hardly worth retaining. In its annual report for 1995, the Advisory Board for Redundant Churches strongly recommended that the organ be found another home. Dr Michael Sayer, an organ expert and author, remembers it well from the days of his researches and considers it to be outstanding. It should be superb for accompanying orchestral and solo recitals. HCT has now established that the Heritage Lottery Fund would be willing in principle to consider the dismantling, transport and re-erection of the organ as a grant-worthy project. An appeal has been launched for funds towards its reinstatement, and also for the repair of the damaged mahogany pulpit and the cast-iron railings that once faced Albion Street. (The information above is taken from a recent Historic Chapels Trust Newsletter.) 8 November 2006: The re-slating of the roof was nearing completion and high-level repairs to defective brickwork were complete. New window lintels were replacing those timber ones that had rotted. The defective render on the front elevation had been removed, and brickwork repairs were under way. 15 September 2006: The roof timbers and other load-bearing structures were being replaced, repaired and/or strengthened, as you can see below. The first three photos show a reinforced steel joist (RSJ) being moved into the roof space, positioned, and secured in place. The final picture shows why reinforcing the timbers was a good idea!
21 June 2006: Scaffolding had gone up and restoration work was fully under way.
15 May 2006: work at last began on Phase 1 of Bethesda's renaissance. The Director of the Historic Chapels Trust said:- I am overjoyed that at last work has started on undertaking the repairs to Bethesda and look forward to seeking out other sources of funding to help us complete this worthy project and finish revitalising this wonderful building. I encourage anyone who wants to help contribute to the project to contact HCT. Phase 1We plan to tackle essential repairs in a phased manner, instead of waiting to raise all the funds required to carry out a full repair and upgrading of the building. This means that we get started sooner, halt the decay and deal with urgent works. The first phase started on site on Monday 15 May 2006. It mainly involves high-level repairs to the building to provide a sound roof and to make the chapel watertight. It will also enable visitors to go into the building, on a limited basis, to appreciate its scale and grandeur. The first phase of works will include:
These works will take six months and are due to be completed in late December 2006. Limited public access should be available from Spring 2007. The Phase 1 works have been funded with the aid of a £265,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £200,000 from English Heritage; over £20,000 that has been raised by the Historic Chapels Trust and the Bethesda Friends; and £300,000 from the North Staffordshire Regeneration Zone and Stoke-on-Trent City Council to jointly fund the cost of fully repairing the front elevation. We do need to raise more funds to help start Phase 2. Please send donations to the Historic Chapels Trust’s London office at St George’s German Lutheran Church, 55 Alie Street, London E1 8EB. Phase 2Phase 2, which will cost an estimated £2 million, will encompass all remaining repair works and upgrading necessary to bring Bethesda into use. This will embrace:
The restoration of Bethesda in three phases of work – why this approach was adopted, what has been completed so far and the next steps. HCT took on responsibility for the Bethesda Methodist Chapel in 2002, after previous schemes to restore the building had proved unsuccessful. HCT engaged the Lichfield based firm of architects, Brownhill Hayward Brown, to produce an outline restoration scheme, with costings. The total estimated project cost was £2.5m and HCT decided to tackle the restoration project in three distinct phases. This has made it a more manageable task for fundraising and for undertaking the repairs. In addition it has enabled HCT to step in quickly to make the building wind and weather proof and stop further deterioration. The first phase of repairs were completed in September 2007 at a cost of nearly £900,000. This included:- HCT’s architects have now put together a second phase package of works. This second phase of works is designed to complete all complete all external and internal structural repairs. Key tasks are:-
In addition part of the phase II funding bid includes provision for the costs of staging a four month exhibition in the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in 2010. The second phase of works is estimated to cost approximately £600,000. Fundraising is now underway and grant applications will be made to a wide range of national and local grant giving bodies, including the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage etc. The local Friends of Bethesda Group have already raised over £10,000 to help repair the pulpit. Once fundraising for phase II is completed we will start to conclude proposals for phase III, which will be the final phase of repairs. This final phase will include design and installation of all essential mechanical and electrical (M&E) services and other facilities that will be required in a major public building such as this. Phase III will complete the repair of the interior, ie re-instatement of the ceiling and plaster wall finishes etc that need to be undertaken in conjunction with the installation of M&E services.
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