Heddon-on-the-Wall Local History Society
  • Home
  • Calendar
  • Introduction
  • Where are we?
  • History Map
  • Timeline
    • Prehistoric
    • AD43 to 1599
    • 1600 to 1799
    • 1800 to 1899
    • 1900 to 1999
    • 2000 to 2099
  • Heddon's History
    • Prehistory
    • Hadrian's Wall >
      • Vallum excavation (1893)
      • Hadrian's Wall excavation 1926
      • Wall ditch, Bays Leap (1958)
      • Hadrian’s Wall: Archaeological research by English Heritage 1976-2000
      • Throckley & Heddon entanglements
      • WallWatch
      • English Heritage (2020)
      • Wardell-Armstrong Archaeolgy Reports
      • Historic England Archives
    • Six townships >
      • 1 Heddon township >
        • Heddon in the Middle Ages
        • Common Land
        • Middle Marches
        • Tithe Award
        • St Andrew's Church >
          • Stained Glass Windows
          • Churchyard
          • Monuments of church & churchyard (1991)
          • Monuments Page 2
          • Vicars of Heddon
        • Village property
        • Heddon Hall >
          • Sale of Heddon Hall 2012
        • Heddon Banks Farm
        • Frenchman's Row
        • Methodist Church >
          • Heddon Methodist Church Centenary 1877-1977
        • Men's Institute
        • Women's Institute
        • Welfare Field
        • Knott Memorial Hall
        • Memorial Park
        • Schools
        • River Tyne
        • Coal Mining
        • Quarrying
        • Water Supplies
        • Transport
        • Waggonway & Railway
        • Occupations from 1800
        • Miscellaneous
      • 2 West Heddon township
      • 3 East Heddon township
      • 4 Houghton & Close House township >
        • Close House
      • 5 Eachwick township
      • 6 Whitchester township
    • Rudchester
  • People
    • Sir James Knott
    • Cadwallader J. Bates
    • Richard Burdon
    • Hugh Sinclair (Tim) Swann
    • George Clark
  • Old Photos
    • Postcards
    • Old photos 1
    • Old photos 2
    • Old photos 3
    • Old photos 4
    • Old photos 5
    • Old photos 6
    • Old Photos 7
  • Old News
    • Community News
    • Letter from the Emigrant Clergy of Frenchman's Row (1802)
    • Alleged Brutal Murder at Heddon-on-the-Wall (1876)
    • Sad boat accident at Ryton (1877)
    • Coronation tree (1902)
    • 65 Years on a Ferry Boat (1929)
    • Come claim your kiss at Heddon (1953)
    • The Swan (1972)
    • Heddon WI (1987)
    • Church House (1966)
    • Happy return (1993)
    • Hexham Courant (1997)
    • Butterfly Garden (1999)
    • Foot & Mouth (2001)
    • Remembrance Day (1996)
    • Remembrance Day (2016)
    • RAF at Ouston (2007)
    • Close House Golf Course (2009)
    • Heddon pupils celebrate British heritage (2011)
    • Roman Wall Forge (2011)
    • Diamond Jubilee (2012)
    • Auction of Bronze Statue, Close House (2012)
    • Heddon WI (2012)
    • Puffing Billy Festival (2013)
    • Heddon Village Show (2014)
    • View of the North (2014)
    • The Wall at Heddon (2014)
    • Heddon Village Show (2015)
    • War veterans singing send-off (September 2015)
    • Anglo-Saxon history (2014)
    • Heddon WI at 100 (2017)
    • Hadrian's Wall discovery (2019)
    • Tulip Mews (2020)
    • Mike Furlonger
    • Hadrian's Wall 1900 Festival
  • Memories
    • Olive White
    • Betty Cockburn
    • Betty Cockburn - miscellaneous information
    • Isabel Snowdon
    • William & Winnie Watson
    • Edith Ward
    • Mark Parker
    • Jack Lawson
    • Winnie Spoor
    • P Reay
    • Mr and Mrs Hall
    • Peter Chapman
    • Elizabeth Elenora Eames
    • Harry Murray
  • Other documents
    • Mackenzie (1825)
    • Bates (1886) >
      • Early & Roman
      • Townships
      • Heddon Church
      • Heddon & Houghton
      • Whitchester
      • Eachwick
      • West & East Heddon
      • Records
      • Addenda
      • Appendix A
    • History, Topography & Directory of Northumberland (Bulmer's) - 1886
    • History of Northumberland (1930)
    • Collingwood Bruce (1853)
    • Whellan (1855)
    • Post Office Directory (1879)
    • Prominent people in Heddon
    • Place names
    • Ad Murum
    • Archived documents
    • Thomas Bewick's History of British Birds (1826)
    • Census data 1801-1991
    • Historical Records 1888-1890
    • Knott Sale of Village Property (1924)
    • Extracts from Parish Council Records
    • Local colliery records
    • Blackburn (1938)
    • Clark (c.1963)
    • History of Church (1968)
    • Boundary Commission Report 1984
    • Village Atlas 2022
  • Walks
    • Walks 2
  • Blog
  • Contact us
  • Links
  • What's new
  • Site search
  • Past & Present
  • Photo of the Month
  • Place Name Studies
    • Meas & Meres
    • OS Name Books: Elsdon
    • OS Name Books: Allendale
    • OS Name Books: Cheviot Hills
    • OS Name Books: Other Parishes
  • Heddon 3D landscape

Wesleyan Methodist Church

Picture
Heddon on the Wall Methodist Church (2010)
photo © Copyright Andrew Curtis and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence


The following article is based on information from the Methodist Church Centenary newsletter (1977)

Around 1860 a series of revivalist meeting were at two cottages in the village, organised by the Heddon Methodist Society. At these meetings, a number of men who were mainly officials at the Heddon Pit, were converted. One of these was John Snowden, who was employed as a Brakesman on the Colliery Winding Engine,  and lived in Heddon Square, where most of his 16 children were born.

In  1873, new developments at the colliery belonging to Mr Thomas Bates necessitated the building of several additional houses at Heddon. This gave an impetus to the religious life of the village and a society class was formed by Rev. James Clapham, one of the circuit ministers stationed at Lemington.

Services were held every Sunday night in a cottage occupied by Mr Guy Murray. Eventually the meetings in cottages became too cramped and this led to the building of the Chapel in 1877. John Snowden being one of the instigators of this development.

Assistance towards the cost (around £450) of building the Chapel were received from Mr. William Stephenson of Throckley House (father of Sir William H. Stephenson), Mr. Thomas Bates of Heddon Hall, and Mr. John Clayton of Chesters.

The chapel was opened for public worship on May 21st 1877 by the Rev. Thomas Overton, superintendent minister of the Blenheim Street Circuit in Newcastle. Trustees at the opening of the church were: Charles John Stephenson, William Haswell Stephenson, Edward Richardson, William Harriman, Arthur Richardson, Thomas Barras Sambridge, Thomas Arthur Potts, Robert Bell, Utrick Alexander Ritson, James Stobert, Guy Murray, Robert Robson, William Kirton, Robert Haworth, John Charlton and William Shaw.

One of the pioneers of the Methodist movement in Heddon was Thomas Henry (Harry) Jackson. He was born on 4 June 1858 in St John's Lane, Newcastle where his grand-father was an architect associated with Richard Grainger. His parents died while he was quite young and had to enter the workhouse where he worked in the bakery. At age 10 he escaped and secured work as a putter (a person who brings the full tubs from the hewer to the flat and takes him the empty ones) at Coronation Pit in North Walbottle, where he also attended the Wesleyan Chapel. Coronation Pit closed in 1873, and Harry moved to Wylam, working there as a putter  for a year, before securing work as a hewer (a man who cuts coal, removing it from the coal face) at Heddon where he lived (before he married) with Guy Murray.

On August 28th 1889 he was married, at Throckley Wesleyan Church, to Annie Jane Jordon of Heddon.

Harry was a life-long abstainer  and took an active interest in the Band of Hope. He was a mainstay of Heddon's Methodist movement, Sunday School teacher and superintendent of the church. In 1881 he became a local preacher and later chapel steward and a trustee. He  was for a time, secretary and delegate of the Heddon Branch of the Northumberland Miners Association, was elected to the Parish Council in 1894 and supported the Liberal MP, Charles Fenwick as secretary of the Heddon Liberal Association. Thomas Henry Jackson died on 18th Nov 1929 aged 71 and is buried with his wife in Heddon Churchyard [75].

In 1907-08 the original entrance porch of the Methodist Chapel was moved from the centre of the south wall and rebuilt on to the west end, and a schoolroom (the present Sunday School) was built on to the south wall. Joyce Snowden, the youngest daughter of John Snowden, together with Ada Jackson, Evelyn Anderson and Maggie Snowden, layed some of the new foundation stones. At that time, the total number of inhabitants of houses in and around the Chapel was under 100, and quite a number lived in 'The Square'.

A new pulpit was designed by the Rev. W. Hayes and an electric organ was installed in 1960.

The garden was redesigned and the old out-house rebuilt for use as an additional fellowship room.

The Centenery of the Church (21st May 1977) was celebrated on Good Friday, 8th April 1977.
Picture
Heddon Wesleyan Church c.1900. Photo supplied by David Payne (2015).

List of Ministers of Heddon Methodist Church
from the Church Centenary magazine

 
1877-1888   H.H  McCullach, H.S. Eckersley,
                       T.R. Pickering
1887-1888   W. Arrowsmith
1888-1891   T. Slader
1891-1894   D.Knapp, E. Coulson
1894-1897   W. Sackett
1897-1900   W. Kelson
1900-1903   J. Cartwright
1903-1906   W. Keating
1906-1909   G.W. Polkinhorne
1909-1912   H.G. Godwin
1912-1915   H.G. Atwater
1915-1920   J.G. Penman
1920-1923   T. Ewbank
1923-1926   S.J. Gibson
1926-1930   G. Parsons
1930-1932   S. Parker
1932-1935   H. Wilkinson
1935-1937   J Stewart
1937-1940   J. Lee
1940-1947  F.T. Bramwell
1947-1950  G. Titterington
1950-1956   W. Hayes
1956-1960   R.M. Davison
1960-1963   R. Taylor
1963-1966   G. Robson
1966-1970   A. Candeland
1970-1977   M.A. Brooks

In about 1994, it was decided to make substantial alterations to the old Victorian building in order that more room could be provided for social gatherings. The old vestry was demolished and modern amenities of kitchen, two toilets and a room overlooking the rear garden were added. The garden at the rear  was created from waste land by one of the Chapel members and dedicated by Rev. Linda Williams in may 1989. It won the 'Northumbria in Bloom' trophy for the best garden of a religious establishment for three years.

Although church membership has declined throughout the country and many country chapels are now disused, the small congregation at Heddon continue to meet each Sunday for morning and evening worship in addition to the weekly prayer meeting and bible study. In 1999, there were 18 young children attending Sunday School.

Details of the services can be found here.

Picture
Heddon Methodist Church (2009)
Picture
The Peace Garden, Heddon Methodist Church (2009)
© Copyright Martin Luff and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Links

Heddon Methodist Church
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.