Historic Rotherham church at risk due to dwindling congregation

2 March 2016...Ted Ring Heritage Officer of Rotherhams most well-known churches, grade-II listed Talbot Lane Methodist Church,which may have to close its doors after a history of well over 250 years of worship on the site. Picture Scott Merrylees

But with a dwindling congregation and a repair built mounting to thousands of pounds, it is danger of closing forever, and ending over 250 years of worship on the site.

Talbot Lane Methodist Church is Rotherham’s largest auditorium, and while it once seated a congregation of 850, it now has just 40 regular worshippers - and could soon be faced with a repair bill of around £30,000 for essential maintenance to its roof, a figure that is out of reach without serious help.

The current building, a neo-Gothic building with 140ft spire, sits in the heart of Rotherham town centre, opposite the Town Hall, and has been described as a ‘gem of Methodist architecture’.

2 March 2016...One of Rotherhams most well-known churches, grade-II listed Talbot Lane Methodist Church,which may have to close its doors after a history of well over 250 years of worship on the site. Picture Scott Merrylees

It is the third place of worship to stand on the site.

An octagonal chapel opened there in 1761, and hosted the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, several times for sermons. By the early 19th century its growing congregation required a bigger venue, and it was replaced with a classical-style chapel.

But tragedy struck in 1901, when an organ-tuner accidentally dropped a candle inside the organ space.

The rampaging fire quickly destroyed the chapel, and it was razed to the ground. The only thing to survive was a single copy of The Bible.

But Rotherham rallied, and raised the then-huge sum of £10,000 to build a new church. A competition was even held to find the final design.

Such was the extent of generosity, worth in the region of £1.1m today, that all the bills were paid before the new church opened - just three days before the second anniversary of the fire, with local resources and stone used in its construction.

The church is now hoping that community spirit could be re-ignited to help save it once again.

Initially, £15,000 is needed to fund scaffolding to realise the extent of the damage, then at least the same amount again will be needed to carry out the work. The final bill could be much higher.

Minister, Rev Karen Beecham, said: “With the cost of scaffolding alone, before work on maintenance can even begin, we need to raise many thousands of pounds.

“As you can imagine, in a situation like this our financial reserves are quickly disappearing. We work very hard to raise funds, but there is only so much the members can reasonably do in the time available.

“We know there are many people in Rotherham and elsewhere who have strong and memorable connections with Talbot Lane, and it would be very much appreciated if some of them could help us to save this precious church.”

Today’s dwindling congregation is partly blamed on its central location.

The nearest residing worshipper lived a mile away, but should it be forced to close, the closest Methodist church would be two miles away. But it does act as a hub in the town centre, hosting family events and acting as a safe haven for revellers every Friday night. It is also home to an original Harrison & Harrison pipe organ built in 1904,

Talbot Lane’s heritage officer, Ted Ring, who is also secretary of Rotherham Churches Together said: “It is very difficult to keep a church running, especially a town centre church with very few people living locally.

“It is a constant battle and now we feel people need to know so they don’t take this fine building for granted.”