Mapping Methodism – St Agnes Bible Christian Chapel, Isles of Scilly
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Map: This profile of St Agnes Bible Christian Chapel has been compiled by Jo Lewis and Tony Mansell.
(Ann Cunningham)
The Chapel is marked on OS maps (1888 and 1906) on the north side of Old Lane in the north of the Island (Lower Town).
The Bible Christian missionaries arrived in the islands in the 1820s and began preaching from the Bishop and Wolf Inn on St Marys. The Bible Christians arrived in St Agnes in the 1830s. It is reported that they initially met in a meeting house but eventually were later able to build their own chapel.
1874: The chapel was built at a cost of around £156 and was opened on 24 July.
1902: Kellys notes the Bible Christian Chapel
1907: The Methodist New Connexion, Bible Christians and United Methodist Free Churches amalgamated to become the United Methodist Church.
1907: Became a United Methodist Church.
It appears the Chapel shut sometime after 1907, although on post 1930 maps (even up to the 1960s!) it is still marked as a place of worship.
1932: Listed in the UM Synod Directory. (Revd David Easton)
1932: The Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist and the United Methodist Church amalgamated to become the Methodist Church of Great Britain.
1932: Presumably became a Methodist Chapel.
1939: Included in Kelly’s Directory. (Revd David Easton)
1940: Seating for 85. (Revd David Easton)
Used occasionally until the early 1950s. (Revd David Easton)
After it closed the building became the island reading room and later the island community hall. It has hosted (or still hosts) GP surgeries based on St Marys.
2014: The Island Hall was extended at a cost of £2.4m to the designs of Poynton Bradbury Wynter Cole, Architects, to provide six workspaces and a community hub. Pictures of the completed build which dwarfs the original small chapel can be seen on these websites:
https://poyntonbradbury.co.uk/projects/st-agnes-island-hall
https://www.emanuelhendry.co.uk/assets/file/downloads/EH_Island_Hall.pdf
Further reading: