Walker, Newcastle
Walker Wesleyan Chapel
Last Updated:
17 Mar 2025
Walker, Newcastle
This is a
Chapel, Place of Worship
54.975629, -1.547487
Founded in
Current status is
Demolished
Designer (if known):
FRN Haswell
Now replaced by a residential complex
I’m not a religious person really, but I find it striking and sad to see so many chapels and places of worship entirely forgotten from our collective consciousness. Such places underpinned communities, but this one that stood at the top of Walker’s Church Street is seldom talked about. The only visible remnants left are the old gateposts inside, seen below.
This was Walker’s Wesleyan Chapel, built in 1872 and demolished in 1968. It popped up as Walker really started expanding its boundaries thanks to the half-dozen or so pits that lay nearby. The advances in the shipyards also led to a great demand for labour too.
It was a fine church, made of lovely red brick and stone dressing in a typical Wesleyan Gothic style and constructed right next to the old chapel which dates from at least 1849. There's very little detail on it, whether it was a stone construction or a tin tabernacle like many others of this age, but it was modest and stood right on the fringes of the settlement on vacant land. This chapel we speak of however was a greater investment with the expanding congregation, costing around £1,650 fitting 450 worshippers, which was quite a sizeable outfit for the area.
One of the most fascinating elements of this church is its designer – FRN Haswell, a long-running friend of the buildings we come across. This has to be one of his least cited, despite being so pretty. He designed the Memorial Methodist Church at North Shields, Newbiggin’s Wesleyan, Tynemouth Jubilee Infirmary, among others.
As noted, it was demolished in the ’60s and a residential home now stands in its place. At least we still find its boundary wall and gateposts, eh?
Listing Description (if available)
Both Ordnance Surveys shown here depict the west end of Walker in the late 19th century and early 20th. As noted the chapel was constructed on the site of the 1840s iteration, which was previously the extremity of Walker. As the borders expanded it stood on the junction of Church Street and the new Welbeck Road. Given the site of the old chapel, the old Walker Ann Pit stood directly next to the chapel, with Methodism interesting supplanting itself before Roman Catholicism next door. which probably found itself here with the colliery itself.
The transition into the 1910s gives you an idea how the place was really transforming from an industrial village into an effective conurbation of the larger city. The pit rows were being swept away in favour of the large scale terraces familiar with us today. This is doubled down into the following decades.
The transition was fully realised during the war. Ann Pit entirely disappeared, and the new and modern semi detached properties saw Walker become fully realised suburbia. Some pit rows did remain though and you'll see the old shaft is still in situ.
The site of Walker Wesleyan in March 2025. The gate posts and boundary walls remain.
A postcard of the chapel around the 1920s. It's beautifully dressed in brick and stone, with lancet windows lining the side elevations. The Sunday School can be seen at the rear. It appears a timber construction but it's difficult to tell.
The chapel in the centre amongst the wider environs in 1937, just after the Ann Pit was cleared. Source: © Historic England. Aerofilms Collection EPW053949 flown June 1937