Name: Severn Place Methodist Chapel (now Newtown Methodist Church)

Denomination: originally Wesleyan Methodist

Built: 1835
Rebuilt (1): 1887
Rebuilt (2): 1987

Photography: John Ball
Date: 18 June 2009
Camera: Nikon D50 digital SLR

Note 1: By 1833, the original Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Park Street was too small for the congregation and in 1835 the Methodists moved to a new church in Severn Place [Back Lane], which was demolished and replaced by a modern building in 1987. [Adapted from Town Trails - Places of Worship on the Official Newtown Website]

Note 2: Severn Place Methodist Chapel was built in 1807, rebuilt/modified in 1821, 1835, 1878 and rebuilt in 1887. The final chapel was built in the late twentieth century style.

[Source: Coflein database (NPRN 11288)]

Note 3: This is the fourth Wesleyan Chapel built in the town, and the second on this site. The original 1835 chapel, built of stone in the classical style with a portico added in 1878, was damaged by floods, and in 1982 was demolished. It was collapsed into its own cellar and a new chapel was built over it in two stages. The new, modern building is a steel-framed structure clad in red brick with blue dressings, with a central glass roof and wings covered in slate. It was constructed between 1983 and 1989, with the worship area opening in 1984 and the hall in 1989, all at a cost of £140,000. The organ and two stained glass windows were salvaged from the old building. [Source: Local Information Sheet 34 – Newtown, Chapels Heritage Society, undated; accessible as a PDF document on-line from the Capeli - The Chapels Heritage Society website]