Charles Wesley preached in Congleton on Thursday 16 October 1746 and prayed with the little Society. On the following day he preached at the medieval Cross in High Street.

John Wesley visited Congleton on at least 30 times and preached around 20 times. His first visit was on Sunday 10 May 1747, when he preached at the medieval Cross in High Street which was destroyed in 1772.

Wesleyan Methodists

From around 1743 there was a Society meeting in the house of Thomas Buckley, Peel Lane, Astbury, near Congleton. By 1758 the Society was meeting in a private chapel in Congleton which was entered from Mill Street. The adjacent meadow was used for the overflow when Wesley and other preachers visited. The chapel belonged to Samuel Troutbeck a member of the Society. The chapel was behind Troutbeck’s apothecary's shop and was used by the Society until they built their own meeting house. In 1776 the Society bought land in Wagg Street and the chapel was opened in time for John Wesley’s visit on 25 March 1768. When Wesley visited the Society on 28 March 1782 he made searing comments about the local Calvinists who had caused several families to leave the chapel. Captain Jonathan Scott (1735-1807) formerly of the 7th Dragoons, had been ordained in 1776 by a group of Lancaster Congregationalists as a ‘presbyter or teacher at large’. When Jonathan Scott went to Congleton he asked to be allowed to preach in the Wesleyan meeting house in Wagg Street. This was refused, so he then regularly preached outside the chapel. Several of his followers were former members of the Wagg Street chapel. In 1799 a Sunday school was started. In 1803 the Congleton Circuit was created out of the Macclesfield Circuit. By 1803 the chapel needed extensive repairs to be done. The trustees and leaders decided to rebuild the chapel. In 1807 Thomas Collins of Burslem was contracted to build a new chapel and also to build a preacher's house and stables. The chapel was opened in 1808. In 1818 the school building was built at the back of the chapel which in 1839 became both a Day school and a Sunday school. On 14 July 1869 the foundation stones was laid for new school premises by Thomas Hazelhurst, Esq., (1816-1876) of Runcorn and Mr John Ward (1799-1874) of Brook House. The new Day and Sabbath school premises were opened on Thursday 21 October 1869 with the Rev. Charles Garrett (1823-1900) as the guest speaker. In 1947 dry rot was discovered and the porch section had to be demolished and rebuilt. In 1965 the unsupported walls were bulging because of the weight of the roof. There was extensive woodworm in the gallery which was putting the safety of the building at risk. The trustees and leaders decided a new building was needed. In January 1966 the congregation moved out and joined the Brook Street Methodist Church, and Queen Street Methodist Church and became a united church temporarily meeting in the Queen Street building until the new church was built.

Brook Street Wesleyan Chapel was founded 1834 and closed 1966, when its congregation joined Queen Street Methodist Church.

Methodist New Connexion

The Society appeared on the Hanley Circuit plan of 1823 as meeting in a cottage in New Street. The Society eventually moved to a larger house in Elizabeth Street. In 1836 they bought land opposite the Elizabeth Street house. On Monday 20h June 1836 John Ridgway, Esq., (1786-1860) laid the foundation stone. The two storied chapel was opened in November 1836 and was named Queen Street Chapel. In 1856 a single storied schoolroom was built adjacent to the chapel. The chapel was renovated in 1883 and again in 1902 by which time it seated 326 people. The chapel was on the Burslem Circuit Plan until it was transferred to the Macclesfield Circuit, returning to the Burslem Circuit until 1932, when it took its place in the Congleton Methodist Circuit. The chapel closed in 1969. The congregations of Brook Street and Wagg Street Methodist churches joined the Elizabeth Methodist church congregation until the Trinity Methodist Church was opened in 1968.

Primitive Methodists

In 1804 Hugh Bourne attended a revivalist love-feast in the Congleton Wesleyan Methodist chapel which proved to be a significant event in his spiritual journey. In April 1807 Lorenzo Dow preached in Congleton Wagg Street Wesleyan Chapel. William Clowes was one of his hearers. A few days later Hugh Bourne and his brother James heard Dow preach his farewell sermon at Congleton before returning to America. Hugh Bourne purchased from Dow two pamphlets about Camp Meetings. In the autumn of 1820 Connexional missionaries visited Congleton and a small Society formed which soon had 24 members. On November 5 1820 a large room was opened. In 1821 a chapel was built in Lawton Street. In September 1822 Hugh Bourne held at Congleton a Love Feast which resulted in many converts. On 9 July 1890 the memorial stones were laid for the rebuilding of the chapel which was reoriented so that its frontage was on Kinsey Street. It had seats for 500 people. The church closed in the 1990s.

Trinity Methodist Church was opened on 2 November 1968. Trinity was a new building on the Wagg Street site and was the amalgamation of the Wagg Street, Queen Street and Brook Street Methodist societies.

Entry written by: DHR
Category: Place
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