Penrith Methodist Church (PMC)
Church website: www.penrithmethodist.co.uk
Penrith Methodist Church is part of the Penrith Circuit which also includes Churches at Patterdale, The Cottage Wood Centre (between Plumpton and Calthwaite), Shap, Skelton, Sleagill and Stainton.
1872-1873
The foundation stone for the Wesleyan Church, Penrith (now Penrith Methodist Church) was laid on 28 June 1872 by John Crone, a leading benefactor who donated £1,800 towards the £8,000 cost of building it. The architect was George Woodhouse of Bolton-le-Moors and the original church design had seating for 950. The Church was opened for worship on 2 October 1873 by the Rev. George T. Perks, the President of the Methodist Conference.
1897
In 1897 a large second building, the Wordsworth Hall Sunday School was built alongside the main church for a cost of £1,760. As part of this development the original church caretaker’s house was removed.
1914-1918
The Wordsworth Hall was converted for use as an auxiliary Red Cross military hospital during the First World War. The hospital was closed on 31st March 1919.
1939-1945
During the Second World War, the church served as temporary accommodation for Newcastle Royal Grammar School, following evacuation of schools and children from Newcastle.
The church also provided a canteen service during the second world war:
1972-1973
Further redevelopment work involving the creation of Crush Hall and a new sanctuary area together with a reduction in seating by the closure of the gallery area was completed in December 1972 in time for the centenary celebrations on 30 September 1973.
1995-1996
The most recent major re-development took place between November 1995 and November 1996 at a cost of £768,000. The separate Wordsworth Hall and main Church building were linked together to form a single building, with a modern steel and glass link building.
The seating in the gallery was re-opened for use again and the pews on the ground floor were replaced with chairs. The sanctuary area was considerably extended to facilitate flexible use of the area both for worship and appropriate secular events.
Modern heating and lighting systems were installed and the very large pipe organ was replaced with an Ahlborn pipeless organ. The original pipe organ is now located in a Roman Catholic Church in Nemencine in Lithuania. Ongoing improvements have occurred including the introduction of a central large screen projection facility and smaller screens for use by the congregation during services.
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