22. John Wesley and Church Stairs Street. 

John Wesley, ‘the Father of Methodism’ was a frequent visitor to Scarborough between 1759 and 1790, making a total of 14 visits. He was particularly fond of the chapel, which local Methodists built as their first permanent meeting place on Church Stairs Street in 1772. Wesley described this building as ‘the most elegant square room which we have in England’, preaching to ‘elegant congregations’ there on four occasions between 1772 and 1790. The chapel occupied a site, which is now an extension of St. Mary’s graveyard on the right of Church Stairs Street as you descend to Longwestgate, adjoining some post-war council housing. By the 1830s, local support for Methodism had outgrown the limited facilities on Church Stairs Street and the Blacksmith’s Arms, on Queen Street, was purchased for £2,000. In 1840, the first Queen Street Chapel, designed by James Simpson was erected on vacant land adjoining the Blacksmith’s Arms, which was itself re-named the Castle Hotel at about this time. (The Castle Hotel has since been demolished after being damaged by fire. The site is now occupied by Blackfriars House, so called because at one time there was a Dominican Priory on this site). The chapel of 1840 was shell-damaged in the 1914 bombardment of Scarborough and then destroyed by fire a few months later. The present-day Queen Street Methodist Central Hall, by G. E. Withers, with its distinctive twin cupolas and somewhat Byzantine appearance, was built after the 1914-18 war on the same site and opened in 1923. Wesley’s own scratched inscription – ‘Watch and Pray – Wesley V. D. M.’ – on a small pane of glass, believed to have come from the Church Stairs Street Chapel, is in Scarborough Museums Trust Store 'Woodend' on The Crescent. To get back to the town centre, turn right at the bottom of Church Stairs Street and proceed along Longwestgate and Friar’s Way for 500 yards to the T-junction with Queen Street. Turn left here passing what was the Talbot Hotel and the Queen Street Methodist Central Hall. At Newborough turn right for town centre destinations.

John Wesley, ‘the Father of Methodism’ was a frequent visitor to Scarborough between 1759 and 1790, making a total of 14 visits. He was particularly fond of the chapel, which local Methodists built as their first permanent meeting place on Church Stairs Street in 1772. Wesley described this building as ‘the most elegant square room which we have in England’, preaching to ‘elegant congregations’ there on four occasions between 1772 and 1790. The chapel occupied a site, which is now an extension of St. Mary’s graveyard on the right of Church Stairs Street as you descend to Longwestgate, adjoining some post-war council housing. By the 1830s, local support for Methodism had outgrown the limited facilities on Church Stairs Street and the Blacksmith’s Arms, on Queen Street, was purchased for £2,000. In 1840, the first Queen Street Chapel, designed by James Simpson was erected on vacant land adjoining the Blacksmith’s Arms, which was itself re-named the Castle Hotel at about this time. (The Castle Hotel has since been demolished after being damaged by fire. The site is now occupied by Blackfriars House, so called because at one time there was a Dominican Priory on this site). The chapel of 1840 was shell-damaged in the 1914 bombardment of Scarborough and then destroyed by fire a few months later. The present-day Queen Street Methodist Central Hall, by G. E. Withers, with its distinctive twin cupolas and somewhat Byzantine appearance, was built after the 1914-18 war on the same site and opened in 1923. Wesley’s own scratched inscription – ‘Watch and Pray – Wesley V. D. M.’ – on a small pane of glass, believed to have come from the Church Stairs Street Chapel, is in Scarborough Museums Trust Store 'Woodend' on The Crescent. To get back to the town centre, turn right at the bottom of Church Stairs Street and proceed along Longwestgate and Friar’s Way for 500 yards to the T-junction with Queen Street. Turn left here passing what was the Talbot Hotel and the Queen Street Methodist Central Hall. At Newborough turn right for town centre destinations.


Thanks for taking this walk.
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