A LANDMARK Chester church is up for sale after more than a century of worship.
The Sealand Road United Reformed Church, the city’s only tin chapel, held its final service in May last year and was put up for sale by auction just before Christmas.
The closure has seen members of the congregation move to Garden Lane Methodist Church, as part of a Local Ecumenical Partnership (LEP) that amalgamates churches of two or more denominations in one worship centre.
The historic building, on the corner of Whipcord Lane and Catherine Street, was built in May 1909 from a flat-pack set costing £282, funded by donations from loyal churchgoers JW Clarke and JA Rigby. In today’s money, this would equate to about £55,000.
Originally supposed to be just a temporary structure, the chapel, which celebrated its 100th anniversary three years ago, has certainly stood the test of time, surviving more than 10 decades and two world wars.
The trend of tin chapels, or tabernacles as they are also known, began after corrugated sheet iron was invented in Britain in the 1820s, and were never intended to be permanent buildings.
A spokesperson for the United Reformed Church confirmed the church was up for sale and said: “The LEP process is now under way and the Sealand Road congregation have now combined with the methodist church on Garden Lane.”
