Re-Form Heritage to become new owner of ‘Cathedral of the Potteries’ Bethesda Chapel

Stoke-on-Trent-based charity Re-form Heritage is set to become the new owner of Bethesda Methodist Chapel in Hanley – and plans to transform the little-used former place of worship into a thriving centre for education and events.

The independent heritage organisation, which owns and operates Middleport Pottery, is now negotiating a charity-to-charity property transfer with the Grade II*-listed building’s owner, the Historic Chapels Trust (HCT), which is currently undergoing an estate-wide dispersal process ahead of the charity being wound up.

Following a viability study, the proposed scheme would see the chapel welcome specialist college Pinc College as an anchor tenant, alongside offering exhibition and performance space, and some heritage interpretation. The estimated total cost of delivery, including capital works, building fabric repairs, activity costs and project management is £996,822.

Re-Form Heritage chief executive Dr Alasdair Brooks said: “We’re delighted to be taking on Bethesda Methodist Chapel as our first major project under our new status as the Heritage Development Trust for Stoke-on-Trent, and to be developing a sustainable future for this much-loved site in partnership with Pinc College.

“We’re grateful to the Historic Chapels Trust for showing confidence in us as the building’s new custodians, and we look forward to working with the Friends of Bethesda Chapel and other local community stakeholders as we finalise plans for the site in the coming months.  Our thanks also go to our funders from the Architectural Heritage Fund, The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England for supporting our work.”

Known as ‘the Cathedral of the Potteries’, the two-storey Bethesda Methodist Chapel dates from 1819 and is one of the largest surviving chapels outside London, seating 2,000 people. It closed for worship in 1985 after congregations dwindled and is currently on Historic England’s heritage at risk register, where its condition is described as ‘fair’.

Urgent structural repairs to the exterior of the chapel were completed with the help of £108,716 funding from the UK government’s Cultural Assets Fund which was distributed by the National Heritage Memorial Fund. The funding was part of a £3,689,000 investment awarded in 2022 to Historic Chapels Trust, to support urgent conservation works for Bethesda Methodist Chapel and seven other Grade I and Grade II* listed chapels in England, all on Historic England’s Heritage At Risk Register. The repairs were a key milestone for the Historic Chapels Trust to find suitable long-term owners for the chapels and secure their futures.

In 2003 the chapel gained national attention when it came fourth in the BBC’s Restoration television series, which saw viewers vote for which listed building would win a grant for remedial works. It has been owned by the Historic Chapels Trust, which looks after redundant non-conformist and Catholic places of worship in England, since 2002.

Since December 2023 Re-Form Heritage has been the heritage development trust for Stoke-on-Trent, with backing and funding from the Architectural Heritage Fund, The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England, and recognition from Stoke-on-Trent City Council. As a heritage development trust, Re-form Heritage can access funding, apply for grants and receive guidance from consultants and mentors in order to acquire and redevelop local historic buildings.

The charity undertook a viability study, which was funded by the Architectural Heritage Fund as part of the heritage development trust programme, to see whether a sustainable future could be identified for Bethesda Methodist Chapel. A consultation event was held in August last year so that members of the public could share their views about the chapel’s future as part of the study.

After considering options, Re-form Heritage proposes to create an educational centre in the chapel, with Pinc College, a specialist college that offers education and pathways into employment for neurodivergent young people aged 16-24 years, as anchor tenant.

Studio workspaces for the college, which already has bases in the city at Middleport Pottery and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, would be arranged under the first-floor gallery, with a multi-functional performance and exhibition space, available for public events, in the nave. The organ and pews in the gallery would be retained, and new toilet and kitchen facilities would be built.

It is hoped that events for Stoke-on-Trent’s centenary celebrations could be held in the chapel this summer, ahead of building works starting later in the year. The project could be completed in 2026.

Chris Smith, chair of Historic Chapels Trust, said: “It is with great regret that HCT has to bring its long involvement with Bethesda to an end.  But since the building must pass into the hands of others, we are absolutely delighted that the new owner will be Re-Form Heritage.

“Re-Form’s origins and deep roots in Middleport and subsequent developing status and portfolio of initiatives across Stoke-on-Trent give us great reassurance for the future.  We are confident that Re-Form’s commitment to the imaginative re-use of the great city of Stoke-on -Trent’s many heritage assets - Bethesda standing proud among them - and the important activities of Pinc, their chosen tenant, will bring exciting and wholly new life to Bethesda.” 

The viability study also considered the neighbouring One Bethesda Street, a privately owned Grade II-listed former restaurant. The initial project will focus on the regeneration of Bethesda Methodist Chapel, with some project viability and development work for One Bethesda Street taking place alongside.