16 ISLE OF MAN EXAMINER www.iomtoday.co.im Tuesday, July 28, 2020 BUILDINGS AT RISK The island’s chapels – a saving grace? Our Buildings at Risk series preachers were due to hold Church Hall for St Thomas’s, covers buildings and struc- services – they are not now in whose parish it was situ- tures at risk, lost, and saved, necessarily where that origi- ated. Since then it has been including the ways some can nal building was. the Red Cross Hall and more find new sustainable lives By the end of the Second recently the home of the Doug- when no longer needed for World War in 1945, the num- las Town Band. their original purpose. ber of chapels in use was about The Primitive Methodists, The island’s chapels fall into 100 and at present some 31 are or ‘Prims’ – often referred to all these categories. This week still active. as ‘The Ranters’ because of Frank Cowin looks at some In part, the large num- their forceful preaching – al- of their history and how, bers are because of the split most matched the number of when no longer needed for over the years of a number of Wesleyan buildings, so that worship, fortunate ones have groups away from Wesleyan the Methodist chapels could secured new lives as dwell- Methodism. be said to march two-by-two ings or fulfil useful roles as In the case of the Isle of through the countryside. workshops or stores; how Man, it was the Primitive Indeed, it is said that A.W. These two photos show different views of Lhen chapel in the north of the island – is it a sleeping beauty? The above some have suffered neglect or Methodists who felt that Moore was asked by King Ed- images is from 1990while the below shot is from this year demolition; and how some are Methodism had moved away ward during his 1902 visit to now at risk. from its original roots in the the island: ‘Tell me, Mr Moore, early 1820s, and wanted great- what are these buildings we mong the build- er freedom to preach in the often see at the cross roads – ings currently at open air as indeed John Wes- they are too large to be houses most risk are the ley had originally done. but too small to be factories?’ island’s church- A much smaller group who es and chapels. missioned the Isle of Man in hese of course AThe parish churches with the 1880s, despite having bro- were Method- their burial grounds have a ken from the Wesleyans some ist chapels, but degree of inherent protection, 100 years before, were the those which had although this is not absolute Methodist New Connection. replaced the orig- as shown by Lonan and even They however only had Tinals for both Wesleyans and more so by St Mary’s Ballure. four known meeting places in Primitives who in their early These, however, are a sepa- the island. years built small buildings. rate and complex concern, In Ramsey they met in the In both cases the original as opposed to the Methodist Hallelujah Hall, at one stage chapels were built so as to be chapels and Anglican chapels the Band of Hope Hall and able to be easily converted into of ease. more recently a shop, for a dwellings. Methodism in the Isle of period occupied by the Manx The thinking behind this Man since its early days – just Electricity Authority. was that if the cause pros- before John Wesley’s first visit They also had meeting pered, they could build a big- in 1777 – has had just over 200 places, at addresses unknown, ger dedicated chapel nearby places of worship. in Laxey and Castletown, but and use the original chapel as Some of these were in farm the only building erected for a Sunday school or hall. porting landowner ‘for so long across the island. A good ex- A similar sequence hap- buildings or members’ homes them was a chapel built in But if the cause failed, then as it remained a Methodist ample is at the Cooil where pened at Barregarrow where and not all can now be located 1889 in Derby Road, Douglas, there was an asset which could preaching house’. An exam- the original chapel built in the there was a chapel in 1798 with any degree of certainty. principally to meet the needs readily become someone’s ple of this is the site Cronk-y- 1790s on the ‘east’ side of the which was replaced in 1816 to Even where a modern of the growing number of home. Croghee at Michael. road was rebuilt in 1834, and honour a site at which John chapel has the same name as summer visitors. This scheme sometimes The conservation nature then in 1870 replaced with a Wesley had preached. on the original circuit plans But by 1914 the building went wrong when the building of the building programmes new chapel on the opposite The present chapel – still in – the quarterly lists of where had been sold and became the was on land donated by a sup- can be seen many times over side of the road. use – dates from 1880 and the The former Dhoor Chapel - which is now a dwelling - that was used by renowned Manx poet TE Brown as a setting The former Garey Chapel on the Jurby Road, built in 1833 - a good example of the non-chapel appearance of small for part of his remembrance of Chalse-a-Killey chapels built at that period Tuesday, July 28, 2020 www.iomtoday.co.im ISLE OF MAN EXAMINER 17 BUILDINGS AT RISK Ballakaneen, Andreas - there was a chapel on this site since at least 1782. The original chapel was replaced in 1863, and this building – the Sunday School – was added alongside in 1880. This became used as the chapel in 1982 when the chapel alongside was demolished. Now closed and converted to a dwelling Former Leodest Chapel (in Andreas) which has since been sympathetically converted to a dwelling Sunday school building op- memorating with regret the posite is dated 1901 and is now death of Chalse-a-Killey: a workshop (see Buildings at Risk, Isle of Man Examiner, ‘And do you remember, Chalse, April 3, 2018). How at the Dhoor - Both Cooil and Barregar- Near Ramsey, to be sure - row chapels have the pews I got two painters tiered in the style of a lecture painting in the chapel theatre, a pattern also fol- To make with me a congregation?’ lowed in some of the other single-storey Manx capels. This building was convert- Three very similar former ed into a dwelling soon after chapels in the north of the worship ceased. island are just off-square, Some of the conversions to with the roof sloping to all dwellings of the older chapels four sides and with only a very can be difficult to recognise short length of horizontal at first sight. Raby, Patrick, ridge. Knocksharry and the Garey The first to be built ap- (Lezayre) are perhaps good ex- pears to be that at the Lhen amples of this. erected in 1825 to replace a With other buildings, their Ballaugh - (left) the original chapel in the Glen Road where John Wesley conducted a service; and right, its replacement on a larger site to the north of the meeting place in use in 1798, original use is much more ob- village centre. Both have now been converted to houses with worship ceasing in 1981. vious - examples include San- It seems to have seen very little ton Memorial, Upper Foxdale, use since and is now cloaked Smeale (Andreas), Glascoe Willaston, one of the only two is currently registered. by Richard de Mandeville. the committee of Praying in ivy. (Bride), and both Laxey Glen chapels built since the Sec- The latest chapel to cease A little further up the slope the Keeills are attempting to Leodest – just north of Road and Minorca. ond World War. A number, of worship is Kerrowkeeil which of South Barrule is where John put together a scheme which Andreas – was also a meet- course, have found a contin- appears to be the oldest chapel Wesley preached on the hill- would mean its doors can be ing place in 1798. The build- xamples of larger ued use as stores, garages and still in Methodist ownership, side during his visit in 1781. kept open to welcome passers ing dates to 1835 and when chapels altered the like. having been built in 1814. The Triskelion Way Pilgrim by and where special services, worship ceased it was used to create apart- The only two existing As its name suggests there Route from Rushen Abbey to events and displays can be as a farm store, but in recent ments are Chris- buildings known to have been was a keeill, an early earth and Maughold via the cathedrals at housed. years has been altered into a tian Street, Peel, used by John Wesley during stone chapel erected about Peel passes the door. dwelling. Eand the as-yet uncompleted his visits are Bridge Street 1,000 years ago on the adjoin- The chapel is a welcome l For more information, or if The chapel at the Dhoor – Buck’s Road, Douglas. chapel, Peel – now a youth cen- ing land. half-day’s walk calling point you feel you can help towards between Ramsey and Regaby Relatively few have been tre – and Ballaugh old chapel Nearby is a battle site for walkers. this in any way, please contact – was built in 1839 and is the demolished either for rede- alongside the upper glen road, where some 40 Manxmen The Manx Methodist His- [email protected] or Andrew setting for part of the narra- velopment of the site or area; which is now a cottage.