Contents: Methodism | Bradford West | Bradford Woodhouse Grove
The following link takes you to The Methodist Church of Great Britain's web site.
At the turn of the 19th Century, Bradford was a small rural market town of 16,000 people,where wool spinning and cloth weaving was carried out in local cottages and farms.
Industrial growth led to the rapid expansion of the city. Between 1800 and 1850 Bradford changed from a rural town amongst the woods and fields to a sprawling town filling the valley sides. By 1841 there were more than 100 mills in the borough and it was estimated that two-thirds of the country's wool production was processed in Bradford.
During the same period, in what is now the Bradford West Methodist Circuit, Rev. Patrick Bronte was appointed as Curate at Thornton Church. Maria Bronte gave birth to Charlotte Bronte, Patrick Branwell Bronte, Emily Jane Bronte and Anne Bronte. The house where Mr Bronte wrote and published two books and where, by the age of three, each of the children in turn would be learning their alphabet and singing nursery rhymes still stands at 72/74 Market Street, Thornton.
Richard Ostler, a rich mill owner and committed campaigner for the improvement in working conditions in the Bradford mills, was disinherited by his father for his Methodism.
Towards the end of the century in 1862 Frederick Delius, the renowned composer, was born in Bradford and later attended Bradford Grammar School. In 1873 Samuel Lister opened the largest textile mill in England and J. B. Priestly was born in 1894 at 34 Mannheim Road all just a few streets away from Little Lane and Trinity churches.
Mills that made Bradford the wool capital of the world (Worstedopolis) have in most cases disappeared. Those that remain are now, as part of the City's regeneration, undergoing transformation as they are refurbished into new life as apartments or office complexes.
Bradford West Circuit has also been through many changes, which are dealt with in more detail in our history pages. There are now eight churches in the Circuit, two of which are local ecumenical projects sharing with URC and Baptist Church. At one end of the Circuit Trinity and Little Lane are inner city churches in the middle of one of Bradford's largest Muslim communities. Both congregations are engaged in ecumenical initiatives aimed at sharing the Gospel in the communities that surround them.
As the circuit spreads west from the city centre, the cultural diversity lessens and the inner city - inter faith congregations give way to a more rural way of life and congregation.
Welcomed national improvements for life expectancy have led Methodism and other denominations to look carefully at the pastoral care and support provided for older members of their congregations. Bradford West Circuit's response in September 2001 was to employ a lay pastoral worker, who works with the ministerial staff in offering pastoral care to the older members of all the churches.
July 2005 saw the launch of our first Holiday at Home. The event, centred on Allerton church, was aimed at elderly or housebound members of the circuit not able to go away on holiday. Thirty-four holiday guests and thirty-four helpers enjoyed a week of outings, which included the cinema and a bus ride to Settle Market. Other activities included craft sessions, a Fish and Chip Lunch and a Tea Dance that was attended by the Lord Mayor and her Consort. There were even holiday postcards for everybody to send.
Our churches are more than just places to go and pray on Sundays - they are all part of the rich texture that is the community in West Bradford. Our buildings are used by a number of different groups which meet there and activities include; English courses for Asian women (run by the college), music and art groups as well as the usual Cubs, Beavers, Scouts, Brownies, Guides and Mothers and Toddlers groups.
Sources
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1738 | Conversion of John Wesley, Aldersgate Street, London, 24 May | |
| 1742 | First evidence of Ingham Society at Idle | WW |
| 1744 | First visit of John Wesley to Bradford | CM |
| 1747 | First Methodist class in Bradford | CM |
| 1763 | First Methodist Cash Account extant for Idle | WW |
| 1775 | First Eccleshill Chapel opened at Lands Lane | WW |
| 1781 | First extant list of members for Idle | WW |
| 1784 | First class meeting at Thackley | TMC |
| 1797 | Thackley class disbanded after membership dropped to three | TMC |
| 1798 | Great Revival and increase in society at Idle | WW |
| 1805 | First Methodist Sunday School in Idle founded | WW |
| 1810 | Old chapel built at Idle | WW |
| 1812 | Woodhouse Grove Academy opened | WW |
| 1813 | Woodhouse Grove Circuit formed | WW |
| 1822 | Class reformed at Thackley and meeting in members' homes | TMC |
| 1829 | Yeadon Circuit separated from Woodhouse Grove Circuit | WW |
| 1832 | First Chapel built in Calverley | CM |
| 1833 | First Woodhouse Grove Chapel opened | WW |
| 1835 | First chapel opened at Undercliffe | WW |
| 1838 | Greengates School/chapel opened by Mr William Dawson | WW |
| 1842 | Great Revival | WW |
| 1845 | Formation of new trust for Idle | WW |
| 1849 | Opening of first Sunday School, Idle | WW |
| 1854 | Bolton School and Chapel built | WW |
| 1854 | First Methodist Sunday School built in Calverley | CM |
| 1855 | Second Eccleshill Chapel built at Stony Lane | WW |
| 1856 | First Thackley Chapel opened | WW |
| 1860 | Great revival | WW |
| 1861 | Calverley Chapel demolished and new chapel built on Clarke Street site | CM |
| 1871 | New chapel opened in Idle | WW |
| 1872 | Primitive Methodist Chapel built in Calverley (Park Chapel) | CM |
| 1873 | Thackley chapel extended | TMC |
| 1876 | First marriage at Calverley Wesleyan Chapel | CM |
| 1888 | Thackley chapel damaged by fire and demolished | TMC |
| 1889 | New chapel opened at Thackley on 7 March | TMC |
| 1893 | Springfield Mission opened | WW |
| 1894 | New organ at Idle | WW |
| 1903 | New Sunday Schools opened at Idle | WW |
| 1905 | Thackley Chapel registered for marriages | TMC |
| 1907 | Formation of Otley Road and Woodhouse Grove Circuit | WW |
| 1910 | Centenary of First Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Idle | WW |
| 1932 | Union of Wesleyan, Primitive and United Methodists as the Methodist Church | CM |
| 1933 | Calverley Wesleyan chapel renamed Trinity Methodist Church, Calverley | CM |
| 1943 | Union of Park and Trinity societies to form Calverley Methodist Church | CF |
| Trinity Chapel demolished | ||
| 1962 | Thackley Sunday School damaged by fire | TMC |
| 1963 | Union of Stony Lane and Norman Lane churches to form Eccleshill Methodist Church on Norman Lane site | CR |
| 1967 | Union of Otley Road and St Andrew's churches on St Andrew's site | CR |
| 1968 | Clarke Street Sunday School at Calverley demolished and site sold. | CF |
| 1970 | New hall opened at Thackley | TMC |
| 1970 | New hall opened at Calverley | CF |
| 1989 | Refurbishment of Thackley church with removal of pews | TMC |
| 1998 | New church built at Bolton | |
| 2004 | St Andrew's refurbished | |
| 2004 | Thackley became a community centre and launched a redevelopment project. | |
| 2005 | Rev Nick Blundell joined the Circuit as minister of St Andrew's and the District Mission Enabling Officer. Nick replaced Rev Darren Garfield. | |
| 2005 | Sharon Fell joined the Circuit as the Youth and Children's Worker | |
| 2006 | Circuit achieved Fairtrade status. | |
| 2006 | Circuit "Salt People" Mission led by Cliff College. | |
| 2006 | Rev Keith Hunt joined the Circuit as Superintendent, replacing Rev Albert Gayle. | |
| 2007 | Rev Freddy Takavarasha (probationer) joined the Circuit, replacing Rev Harry Scott, as minister of Bolton, Calverley and Thorp churches. | |
| 2008 | Thorp closed its doors for the last time on Sunday 27 July 2008. | |
| 2009 | 5 July Rev Freddy Takavarasha was ordained. | |
| 2009 | 12 July Circuit Celebration at Calverley Methodist Church | |
| 2009 | 1 September - the Bradford Woodhouse Grove Circuit ceased to be and its churches joined others from Bradford West and Shipley and Bingley to form the new Bradford North Circuit. |
Our last edition was published in July 2009. The archive is held in a remote file store. Clicking on the links below will take you to a prompt to download the file.
| 2004 | December | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | March | June | November |
| 2006 | March | July | November |
| 2007 | March | July | November |
| 2008 | March | July | November |
| 2009 | March | July |
