Hole In The Wall Warehouse

BARNARD CASTLE

NZ0516SW HOLE-IN-THE-WALL 770-1/6/79 (West side) Hole in the Wall Warehouse

II

Formerly known as: Old Meeting House HOLE-IN-THE-WALL. Methodist meeting house from c1747 until 1764, now warehouse. Early-mid C18 incorporating earlier archway. Rubble with quoins and stone dressings; roof of stone flags. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys; probably 3-window range, with central 2-storey offshut, possibly a stair wing, to west. North gable facing Queen Street has low eroded chamfered elliptical head to arch over lane which passes under the building. Inserted double boarded vehicle doors at right; stone surround to blocked opening at left on first floor, with lower blocking rubble and the upper brick. At right a boarded loading door under wider wood lintel. In gable peak, old brick patching high in centre, small blocked opening at left with flat stone lintel; boarded shutter at right under thin wood lintel. Left return, partly blocked at left by adjoining shed, shows part of one and all of another tall blocked opening with flat stone lintels. Right return to public car park behind Market Place shows pent roof to west wing with blocked openings on each floor. INTERIOR: not inspected. HISTORY: this was the first meeting room of the Methodists after the group was established c1747 under the leadership of Joseph Cheesebrough who persuaded Catherine Graves to form a class at Barnard Castle. This class met here because private houses were too small for the growing numbers and a secluded place was needed to avoid attracting attention. John Wesley probably preached here on his second visit to Barnard Castle in 1761. The first Methodist chapel (qv) in the town was built in 1764 in Broad Gate to accommodate the greater numbers. (Steele A: The History of Methodism in Barnard Castle and..the Dales...: London: 1857-: 17,29,71 ETC).

Listing NGR: NZ0514316367