Former Bolton Brow Methodist Church and Canal Warehouse

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 17 May 2021 to remove superfluous source details from text and reformat the text to current standards

SE 0623-0723 13/7

SOWERBY BRIDGE BOLTON BROW (south side) Former Bolton Brow Methodist Church and Canal Warehouse

II Methodist church, now motorcycle store, and canal warehouse. 1831, extended 1868. Coursed squared watershot stone with ashlar facade; slate roof. Two storey, five x six bay church facing on to Bolton Brow, the ground falling away steeply to rear to give six storeys, the lower four providing warehouse accommodation.

Bolton Brow front: symmetrical facade with rusticated ground floor, first floor band, cornice and blocking course. Central bay is recessed and has: on ground floor a Venetian window with fluted pilasters, console keystone and sash window; on first floor a tripartite window with apron and central sixteen-pane sash under fanlight with glazing bars ringed by an outer light divided into circles, the whole in a rusticated surround with leafy keystone Outer bays have: on ground floor, flanking central bay, a six-panel door under overlight with glazing bars in architrave with rosettes to frieze and cornice; to each outer bay a sixteen-pane sash (right one removed); on first floor a round-arched window with fixed window with glazing bars, keystone and projecting cill to each bay. Hipped roof.

Rear: ground and first floors each have a wide central doorway with monolithic lintel and two windows each side; second and third floors each have five sashes with glazing bars; fourth floor (Chapel) has a central Venetian window flanked by sashes with glazing bars; fifth floor has three round-arched windows. Returns: round-headed windows to top floor and paired gutter brackets at eaves; right return has a straight joint between bays four and five indicating extension.

Interior of church: horseshoe gallery on fluted columns, the former panelled front removed from all but the west end where some panelling also survives upstairs. Panelled dado round body of church, removed from west end; remains of platform at each end; ceiling divided into three panels, the central section having three elaborate light roses; blue-glazed margins to windows.

In 1840 the Trustees agreed that the Rochdale Canal Company should be provided with accommodation under the Chapel

Listing NGR: SE0651123763