Church Of St John (Methodist)

The Church of St John (Methodist), formerly known as the Wesleyan Church, is a Methodist chapel dated 1846, possibly designed by James Simpson. It is constructed of dressed stone with ashlar dressings and features a pitched Welsh slate roof. The building has two storeys set on a tall plinth with a basement. The main hall has six bays, while the front is a plain Classical design with five bays, flanked by broad clasping pilasters. The central three-bay section has a pediment with a tablet in the tympanum that reads "WESLEYAN CHAPEL." On either side, steps lead to panelled doors topped with round arched fanlights, which are set in doorcases with engaged columns, an entablature, and a blocking course. The round arched windows are adorned with architraves, keystones, impost blocks, and marginal glazing.

Inside, the chapel features a fine interior with a gallery on three sides supported by thin Corinthian columns. The walls have pilaster bay divisions, and both the gallery and ground floor are fitted with box pews, accommodating a total of 1,150 people. A handsome organ case is framed in the Corinthian order, and a tall pulpit is accessed by twin flights of stairs. The chapel also includes a communion table and an ornamental cast iron communion rail, along with cast iron balconies connecting the organ to the staircase doors and gallery.

Under the gallery, there is a bust of John Nelson, who lived from 1705 to 1774 and was the founder of the chapel, along with an inscribed tablet. John Nelson was a pioneer of early Methodism in Yorkshire. The inscribed foundation stone notes that the original Wesleyan Chapel was built in 1750, rebuilt and enlarged in 1782, and the current chapel was constructed in 1846.