Longton Central Methodist Hall

Longton Central Methodist Hall

This Methodist hall is a 1933 adaptation of an 1842 chapel, situated on the west side of the Strand.

The building is constructed of red brick laid in stretcher bond with reconstituted-stone dressings. Windows have iron frames and leaded glass. The roof is slate.

The main hall is rectangular with a curved west end, orientated roughly east-west. Adjoining it to the south is a caretaker's flat with an irregular plan which oversails a pedestrian passage into a courtyard and provides entrance to the former school building to the rear.

The principal façade is a symmetrical three-storey neo-Georgian composition. A wide central bay is faced in stone with wide stone angle-pilasters and a deep cornice framing the façade. The ground-floor entrance is recessed between rusticated piers and has a metal canopy above. Two pairs of oak double doors with large windows and margin glazing-bars lead into the lobby, topped by an oak panel. On either side are shop units with twentieth-century frontages and rusticated piers at the angles. Above the canopy, the frontispiece has a double-height Renaissance arch containing three-light leaded windows on the first and second floors, flanked by giant pilasters with stylised classical mouldings. A shield with swags and scrolls appears in the tympanum of the open pediment. Three window bays flank either side; those on the first floor have projecting sills, and those on the second have gauged brick arches. Moulded stone panels with central discs fill the vertical space between windows. Windows are leaded with margin glazing bars and small stained-glass designs at the centre of the upper panes. The roof is hipped with an apex chimneystack. Return elevations are plain with two storeys of four lights. A hipped lantern on the roof above the main hall has leaded clerestory lights.

The caretaker's flat adjoins the hall on the left, standing lower than the main façade. Though plainer in treatment, it shares detailing such as leaded windows. The ground floor has a plain opening into the pedestrian passage to the rear courtyard and an entrance doorway with simple architrave and half-glazed door. The stone storey course of the main façade continues, above which are three windows with stone sills and gauged brick arches to each storey. A plain stone band marks the parapet.

Internally, terrazzo-lined steps lead into a lobby, a wide open space with a parquet floor. A wide timber screen divides the lobby and main hall, containing two pairs of half-glazed double doors with a row of lights above. The glazing has geometric leading with coloured and textured glass and decorative motifs and shields. Stairs ascend on either side of the lobby, providing access to the gallery and upper floors; these are timber with curved treads at the bottom. Gilded plaster mouldings enrich the ceilings, with glass pendant-light fittings. The upper floors house a prayer room and caretaker accommodation over two floors, with two reception rooms at first-floor level and two bedrooms above accessed via a timber 1930s stair.

The main hall is a lofty open-plan space with a gallery around three sides. A rostrum, large organ, and orchestra gallery occupy the west end. Stained-glass windows along either side light the main floor and gallery, with a clerestory lantern in the roof. The rostrum, approximately 1.5 metres high, has a panelled oak front with a central alcove beneath the stage and a low rail in front. Raked choir seating fans upwards and outwards at the rear, with narrow timber stairs on either side. The wide rank of organ pipes forms a backdrop with moulded oak casings. A series of fluted cast-iron columns on the main floor support the gallery above; its balustrade has moulded piers above the columns and fielded panels between, with a projecting cornice forming a handrail. The soffit of the gallery rakes upwards with moulded ribs. The columns continue to rise from the gallery balustrade and have Corinthian capitals supporting the clerestory lantern above. The gallery has raked tilting seating. A moulded cornice supports ribs sloping upwards to meet large coffered moulded panels of the ceiling; a dentil moulding borders the clerestory, and the roof above has further deep moulded ribs. Choir and minister's vestry rooms are accessed at the rear of the hall beneath the stage and choir seating. A passage at the south-west end leads to the former school building.