New Road Methodist Church

New Road Methodist Church

A free-Gothic style Methodist church with a three-bay front facing the street, comprising a gabled central bay and outer bays hipped to the sides. The front is coursed rock-faced stone with lighter stone dressings, and is under a slate roof. The central bay is flanked by plain pilasters that project from upper-window level as polygonal turrets on corbels. The ogee caps of the turrets have blind cusped arches and ball finials. Two central pointed doorways have boarded doors, overlights and a continuous hood mould. Above the doorways is an inscription band reading 'United Methodist Church'. At the upper level is a four-light segmental-headed window. Above a transom the main light divides into eight narrow pointed lights with leaves carved into the spandrels. The window has a sill band continuous across the front and returning around the sides of the end bays. Above the main window are three stepped lights, the central pointed and its head engraved with the date of the building, the outer flat-headed. A thin moulding defines the base of a parapet. A Celtic cross is on the ridge. Flanking the doorways the outer bays have paired lancets under linked hoods that have square foliage panels between each pair of lancets. The upper level has plainer pairs of lancets. The outer bays have single-bay return walls, which have a single lancet under a moulded hood above the upper sill band, lighting the gallery.

The eaves line of the outer bays is slightly higher than the side walls of the main body of the chapel. The left side wall is roughcast and has pointed windows renewed in original openings. The right side wall is similar but is of rubble stone with brick dressings. Beyond the main chapel, a lower integral vestry behind has a replaced door below a sash window on the right side, and segmental-headed windows to the gable end.

The vestibule has a wide three-light glass panel opposite the doorway with Art Nouveau coloured glass. Flanking Tudor-arched doorways with panelled doors lead to the main chapel, while Tudor arches right and left lead to the gallery stairs. These openings, as well as the main windows, have thin shafts to the jambs. The main chapel has a five-bay collar-beam roof, the principals of which stand on foliage corbels, while the roof is ceiled at collar-beam level and has three ceiling roses. A gallery to the rear stands on three cast iron columns that have foliage capitals and are panelled below shaft rings set at a low level. The open cast iron gallery front has a bowed cross section and foliage panels. Behind the pulpit is a second raked gallery under a two-centred pointed arch and incorporating the organ. This gallery has a plainer panelled front with blind trefoils and quatrefoils. The rear vestry is beneath this gallery. The main floor is slightly ramped and has benches with moulded ends incorporating blind trefoils. The pulpit has pointed-arch panels and is flanked by steps with moulded square newels and balusters. The communion rail has moulded newels to the ends and a moulded hand rail, with iron balusters composed of twisted columns and foliage sprays. To the left and right of the pulpit are panelled doors to the vestry.