Large crowds gathered on Birmingham Road on 30th May 1901 – 125 years ago today – as Cowes celebrated the arrival of an impressive new Methodist church.
The town’s new Wesleyan Methodist Church – a striking red-brick building that would dominate Birmingham Road for well over a century – officially opened its doors that day.
The new church had been built directly opposite the earlier Wesleyan chapel, which had served the town since 1831. On opening day, worshippers gathered in the old chapel before filling the spacious new building for its inaugural service.
The ambitious project even attracted support from Queen Victoria, whose £20 donation towards the building fund would equate to around £3,000 today.
Designed by London architects Messrs Bell, Withers and Meredith and constructed by London builder H. H. Sherrin, the striking new church was built in a freely treated Gothic style using red brick with Bath stone dressings. Despite the London connections, every brick used in the construction was reportedly made at the London Cowes brickfields.
Inside, the church and adjoining schoolroom featured pitch pine and red deal woodwork, a large organ, seating for around 900 worshippers and substantial community space beneath the main chapel. During the inaugural celebrations, Rev. Dr. T. Dixon contrasted the new building with the old chapel opposite, describing the earlier church as cold and uncomfortable compared with the warmth and brightness of its replacement.
The scale of the project was enormous for the time. The total cost of the church and schoolroom was around £8,000 – approximately £1.28million in today’s money. Part of that expense was offset by the sale of the old chapel opposite for £2,000, worth roughly £319,000 today. A collection taken during the opening services reportedly raised around £600.
The older Wesleyan chapel opposite had itself played a major role in Cowes life during the Victorian era, accommodating around 820 worshippers. Following the completion of the new church, the former chapel entered an entirely different chapter of the town’s history, becoming linked with Samuel Saunders and the Saunders-Roe company before later serving as a theatre, dance hall, meeting venue and printing works. Today, the heavily altered former chapel survives as Alexandra House.
The church remained one of Cowes’ best-known landmarks until its closure in 2020 following declining congregations. More recently, proposals to transform the building into a lounge café, bar and restaurant have generated debate locally about its future.
Few of those attending the opening service in 1901 could have imagined that the church would eventually close after more than a century at the heart of Cowes life.
