Keenley Methodist Chapel

I like humble. I like humility. I like the middle of nowhere and stone walls and styles. I love the pared-down smallness of Keenley Methodist Chapel in the Allen Valley, which quietly posits itself as the oldest surviving Methodist Chapel in the world.

Now stick that in your pipe and marvel!

Sitting in its own little halo of trees, I've passed it many times over the years and always yearned to peep inside, and even though it's not ordinarily open, if you try hard enough, good things happen.

I was offered the opportunity to visit thanks to our lovely Fabulous North friend Roger Morris, with whom I have an old-fashioned pen pal style relationship. If I need to learn new stuff about itinerant tea merchant Issac Holden, churches or chapels, or old buildings and bits and pieces in Allendale, Roger is my good go to guy. He's a font of knowledge and always warm and helpful.

Tucked down a track and on the path of Isaac's Tea Trail, a 37-mile hike devised by Roger Morris, which celebrates the life and movements of itinerant tea salesman Isaac Holden through the North Pennine Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB...possibly the best acronym ever), sits the small-scale but hugely significant Keenley Chapel.

It's no great shakes to look at; no Durham Cathedral. Its spire doesn't poke through the tree canopy because it doesn't have one. Its windows don't hold grandiose tales of the Northern saints. They're clear and plain, cost-effective, probably to let light in and encourage the methodical reading of Methodist prayer or hymn texts.

This is religious humility in all its glory. Pared down and practical, and a promotion from preaching in the rain. Built in 1750 and rebuilt in 1874, Keenley Chapel came about as a permanent place of worship to replace the under-tree preaching of John Wesley and the local community, maybe to dodge the raindrops or inclement winters high up in this corner of South West Northumberland.

John Wesley (1704 - 1791) was a long-lived preacher and leader of Methodism, moving from place to place to spread the word of scriptural holiness and salvation. He can be seen here in a typical pose in a painting by Maria Spilsbury, preaching to onlookers in Ireland under his trademark tree.

He was the 15th of 19 children, and was born near Lincoln to parents who were both members of the Church of England.

He came to the North East first in 1742, and preached open-air on the Quayside and then to Allendale in 1746 where he preached under a sycamore tree at Hindley Hill.

Preaching to ordinary working-class families, lead miners and the farming community, he encouraged them to become lay preachers and to develop the skills and confidence to run independent Methodist groups in the Allen Valley. He stated of these loose congregational gatherings -

From the outside, the chapel is pared down and plain. No ostentation for this congregation, but it's a fair and honest reflection of the Methodist way of life here in a rural community. Money would have been sparse, and the focus would have been on building moral structure, community connectedness and spiritual salvation. We noticed the date stone of 1750 of the original chapel marked into the stone door frame.

The chapel would have been a mainstay for the community, where Bible study took place, where teaching and learning occurred, where the message of sobriety was promoted, and where local families met to share skills, resources, and supplies.

This was a basic but brilliantly beautiful building where community was built and thrived. Methodism and its practical means meant that there was no place for piety, just pragmatism, which addressed the needs of communities living in harsh conditions and encouraged them to come together.

Stepping inside, we were greeted by a small black pot-bellied stove. Perhaps a fire is an incongruous sight to first see in a place of worship, but warmth equates to care. Care equates to community. If you offer warmth to your community, they'll stay and listen and return.

The chapel was nothing but spartan inside. Plain, inexquisite pews sat shoulder to shoulder from back to front, with large arched windows streaming light in.

There was no towering ceiling-to-floor organ with ornately decorated pipes, paid for by public subscription, but a small and humble piano.

The pulpit was the sole focus and looked like it had been built by members of the congregation, functional and utilitarian. And that's about right. People wouldn't have been encouraged to come to chapel to daydream about the interior architecture, but to hear the words of the bible to unify a poor and humble community. Many people didn't feel comfortable or represented by the established church, so Methodism and Wesley's preaching were a welcome outstretched hand that spoke directly to them and their circumstances. Many clergymen from bigger churches were embroiled in wealth and social standing and were out of touch with the needs of workers and less socially mobile families.

John Wesley hoped that -

The small chapel at Keenley would have been filled with people who, through the preaching of Wesley, believed in a greater sense of social justice.

Wesley wanted to ensure care was cast upon the whole community and encouraged 'social holiness'. He reached out to the poor to see if they had enough food in their bellies or clothes on their backs.

He said -

Relief from poverty was a huge emphasis for these small chapels, and their forward-thinking practices led to social justice initiatives such as the abolition of slavery, prison reform and the right to an education for all working people.

It's clear to see then why the set-up and layout of this chapel is functional and favourable to discussion, with an emphasis on being a collective communal space over pomp and pretension.

This long-handled collection box would have been passed down the aisles for people to make their weekly donations.

The building was rebuilt in 1874, and in 2050 will celebrate 300 years of Methodism on this small but significant site in the Allen Valley.

Whilst many similar compact chapels haven't stood the test of time due to dwindling congregations, and have perhaps become deconsecrated dwellings for today's socially mobile, it would be great to think that this little building of grit and puissance can linger on in the hearts and minds of those still to learn about the power and impact of Methodism in small communities like Allendale.

Known now as a Festival Chapel and open only on four celebratory occasions a year, the chapel is no longer open to the public, but arrangements can be made to look around for those curious to know how morals were made across these moors and to derive a feeling of a simpler way of life, where people pulled together to better their community.

Outside, it's easy to imagine why people would walk from miles around to hear Wesley preach. The views are far-reaching and captivating, all the while reminding of Allendale's tether to the lead and smelting industries, with the chimneys looking down on you.

We were kept company by a very vocal Methodist meeeeeower, who checked our every move and ensured we'd locked up and returned the key, safe for the next set of curious eyes to visit Keenley Chapel.

Perhaps one day it might make a micro museum of the history of Methodism in these far reaches. It would be nice to see it have life beyond the life it gave to others.

If you'd like to visit for yourself, you can get in touch with The Tynedale Methodist Circuit who will put you in touch with someone who can help.