Winterburn Chapel

Winterburn Chapel-of-Ease circa 1933

A chapel is recorded in Winterburn from the 13th century, though the current building owes its existence to the dissenters of the 17th century. Roger Proctor lived at Coppercott and in his Will of 1517 he left 13s 4d for a "priest to sing for my soulle at Winterburn Chapel". It is thought that this chapel was in the area around Friars Head and St Helen's Well.

The Toleration Act of 1689 allowed dissenters from the Church of England to set up their own licensed meeting places and the Winterburn Independant Presbyterian chapel was originally founded in 1694 in the home of Thomas Walley. The building seen today dates from 1703 when Thomas Whalley decided “to build a house for God”, and it was completed in 1704 with the following named as trustees:

Sir  John  Middleton of  Calton, Bart. (Son in law of Barbara Lambert, daughter in law of General Lambert)
David  Yates of  Bordley, Gent 
William  Keighley of  Rylstone,Yeoman
Comberback Leech of  Calton, Clerk (Chaplain to  Sir  John  Middleton)

The chapel deed states that:

“the said  Thomas  Whalley did hereto purchase two cottages called Brigghouses and a parcel of land called  Brigg Garth and one of the said houses is demolished and a new edifice lately erected where it stood and the said Thomas Whalley is minded and disposed to settle the new- erected edifice to be a chapel, oratory, or meeting place for religious worship, upon trust to permit the same to be used and employed as a meeting place of a particular church or congregation of  Protestants dissenting from the Church of  England,  the minister or  Teacher to be an able  Protestant minister of the gospel, who, in his judgement and practice as to church discipline, is  Presbyterian …”

The indenture conveying the chapel to the trustees stipulated that:

“ the minister ….to pray and preach  God’s word, administer the Sacraments of the New  Testament and perform all offices and duties belonging to that sacred function so as every such Minister etc. be orthodox and sound in the faith of the Lord  Jesus  Christ and such as hold and profess the  Doctrinal  Articles of the Church of  England”

In 1708 Mrs  Lambert left  £100 to Thomas Whalley and the Chapel Trustees, for the support of such a minister, and in 1711 a memorandum was added to the deed saying that if the congregation of Winterburn and Horton should agree to hold joint meetings in a more convenient place “which is much desired by Mrs  Lambert”, the trustees might convert the Winterburn  Chapel either into a dwelling house for the minister or to any other use for the benefit of the congregation. For a long time the Presbyterians held services at Winterburn and Horton alternately. 

Robert  Hesketh, the minister in 1720, was summoned to appear before the Court “for suffering the doors of the meeting house to be shut at the time of their meeting -- the said Robert  Hesketh being the teacher of the said meeting”.

The chapel was placed in the care of the  Skipton  Congregational  Chapel in 1848 and The Yorkshire Congregational  Year  Book reported “ This is one of the stations where from local circumstances, the population is frequently changing.  Mr  Richardson conducts service in the chapel every Sunday afternoon and for that purpose has to walk fourteen miles.  His average congregation is fifty.  In summer it is more, in winter it is less”.

In 1862 Mr Richardson appealed for donations towards the cost of renovation, saying “Winterburn  Chapel is situated in a thinly-populated district, the amount of the population in the radius of four miles being about 700.  The  Parish  Church is four miles distant and no place of worship nearer than three miles.  Attendance on  Sabbath days averages sixty-five.  Persons comprising the congregation are chiefly farm servants”.
The cost of renovation was £152.

When Mr Richardson retired in 1871 the Chapel closed and was later reopened by the vicar of Gargrave as a chapel-of-ease remaining in use until about 1896. In 1906 after an appeal for gifts of furnishings by Archdeacon Kilner it again reopened and was used until the latter half of the 20th century.

The chapel was held by the Trustees of the Yorkshire Congregational Union, it was listed Grade 2 in 1954 and eventually sold in the 1980s to be converted to a dwelling.

Much of the above information comes from the book Gargrave  Church and Parish by Janet M Dinsdale, published 1966.  

  
© Copyright John Illingworth and used under Creative Commons License        

Chapel Records

There are few records known to exist, the Baptisms listed below are in The National Archives and included in the IGI. Latterly it was attached to Gragrave church and entries would have been made in the Gargrave Parish Registers.

Baptisms at Winterburn Chapel (1811-1826 & 1836)

Surname	Forename	Parents	Baptism date	Birth date
Waddington	Elizabeth	John and Mary	20 MAR 1811
Waddington	John	John and Mary	04 FEB 1813
Cook	William	Robert and Sarah	27 NOV 1815
Cook	Ann	Robert and Sarah	27 AUG 1815
Cook	Mary	Robert and Sarah	14 NOV 1818
Thorp	Richard	Matthew and Mary	05 NOV 1818
Waddington	Elenor	John and Mary	27 MAY 1818
Birtwhistle	Elizabeth	Thomas and Ann	02 DEC 1819
Edmondson	Joseph	Robert and Mary	01 JAN 1819
Wotherup	Robert	Robert	27 OCT 1819
Wharfe	James	John	23 DEC 1820
Cook	Isabella	Robert and Sarah	26 AUG 1821
Edmondson	Henry	Robert and Mary	01 OCT 1821
Thorp	Dorothy	Matthew and Mary	09 MAR 1821
Waddington	Edward	John and Mary	02 MAR 1821
Wharfe	John	John	17 DEC 1821
Blackburn	Alice	Thomas and Betty	13 MAR 1822
Gregson	Richard	Richard and Martha	24 APR 1822
Waddington	Thomas	Ann	27 JUN 1822	01 JUN 1822
Blackburn	Thomasin	Thomas and Alice	15 JAN 1823	04 NOV 1822
Cook	Grace	Robert and Sarah	19 NOV 1823	05 OCT 1823
Thorp	Edward	Matthew and Mary	15 SEP 1823	09 MAY 1823
Waddington	Samuel	John and Mary	27 APR 1823
Wharfe	Elizabeth	John	20 MAR 1824
Waddington	James	John and Mary	24 NOV 1825	27 OCT 1825
Cook	Alice	Robert and Sarah	30 APR 1826	07 APR 1826
Edmondson	Robert	Robert and Mary	23 APR 1826	03 APR 1826
Rawson	Martha	John and Mary	16 DEC 1826	25 NOV 1826
Barker	Joseph	Thomas and Margaret	08 AUG 1836	27 JUL 1836
Ingham	Elizabeth	James and Margaret	27 NOV 1836	08 NOV 1836