Brief History of Temple Street Methodist Church, 1742 - 2002

Methodism arrived in Keighley in 1742 with the conversion of John Wilkinson a journeyman shoemaker. Under his leadership a group of 10 people met together each week in his cottage where they sang a hymn or a psalm, read a prayer and held discussions. After three months of meeting in this way the Lord spoke to Wilkinson and he began to preach. His first convert was Thomas Colbeck a twenty-one year old town businessman who played a great part in taking Methodism to the towns and villages for miles around and became one of the main trustees for most of the early Methodist Chapels in Yorkshire and Lancashire.

On 25th February 1746 John Wesley made his first visit to the town and met Wilkinson and Colbeck. From small beginnings grew the great ‘Haworth Round’ as the Circuit was called, stretching from Keighley to Whitehaven. Within a year the ten original people who met in John Wilkinson's cottage had grown to 100.

John Wesley	The Hall built in 1982

The first Meeting House was in a granary above John Wilkinson's cottage. In 1753 the Society had grown too large for the granary and Thomas Colbeck bought land on Temple Row to build a larger House. This new Preaching House was opened in 1754. The building was enlarged in 1764 and by 1777 it had to be enlarged again. The membership in 1810 had risen to 363 and once again the building was too small. The building of Eden Chapel began and was opened the following year, Temple Row being used as the Sunday School. From 1816 - 1826 a continuous revival centred around Eden Chapel and the membership grew to 884.

In 1843 more land was bought and a new Chapel was built on the site of the first one in Temple Row. Eden Chapel was converted into a Sunday School. Work began in 1845 and the new Wesley Chapel, with a seating capacity of 1,600, was opened on 27th November 1846.

In 1784 a Sunday School was opened with 100 children. By 1785 there were nearly 300 children attending. In 1792 the school was reorganised and it was used by all denominations. By 1815 almost 900 children were attending.

In the 1950's and 60's there was tremendous growth in the youth work at Temple Street, begun by Rev Frank Thewlis and continued by Rev Archie Bradford. Over 300 young people were involved in a wide variety of activities including: Sunday School, Cubs, Scouts, Guides, Brownies, Boys Brigade, Life Boys, Girls Guildry/Girls Brigade, Youth Club, Film Club, Saturday evening Jazz Club with a ‘God Slot’ and Youth Choir. Activities for older members included: Young Wives, Sisterhood, Ladies Supper Club, Mens Supper Club, Twentieth Century Club and Choir.

The continued use of the Temple Street premises became increasingly difficult due to the cost of maintaining such a large suite of premises with a dwindling membership. In 1973 discussions were opened with the PCC of the Parish Church. A Declaration of Intent was to be in place by 1 September 1973 to be effective by 1 September 1974. A Sharing Agreement was signed on 21 July 1975. The Temple Street premises were sold to the local Council for £35,000, the memorial windows were removed (with a grant from the Victoria and Albert Museum) and put on display in Cliffe Castle Museum. The old premises are now used as a Mosque.

A Methodist Hall was built in the grounds of the Parish Church and was officially opened in September 1982. The Hall is self-supporting and is used on a regular basis. As well as providing a home for many Church and Circuit activities, and for community groups, the Church holds Coffee Mornings every Friday and Saturday throughout the year.

Since 1973 the two Churches have shared buildings and have worked together in many ways. On the 27th February 2000 the two Churches joined together and became known as Keighley Shared Church when a Local Ecumenical Partnership agreement was signed.