DENTON BURN METHODIST CHURCH
A Short History
John Wesley describes a life-threatening experience in his journal, in June 1774 he was taking journey by horse and chaise on Denton Bank on the West Road at Newcastle with his family and the horses ran away with a driverless carriage down the steep hill towards the stream known as Denton Burn. Quite miraculously the horses ran across the narrow bridge over the burn without catching either side and ran on up the next bank before coming to a halt "at the edge of a precipice." The first Methodist Church taking its name from the burn, was erected next to that narrow bridge and on the west side of the burn.
THE FIRST DENTON BURN METHODIST CHURCH
The earliest surviving reference to Denton Bum is in a Blenheim Street Circuit Preaching Plan for 1867. Later Wesleyan Methodist archives contain references to worship in a cottage at Denton Bum in the early 1880's organised by Prayer Leaders from the Elswick Road Church. Attempts were made from time to time to find a site and build a chapel for the Methodist faithful. Towards the end of the decade, however, the circuit officials grasped the problem and on 18* June 1889 resolved "that this meeting recommends to the proposed Trustees for Denton Burn that the scheme for building a Chapel to accommodate about 75 and at a cost of 120 be proceeded with immediately and with all prudence. " The first chapel was built on the south side of the West Road close to the old Denton Bum. It was opened about September 1889 and cost £165; the debt was cleared within twelve months. One of the first trustees was William Haswell Stephenson. The society was established!
It was a simple stone built single storey building. The front door facing the West Road opened into a room used as the church with forms for the congregation to sit on and an old fashioned pot stove to provide some heat. At the south end was a raised pulpit reached by some steps and behind that a smaller room used as a vestry and for Sunday School.
The life of the new society was not without its difficulties, but the most daunting problem first surfaced in 1924 when the local authority revealed plans to widen the West Road at Denton Bridge next to the chapel. The burn was to be diverted into an underground culvert. The scheme required the church to be demolished to make way for the wider road and the society would have to make a fresh start on a new site. It was actually six years later, at the end of 1930, when the first chapel was closed and demolished. Compensation of £450 was paid by the Northumberland County Council. Today a public library stands next to the site of the old chapel.
THE SECOND DENTON BURN METHODIST CHURCH
A new site nearby in Slatyford Lane was considered but then the generous gift of the present West Road/Baroness Drive site by Mr. Fred Noble (of Thorntree Farm and a chapel trustee) was gratefully accepted. North Scotswood Methodists (at Ridley Terrace) were invited to join but did not accept, possibly because of the imminent Methodist Union and being nearer to the Whitfield Road Methodists. From January until August 1931 services were held in the local Miners' Institute until the new chapel was opened on Saturday 29th August 1931 at a cost of over two and a quarter thousand pounds. The new church was the building now used today as the hall. There was a pulpit against the east wall with steps on each side of it.
Both of the Methodist Chapels at Denton Burn were built on the line of the old Roman Wall and today special permission is required for any excavations into the ground.
EXPANSION OF THE CHURCH BUILDINGS
In time, with the development of the district and Denton Burn being drawn into the city of Newcastle, the new chapel and premises were found to be too small and inconvenient to accommodate the growing society. Under the inspired leadership of Rev. Matthew Pickard, extensions were planned at an estimated cost of £10,750. From January 1957 services were held in the Denton Resident's Association Hall until the reopening day on Saturday 7th September 1957 when over 350 members and friends crowded into the newly enlarged premises for the dedication service. A new church space had been added to replace the old church and it was possible open the area from one to the other for special events and church activities.
In 1994 it was decided to build an extra room on the church to accommodate a growing Sunday School, the fund-raising started again, and by generous donations from the membership, the circuit and various trusts £30,000 was raised to build the 'Marion Room'. It proved to be an invaluable facility for the life of the church. With the church situated on the main west route three miles out of the city the grounds occupy a prominent position seen by many especially those travelling by bus. A keen team of gardening enthusiasts at the church keep a watchful eye on the gardens surrounding the building. The fine quality of the gardens have been the subject of local authority awards under the 'Newcastle in Bloom' scheme.
The Methodists of Denton Burn proudly continue to sing the Lord's song above the Roman Wall - especially to the memory of John Wesley as a vision of his runaway driverless chaise on Denton Bank more than 200 years ago flashes across our minds.
(This is a revised version, with new material, of the short history published in the Newcastle West Circuit Millennium Book, 2000, Edited by Barry Redfern and Don Robson)
