The chapel
In 1826, the company gifted a prominent site upon which a Wesleyan chapel was built.
In 1873, the present chapel was constructed and for a significant period the spiritual and social lives of those living in Nenthead would have been inextricably bound up with activities centred upon the Methodist Chapel.
From every approach Nenthead’s Grade II Listed Building is highly visible, a reflection of its importance in times past.
Such was the strength of the Methodist Movement in the area, John Wesley himself is said to have twice preached here in 1748 and 1770. The prominent, Quaker-owned London Lead Company had been keen to encourage nonconformist faith within its mining communities.
But as mining fortunes moved overseas, the population dropped to a few hundred hardy souls. The congregation dwindled and the chapel was closed and sold in 2002. The once imposing and historic building was abandoned and fell into disrepair.
Plans for housing came to nothing and it was in 2010 that a group of locals began planning for a restoration that would see the chapel building come to life again – but only after a near decade of ups and downs.