Wesleyan Chapel, Skerry Hill

Wedding at St Lawrence's Church
Joan Cordall

I was born in Mansfield in 1926 and lived at No.4 Eakring Road. My older brother and sisters remained in Mansfield and at the age of 20 I joined the Women’s Land Army and moved to Retford, where I met my husband and made my home.

I returned to Mansfield in 1951 to get married at St Lawrence’s Church and last year my husband and I celebrated our 60th Anniversary.

As children my older siblings and I used to attend at the Wesleyan Chapel on Skerry Hill on a regular basis. Unfortunately I do not recall when the Chapel was built and I believe it no longer stands. My mother regularly took my brother, sisters and I for a very long walk around the fields and lanes of Mansfield following Chapel on a Sunday. A round trip of at least 5miles.

I attended at the Chapel from the age of 3 until I was 14. I still have my Sunday School prizes, 4 in all, which contain the Wesleyan Chapel stamp inside dated 1929 & 1932. The prizes were mostly Bible stories.

Comments about this page

  • A brick building known as the School Room and Mission Room was erected in 1887 on the corner of Newgate Lane and Sandy Lane, a stones throw from St. Lawrence’s church. This I believe is / was the same building which served as a Sunday School in the ’50’s. I know not if the building still stands. I knew the area well and don’t recall any similar premises in this vicinity.

    By Steeve Cee. (04/07/2021)
  • My mother lived in Kirkby in Ashfield from the 1930s to the 1960s and kept a daily diary which I am in the process of reviewing. She was very active in the Methodist church. In her diary in April 1950, she refers to attending the Newgate Lane Sunday School Anniversary. I am assuming this must relate to a chapel or church in Newgate Lane in Mansfield. Do you know of such a place?
    Thanks for any help you can give.

    By Roger Drew (25/05/2021)
  • That’s interesting about the bricks with the names on them Malcolm. My daughter attends the Church Hall, next time we go I will see if I can view the bricks as my grandmother and her siblings were born on Bowling street, the Hudson family, do you remember them. My grandma was Mary Hudson but you may remember her younger siblings John and Alan Hudson. Alan was born in 1928 but lived on Bowling street nearly all of his life at number 38 where the family were all born. He was the local window cleaner around the Newgate Lane area for most of his life too.

    By Simon Leivers (26/06/2012)
  • The Chapel must have been built in the early 20’s and part of the funding albeit small, was raised by members buying glazed building bricks with their names, upon at sixpence each. They are still there.  But it has now become the Church Hall for St Lawrence’s Church, and a tea room is in operation there. The bricks can be seen on request, but in the old days they were always visible in the main entrance. My Grandfather was one of the founder members and the organist there until his death, ably assisted by a gentleman named Clarence Swain. Originally the founder members before the chapel was built met in Forest Town, and on King Street. Originally my family lived on Skerry Hill, Bowling Street and eventually Carter Lane . My Grandfather Arthur Osbourne spent most of his spare time at the chapel rehearsing for the yearly anniversaries, and Christmas celebrations and presentation of Handles Messiah and ?????’s Elijah, which were alternated yearly. Personally I went to St Lawrence’s but my sister went to both. I recently called in the chapel and saw the BRICKS WHICH included my mother, aunty and uncle’s names on the wall. Ii found this emotional and interesting, and other names that I remembered from my childhood brought back some memories of my childhood in the 30’s and 40’s

    By Malcolm Raynor (24/06/2012)

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