The Old Wesleyan Chapel

The Old Wesleyan Chapel in situated on the northern edge of the English Lake District, between Bassenthwaite Lake and the town of Cockermouth. It faces south, nestling into the hillside beside a former main road. The weather here is generally milder than in much of the Lake District, but the location is ideal for visiting the nearby town of Keswick, together with Derwent Water and the beautiful valleys of Borrowdale, Buttermere and Crummock Water.

The chapel building has been considerably extended and modernised, within the planning constraints of the Lake District National Park, and was featured in the February 2001 edition of Cumbria Life magazine. Much of the interior woodwork was fashioned from the former pews.

The main chapel room now features the Bevington pipe organ at one end, leaving plenty of polished wooden floor space for a table tennis table or chairs for concerts.

The original Sunday School room at one end of the building has been divided into two storeys, providing two sizeable bedrooms on the ground floor and a capacious lounge, which is attractively illuminated by the upper half of the large stained glass window. The lounge, with its stone fireplace, can comfortably house two large sofas, a large dining table, a piano, a harpsichord, a hi-fi system and a fig tree!

Behind the lounge is a hallway to the first-floor side entrance, a modern kitchen, and a large conservatory. A spiral staircase leads from here to an attic bedroom beneath multiple gable roofs, with its own kitchenette and en suite facilities. Above the main chapel is another surprisingly spacious loft, comprising an en suite bedroom with plenty of office space. Access to this loft is via stairs in the library – a small area off the lounge with an internal window giving a view of the chapel and organ.

To accompany the four bedrooms, there is a total of four bath or shower rooms, all with toilets, two of them en suite and the other two featuring, respectively, a Jacuzzi bath and a sauna.

The extensive grounds consist mainly of wooded hillside. There is a long drive from the neighbouring property and a high grassy terrace giving views over the chapel to the hills beyond. There is plenty of space for parking several cars, but visitors can also park on hard-standing by the roadside.

The Bevington Organ

Click here for more photos of the organ

A brief history of the Bevington organ installed in The Old Wesleyan Chapel, Embleton, in Cumbria

The Bevington Organ was first built as a house organ in December 1876 for George Mence Smith, an Ironmonger, who owned a large white house in the Broadway, Bexleyheath in Kent. After only three years he gave the organ to the local Congregational Church and duly became their organist. In the organ’s early life there was a tonal change: Bevington substituted an Harmonic Piccolo 2’ for the two-rank Mixture on the Great. It is quite likely that this change took place in 1879. When the organ was installed in that church it was erected in as small a space as possible, presumably because seating was at a premium in those days of full churches, and consequently maintenance was difficult, if not impossible. As a result the pipework is extremely well preserved.

In 1961, the organ was completely overhauled by Colmer Bros. of Thornton Heath (now non-existent). The opportunity was then taken to pull the organ away from the wall, placing some of the pedal pipes behind (originally a single stop - a full-length Open Wood 16’ on pneumatic action) to allow easier access for maintenance. A balanced swell-pedal was added which never functioned particularly well. At that time it was fashionable to modernise anything Victorian and the dark-stained casework was covered with plywood in places and stripped of its stain elsewhere. Fortunately the tonal scheme was left unchanged.

In 1987 the Bexleyheath church was closed to make way for a road scheme. A new church has since been rebuilt on another site, but the Bevington organ was considered the wrong shape and size for the new building. Various options were considered, but the church authorities were keen that the instrument should basically retain its original form, and that it should not be reduced in size or electrified for the new church. The English Lake District in Cumbria was where it was destined to go, returning to its original function as a house organ. The ceiling had to be raised one foot in order to accommodate it, and the Pedal Open Wood pipes had to be discarded, except for those gracing the sides of the case. A new more versatile Pedal department was desirable for both practising and teaching, and the swell pedal was returned to the ratchet variety as it was from 1876 until 1961.

This work, together with the complete restoration of all moving parts, was carried out by Martin K Cross, Church Organ Builder from Grays in Essex, and his assistant Richard Sheppard. They also oversaw the dismantling, removal and re-erection of the Bevington in Cumbria. Plenty of willing helpers from both north and south gave much time and effort to help with dismantling and reassembly. A local man, Canon Frank Hambrey, whose hobby since retiring has been woodwork, carved missing side members of the case and replaced some missing beading.

The pedal stops are all second-hand, the wooden pipes being by Aeolian, the metal Principal 4’ probably by Gray, but the wooden Trombone is of unknown provenance. This latter stop has received new brass tongues throughout. A second blowing plant provides the wind to the pedal department, ensuring that the additional stops do not rob wind from the Great and Swell. The organ is fully mechanical except for the electric current to the two blowers and the stop action to the pedals.

Manual compass: C to G 56 notes

Pedal compass: C to F 30 notes

Carillon and Pipeau were added in 1997

Click here for detailed dimensions and click here for a diagram of the basic layout

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Offers invited

Ideally the chapel and organ will be sold together, to an organist who will appreciate the many fascinating features of the chapel and the Cumbrian fells, and who will make good use of the organ, perhaps for teaching and organ practice, or even concerts.

The guide price for the chapel (with or without the organ) is £395,000. Anyone interested is invited to visit the website of estate agents Edwin Thompson by clicking here.

However, the organ could be sold separately, either to an organist who will make good use of it or to an organisation wishing to use it for educational or religious purposes.  Offers of £1,500 will be considered, the buyer to pay the cost of removal.  Please click here to register your interest.