| AdminHistory | Wesleyanism took root in the Handsworth Woodhouse district at the turn of the 19-century, with services conducted from 1804 in a corn chamber / barn, belonging to Mr Charles Hodgson, a farmer and ironmonger. This was the site of the church which would eventually become Trinity Methodist Church.
In 1815, a Wesleyan Chapel was built for the community (with the foundation stone laid on 21st March 1814 by Thomas Holy of Sheffield). A new Sunday School was erected in 1861 but, by the latter half of the 19th century, the Wesleyan body in Woodhouse had outgrown the old chapel. A new Woodhouse Wesleyan Chapel was built (in the Italian style) on the site of the old chapel in 1878-1879, at a cost of £2,600. The chapel was designed by George B. Ford, architect of Burslem and built by Mr Robert Hardcastle, builder of Handsworth Woodhouse. The memorial stone was laid on 23rd April 1878 and the chapel opened a year later on 30th April 1879 with seating for 572 people.
In 1882, the schoolroom was enlarged with the addition of a second floor. In 1929, the church underwent extensive renovations, reopening on 8th May 1929 for its Jubilee celebrations.
The church had various affiliated groups and offered a range of social and recreational opportunities for its members, including cricket and football teams, a rambling club, Wesley Guild, ‘Gypsy Choir’, brass band, Girls League, Samaritan League for Young Men, youth club, Sisterhood and Married Men's groups, etc.
In June 1987, the Woodhouse Wesleyan Methodist Church merged with the neighbouring St Paul’s United Methodist Church and the church was renamed Woodhouse Trinity Methodist Church. The St Paul’s Church building was closed following the merger.
The church, located on Chapel Street, Woodhouse, was formerly part of the Sheffield East Circuit and previously the Norfolk Methodist Circuit (later united with the Victoria Circuit in 1975) and previously the Sheffield Park Circuit which was originally known as the Norfolk Street Wesleyan Methodist Circuit. |
| Description | Registers of Baptisms, 1849 - 1986 (NR282/1)
Registers of Marriages, 1927 - 2007 (NR282/2)
Church Minutes, 1900 - 1982 (NR282/3)
Financial Records, 1873 - 1987 (NR282/4)
Membership, 1917 - 1985 (NR282/5)
Sunday School, 1862 - 1968 (NR282/6)
Sisterhood, 1926 - 1995 (NR282/7)
Sewing Meetings, 1904 - 1937 (NR282/8)
Youth Club, 1958 - 1964 (NR282/9)
Married Men's Meetings and Gift Sale Committee, 1936 - 1938 (NR282/10)
Magazines/Newsletters, 1963 - 1999 (NR282/11)
Photographs, [c. 1880 - 1990s] (NR282/12)
Display Booklets of Miscellaneous Papers relating to Church History, [late 19th cent] - 2000 (NR282/13)
Rolls of Honour, [1914] - 1963
Uncatalogued item:
(Acc. 2012/99)
Printed pamphlet titled 'History of Methodism in Woodhouse (the Old Chapel and School)', c. 1914 [Note: this item is not in its stated location on the location database and is seemingly missing but it appears that copies of this same item are available at Sheffield Local Studies Library] |
| CustodialHistory | These records were deposited with Sheffield Archives by the Sheffield Norfolk Methodist Circuit in Sep 1969 and the Sheffield Methodist Circuit in Aug 1995 with later deposits coming from representatives of the church directly in various instalments in Sep 2000, Jan 2001, Dec 2011 and Oct 2012 and with a separate deposit of later marriage registers coming from the Sheffield Register Office in Jun 2013. |