page_title: Methodist Church of Great Britain
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Methodist Church of Great Britain / History / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: Heptonstall Methodist Church, Heptonstall, West Yorkshire. Taken by Flickr user:Tim Green aka atouch on Saturday the 30th of June 2012.
context_page_description: The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a Protestant Christian denomination in Britain and the mother church to Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council, the World Council of Churches and other ecumenical associations.
  Methodism began primarily through the work of John Wesley, who led an evangelical revival in 18th-century Britain. An Anglican priest, Wesley adopted unconventional and controversial practices, such as open-air preaching, to reach factory labourers and newly urbanised masses uprooted from their traditional village culture at the start of the Industrial Revolution. His preaching centred upon the universality of God's grace for all, the effect of faith on character, and the possibility of perfection in love during this life. He organised the new converts locally and in a "Connexion" across Britain.
  Following Wesley's death, the Methodist revival became a separate church and ordained its own ministers; it is called a Nonconformist church because it does not conform to the rules of the established Church of England.
context_section_description: In the early days of Methodism chapels were sometimes built octagonal, largely to avoid conflict with the established Church of England. The first was in Norwich (1757); it was followed by Rotherham (1761), Whitby (1762), Yarm (1763), Heptonstall (1764) and nine others. John Wesley personally approved the design of the octagonal chapels, stating, "It is better for the voice and on many accounts more commodious than any other." He is also said to have added—"there are no corners for the devil to hide in".
  Methodist Heritage records the Yarm chapel as the oldest in England in continual use. Its design and construction were overseen by Wesley, who preached at the chapel frequently and declared it as his "favourite".
  Nevertheless, the Heptonstall chapel has also contested for the title of oldest octagon chapel in continual use. The building featured in the BBC television series Churches: How to Read Them. Presenter Richard Taylor named it as one of his ten favourite churches, saying: "If buildings have an aura, this one radiated friendship."
caption: The octagonal Methodist chapel in Heptonstall is one of the oldest in England.
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