© Barton Brigg Methodist Circuit
2009 

The History Of Methodism In East Halton

East Halton around 1800 was a small village of about 350 inhabitants. Most of these earned their livelihood from the land. Much of the product from the farms was sold locally or in the markets in Hull. Like many of the villages, which lie on the south bank of the River Humber there, was a ferry service to one of the north bank towns. The one from East Halton was a twice weekly sailing across to Hull itself and these were on Tuesdays and Fridays

So what of Methodism? There is no account of John Wesley ever visiting East Halton though there are numerous accounts of him visiting the near by villages including Barrow on Humber where he opened the Chapel. His visits to Barrow were mainly to use the ferry so one could suppose that he might well have used the ferry from East Halton Skitter at some time. One could also suppose that some of the villagers from East Halton might well have travelled to the local villages to hear him preach.

The first record of Methodism in East Halton was actually prior to 1791 when a Methodist Society was established. This was not a large society as in 1801 they had only 12 members but that does not necessarily reflect on the number they got in the congregation. The leader of this society was a Marma Duke Barton and the held their meetings in a rented building. The society did continue to grow though as by 1814 they had 35 members. From what remains of the records that mention the members it can be seen that they came from all sections of the community. From the Parish Clerk, Yeoman, farmer to the illiterate farm workers.

The first chapel to be built was in 1805 when the membership of the society was only about 20. This shows the commitment of the people involved in the society both in time and also funds. This was still quite early day for Methodism so there was no guarantee that it would continue to take off. The building, which was 46feet by 19feet, was built on the corner of Main Street and Kettlebridge Lane and still stands today though not as a chapel and in very poor state of repair. At that time East Halton came under the Winterton Circuit though prior to this it had been part of the Barrow on Humber Circuit until 1803. Some years later it was then to come under the Barton upon Humber circuit where it has remained to the present day. Around 1839 the society applied to the circuit at Barton for an extension to be built on the chapel. From the application it can be seen that the society had only 28 members but the average Sunday congregation was 200 which must have been most of the adults in the village.

The Primitive Methodist Movement took about 9 years to reach East Halton as its first recorded meeting was in1819 when it was reported that William Clowes one of the founder members of the Prim's preached in the village having come over from Hull on the ferry. It can be expected though that there must have been a society formed in the village prior to this. The Primitives built their first chapel in the village in 1828 on the East side of Main Street near to the centre of the village. This building still stands today though there have been some modifications. The fact that the chapel was built in the centre of the village shows that unlike many of the villages in the area there was in fact very little animosity between the Primitives and the Wesleyans. The Primitive Society initially came under the Hull circuit but then later became part of the Barton circuit.

Both the Primitives and the Wesleyans were active in the education of the young people of the village via their Sunday Schools. When these actually first started is not known as no records exist. There are some reports of a Sunday School around the 1830's though it is thought that this was part of the un-denominational National Sunday School Union, which was established in 1803. The Primitives were known to have a Sunday School at the Skitter which was held in an old inn though this may well have actually been in the Goxhill parish ( see The History Of Methodism in Goxhll ).

Both the Primitives and the Wesleyans built new chapels towards the end of the decade. The Primitives in the 1870's and the Wesleyans in the 1880's. Why the two groups built the new chapels is not known as the number of villagers had in fact decreased and the buildings would have been large enough to accommodate their congregation. The fact that both the old chapels are still standing today shows that they were in quite good repair.

One of the major incomes for both the societies was the rent of the pews in the chapels. These were paid by the more wealthy members of the societies and would guarantee them the seat in the chapel ( some older members of the chapels still think this goes on today). The rental of the seats was in fact abolished with the re-unification in 1932 though many of the older chapels still have the seat numbers on the end of the pews today.

In 1932 when the Wesleyans and the Primitives joined under the Union Of Methodism they became known by the name we use today, Methodists. Both groups met separately for a time in East Halton in their own chapels. It was not until 1943 that the agreed to have just one joint service and this was only because the Superintendent was having problems finding enough preachers due to the war. Even so they still kept both chapels and met alternate Sundays. It was not until 1953 that they finally decided to use just one chapel and this was the Primitive Chapel.

This continued until about 30 years ago in 1967 when it was decided to build a new "modern" chapel in the village. This building is of modern design and is the newest chapel within the Barton upon Humber circuit. A much more in depth history of Methodism in East Halton can be found in the book produced by the Workers Education Association entitled "East Halton, Methodism and the Village, 1790-1953".

Much of the information contained in this page has been taken from this book for which I am most grateful.

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