An 18th Century gem (Continued from Home page)
Seen from the side it looks like a Victorian building (which this extension actually is) but walk around the grass verge to the front and the 1760s Chapel can be seen. The windows are still the originals, albeit performing the job as a pigeon loft; the extension to the front which encased the pillars is still visible and if you go into the carpet shop – the proprietor is friendly – the memorials on the wall are displayed behind the rolls of carpet.
Imagine this building in its under-stated splendour when the Walker family split from other Methodists in the town and built their own Chapel and later the Mausoleum. As Dissenters they were barred from public office for many years but they held true to their beliefs and the Chapel was still part of the Masbrough community until the 1950s.
In the 1930s during the Depression the Chapel officers were involved in setting up a community facility for the unemployed where they learnt to repair shoes of relax by a game of bowls in the nearby bowling green developed for their use.
The now ramshackle burial ground holds the graves of many of the towns most influential industrialists such as the Oxleys, Beatsons, Clarks, Habershons and of course Samuel Walker, the ironfounder.
Perhaps you will now get an idea why the Friends of the Masbrough Chapel and Walker Mausoleum feel this is such an important part of Rotherham’s history and should be saved.
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Stop press – The council have now obtained a judgement from the court to enforce the owner to allow access to the graveyard so it can be maintained and visited by interested people. It is a designated Public Open Space. We will update you when it is safe to go on site as the Greenspaces team have to organise a specialist clear up. Later in the summer we will plan a walk around Masbrough and hopefully to enter the graveyard and the Mausoleum. Watch for our advertising.
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News Update
During the summer we were pleased to welcome Mary Castles to Rotherham, her father Norman was a minister at the Chapel 1926 - 1935. She was pleased to hear about our group from the copy of the Rotherham Advertiser that a friend sends to her in Wiltshire, however she was not so pleased at the state of the burial ground and chapel. She left us with some cuttings and photographs from her father's time in Rotherham, which we shall use in our forthcoming exhibition.
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The Friends group was formed in spring 2002 in response to increasing vandalism of the graveyard and Masoleum
We are currently negotiating with the owner of the site to enable work to be carried out in the grave yard, dealing with the litter and petty vandalism.
Note: the situation between the Friends group and the Council and the owner is complicated by the rules of private ownership and the rights protecting "Public open spaces".
We have also held talks with the borough council and the local Area Assembly to see how they can help us gain advice on funding
We hold committee meetings approximately every 2 months, and so far we've put on 3 history talks/slide shows, with raffles and 2 general knowledge and history quizzes.
