Hill Top Methodist Sunday School was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

church in

Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in ...

, in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The church, on the corner of Westport Road and Hall Street, was built in 1837. It was demolished in 1987, except for the entrance portico, which is

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

History and description

The church was built because of a dispute between the teachers of Burslem Sunday School, founded in 1787, where reading and writing was taught to children, and the trustees of the Wesleyan Chapel, at Swan Bank in Burslem, who disapproved of the teaching of non-religious knowledge on a Sunday. In May 1836 the teachers were locked out of the school. They formed themselves as "The Methodist Society", and continued their work in a pottery warehouse, and later in a wooden building which they erected in Moorland Road in Burslem.'The city of Stoke-on-Trent: Protestant Nonconformity', in ''A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 8'', ed. J G Jenkins (London, 1963)
British History Online. Retrieved 1 May 2025."Hill Top Sunday School, Westport Road, Burslem"
''Staffordshire Past Track''. Retrieved 2 May 2025.
thepotteries.org. Retrieved 2 May 2025. A permanent church was built in 1837. It was a three-storey brick building, with a stone portico raised above street level, leading to an entrance on the first floor where there was a chapel. The Sunday School rooms were in the floor below. There were 1354 scholars recorded in 1843. Services were conducted at first by the society's preachers; in 1848 the society joined the Wesleyan Methodist Association, whose ministers conducted the services. In 1878 the chapel seated 700. The building was mentioned in the novels of

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist, who wrote prolifically. Between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaborati ...

, as "Sytch Chapel". In the late 19th century, with the coming of

state education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

, the Sunday School lost its importance. The chapel joined the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

in 1907. In 1940 the chapel, extended in 1924, seated 900; there were three Sunday School halls in the building and 23 other rooms. When the Burslem Bethel Chapel closed in 1955, the Hill Top Chapel became head of the local

Methodist circuit The organisation of the Methodist Church of Great Britain is based on the principle of connexionalism. This means that British Methodism, from its inception under John Wesley (1703–1791), has always laid strong emphasis on mutual support, in ...

. It closed as a place of worship in 1977. It was damaged by fire in 1983, and in 1987 the building was demolished, except for the

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

."Hill Top Sunday School"
thepotteries.org. Retrieved 2 May 2025. This consists of eight Doric columns standing above street level, with steps leading to them. The columns support an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

, where in the centre "Burslem Sunday School" is inscribed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burslem, Hill Top Methodist Sunday School Former Methodist churches in the United Kingdom Grade II listed buildings in Staffordshire Church ruins in England