MSO10427 - Wesleyan Methodist Church, High Street, Porlock (Building)

'Wesleyan Methodist Church' shown on Ordnance Survey map of c1904. [1] 'Methodist Church' noted on recent map. [2] The Methodist Chapel dating from c.1900 is built of rock-faced squared-off red sandstone with ashlared Bath stone dressings. There are Art Nouveau touches, including concave pinnacles. [3] By 1908 the Porlock Methodists, or Wesleyans as they were more commonly called, had decided to build a new church and acquired a piece of land opposite the Post Office… The last service in the old chapel was in March 1927 and then for three months services were held in the village hall. The new church was designed by Mr Tamlyn, a Minehead architect, and was built by Brown Bros of Porlock - a Methodist family - at a cost of £4,600. The church is built of red sandstone from West Luccombe Quarry, a gift of the Acland family of Holnicote, and the building is facced with stone from Ham Hill, near Montacute. It was opened in June 1927 and the first sermon was preached by Rev. Dr Ferrier Hulme, the then President of the Methodist Conference. The church has seating for 350 and has extensive rooms below, with a schoolroom at the rear of the building. The Methodist Hall was occasionally used for soldiers to sleep in, when they had been performing training manoeuvres on Exmoor, during World War Two. [4] The heritage asset was assessed for inclusion on the Exmoor Local Heritage List in November 2022. It was decided to add the asset to the Local Heritage List. [5]