Patmos Congregational Chapel, Todmorden

The chapel was founded in 1816 by the Methodist New Connextion. The Congregational Church purchased the chapel along with the Manse and school in 1841 for the sum of £1,250. The Rev. Robert Stevens was the first Minister. By 1878, the building had become too small, so the congregation moved out to the Sobriety Hall for a period of 12 months whilst the chapel was demolished and a new one built. The corner stone of the new chapel was laid on 8th June 1878, the Sunday school opened in April 1879 and the chapel in the September. The new chapel was Romanesque, designed by architect Joseph Dewhirst of Vale House. The chapel closed its doors in 1971 and was demolished in 1975. There is a memorial in the form of a book on a lectern in the garden. It contains part of a poem by William Blake on the left hand page and the history of Patmos Chapel on the right hand page. PATMOS CHAPEL This plaque marks the site of the Patmos Chapel. The original chapel was built in 1816 and demolished in 1878 when work was commenced on construction of a new chapel which was opened in 1879. The new chapel was closed in 1971 and demolished in 1975. The name Patmos derives from the Greek island of the same name where St. John was exiled and where he wrote the Book of Revelations. Before the River Calder and Walsden Water were moved in 1840, the site was an ‘island’ in times of flood as it sat in a triangle formed by the two rivers and Burnley Road.