Bridge Street Church to close

Bridge Street Church, which it is proposed to close under a re-organisation of Methodist activities in Bideford around one Church (High Street), adjoins a site where there has been a Methodist place of worship for over 150 years. A petition against the closure was presented at a trustees’ meeting on Monday, at which the trustees agreed by a margin of two votes to endorse the commission’s recommendation.

In 1813 a Methodist chapel was erected on the site now occupied by Bridge Street Methodists’ assembly hall and it was enlarged 18 years later. In 1881 consideration began of a proposal to erect a new church facing on to Bridge Street. This came to fulfilment in November 1892 and the assembly hall was erected in the following June.

One of the largest Methodist churches in the Westcountry, it seats 1,000 people.

Gazette article 28 May 1965