St John's Methodist Church, on Ponderlaw Street,
Arbroath
Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...
, Scotland, was founded by
John Wesley
John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...
on 6 May 1772.
The nave is octagonal and the church has been nicknamed Totum Kirkie from 'totum', an eight-sided
spinning top
A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be rotation, spun on its vertical Axis of rotation, axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect.
Once set in motion, a top will ...
, and '
kirk
Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning 'church'. The term ''the Kirk'' is often used informally to refer specifically to the Church of Scotland, the Scottish national church that developed from the 16th-century Reformation ...
', the Scottish word for church. It is a
listed building
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, Hi ...
and the second-oldest
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 Scotland.
Architecture
St John's is an octagonal church — a style that was preferred by John Wesley.
The interior of the church has not been altered; however, the church was extended in 1882 when a porch and gallery were added. A church hall was built in 1896.
The Lifeboat Window is a memorial to the loss of the RNLI lifeboat
''Robert Lindsay'' (ON 874) and six crew members in 1953.
The building became a
Category B listed building
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 ...
on 11 October 1971.
Manse
The Church's former
manse
A manse () is a clergy house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian traditions.
Ultimately derived from the Latin ''mansus'', "dwelling", from '' ...
, now Wesley House, located next door, is also a listed building.
It was built as a single-storey building in 1772; an upper storey was added in 1869.
(1849 – 1913), the first
Commissioner
A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something).
In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...
of
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...
and second in command to its founder
William Booth
William Booth (10 April 1829 – 20 August 1912) was an English Methodist preacher who, along with his wife, Catherine, founded the Salvation Army and became its first General (1878–1912). This Christian movement, founded in 1865, has a qu ...
,
[Railton on the Salvation Army International Heritage Centre website]['The General: William Booth' By David Malcolm Bennett, Contributor: David Malcolm Bennett Published by Xulon Press (2003) pg 96 ] was born in the manse. He was the son of Methodist
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...
, Lancelot Railton and his wife, Margaret Scott.
[Elizabeth Baigent, ‘Railton, David (1884–1955)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2005] A
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...
marks his birthplace.
Archives
Archives relating to the church are held by Archive Services
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...
as part of the Arbroath and Montrose Methodist Circuit Collection.
See also
*
St Andrew's Parish Church, Arbroath (Church of Scotland)
*
Church of St Mary the Virgin, Arbroath
The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Scottish Episcopal Church, in Arbroath, Angus, Scotland. It is part of the Diocese of Brechin.
Church building
The church building in Springfield Terrace was erected in 1852–1854 to the designs of John ...
(Episcopal)
References
External links
Places of Worship in Scotland; St John's Methodist Church, Arbroath
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John's Methodist Church, Arbroath
Category B listed buildings in Angus, Scotland
Methodist churches in Scotland
Octagonal churches in the United Kingdom
18th-century Methodist church buildings
18th-century churches in the United Kingdom
Religious organizations established in 1772
Churches in Angus, Scotland
Listed churches in Scotland
Arbroath