Zion Congregational Chapel

Wibsey, Bradford, Yorkshire

In the year 1827, friends at Horton Lane Chapel cast a wistful eye towards Wibsey to see what might be done with the help of God on ground so barren and desolate. The people of Wibsey at that time mostly worked in the foundries and mines and its name added nothing to its credit. So the friends [from Horton Lane] came to the conclusion that the place at Holroyd Hill might be made suitable if it could be secured . . . In 1827 the owners Jacob Wright, Robert Wilson, and William Whiteacre sold to Thomas Tyrill, Richard Garnett, William Mackay and John Russell all of Bradford all that allotment, piece or parcel of land situate lying and being within the Township of North Bierley containing the admeasurement 100 square yards or thereabouts . . . also all that building or erection and built thereon late used for Divine Service and called the Antimonian Chapel but now converted into a school for the education of children and called the Calvanistic or Independent Sunday School. The sum paid for the school or chapel as it then stood was £160. [WYAS 43D88/9/3].		Ministers 1. Rev John Paul 1842-1860 2. Rev James Innes 1861-1879 3. Rev Joseph Poynton 1880-1913 4. Rev Allan Morris 1915-1920 5. Rev Frederick W Nicholls 1922-1927 6. Rev John P Marsden 1932-1938 7. Rev George J Nelson 1940 8. Rev Frank H S Davies 1942-1945 9. Rev E A Buxton 1946-1950 10. Rev Arnold Beever 1951-1953 11. Rev Albert Coppin 1954-1967 12. Rev James Stewart Tomlinson 1967-1978 13. Rev Alan Hunt 1980-1985
Date	Event
1827	Former Antimonian Chapel purchased by representatives of Horton Lane Chapel and used as a Sunday School until about 1840-1843.
1840 Christmas Day	Rev Thomas Taylor, minister at Horton Lane Chapel 1808-1835, lays the foundation stone of a new church building. The Bradford Observer referred to the proceedings as “most delightful and animating”, describing Wibsey as “this once neglected and benighted neighbourhood.”
1841 September 26	Zion Chapel (which, wrote Cudworth, “forms such a conspicuous object in the landscape”) opened for worship. Among those present was Rev Jonathan Glyde, minister at Horton Lane Chapel 1835-1854. The Wibsey Zion Congregational Chapel
1843 April 14	First Minister John Paul, a Scotsman, is ordained and inducted. He had founded the church, having been sent as a missioner from Horton Lane.
1859 April 25-27	The church holds a bazaar (patronised by “many ladies and gentlemen of the first respectability and influence in the town”) in the saloon of St George’s Hall, Bradford, and despite inclement weather raises £283/13/9½ towards the total £444/12/11 cost of a minister’s residence.
1860 May 24	Rev John Paul dies and is buried in the chapel graveyard. Cudworth wrote of him “He was an earnest, faithful, and devoted Christian minister, and was endeared to many by his eminent Christian qualities.”
1863	A new schoolroom is erected next to the chapel, designated the John Paul Memorial School in honour of the late minister. The buildimng was used as both a day school and a Sunday school.
1879	The Rev James Innes dies. He was described as “always lenient, charitable and in the habit of placing the best construction upon all matters which were likely to be prejudicial to the interests of the parties concerned.” He is succeeded by Rev Joseph Poynton of Mixenden, who stays at Wibsey until 1913, when he moves to Leyburn.
1887 April 16	The foundation stone of an extension to the church building is laid by Mr Joseph Craven of Thornton, a prominent worker at Kipping Chapel.
1888 April 19	The enlarged Zion Chapel is re-opened.
1973	Wibsey Congregational Church becomes the Wibsey United Reformed Church, following the amalgamation of the Congregational and Presbyterian denominations.