Patrick Comerford
During my recent visits to Cambridge on my way to and from the USPG conference in High Leigh, I visited a number of churches including the Quaker Meeting House on Jesus Lane, the Unitarian Church on Emmanuel Road, Saint Clement’s Church on Bridge Street opposite Saint John’s College, Saint Giles Church at the junction of Castle Street and Chesterton Road, and the former Castle End Mission and Working Men’s Institute, now home to the Cambridge Chinese Christian Church.
Close to the former Castle End Mission, Castle Street Methodist Church on Castle Street is one of the 13 churches in the Cambridge Methodist Circuit.
The church stands on a site that is said to have been developed during the Roman occupation, and the first church on the site was converted from a cottage by the Primitive Methodists.
At the time, Castle End was one of the most impoverished areas in Cambridge. It had a reputation as rough area, known for its drunkards and prostitutes, with an abundance of public houses. But it was also a closely-knit working class community, with high levels of unemployment and poverty. It has been described as a village within a town popularly known as ‘The Borough’ – the Burh or fortified place – and any boy born within its boundaries was known as a Borough Boy.
Joseph Reynolds first held open-air Methodist services at Castle End in 1820. A cottage on the Saint Peter’s Street end of the present site was later acquired by the Primitive Methodists. This was adapted as a chapel and the building was enlarged by cutting through the floor, creating a gallery.
The first purpose-built chapel was built in 1823, then rebuilt in 1841 and in 1863. A completely new building, designed by Augustus Frederic Scott was built in 1914, when it was felt that a larger chapel was needed. The foundations from the 1863 chapel form part of the foundations of the present building and the 1863 foundation stone is set in the wall of the Aldersgate Room.
The current building was designed by the Norwich-based architect Augustus Frederic Scott (1854-1936), in the Tudor Perpendicular style and has Grade II Listed status since 2003. Scott was born in the Breckland village of Rockland St Peter, Norfolk. His father, the Revd Jonathan Scott, was a Primitive Methodist minister.
Scott’s works included both civic and church buildings, as well as several large hotels and many private commissions. After his training, he settled in Norwich, where he opened his own practice. His two sons joined him in the business in 1912. Scott was a practising Primitive Methodist , a strict teetotaller, a strict vegetarian and a Sabbatarian. He disagreed with paying that part of his local government rates that funded Church of England schools and when bailiffs removed his paintings, he would buy them back again.
As a Primitive Methodist he also became a local preacher. He was an enthusiastic cyclist, and travelled thousands of miles by bicycle and even cycled to London for business on several occasions. At his own expense, he maintained a Chinese missionary in Western China
He became embroiled in a dispute with the Revd Percy Carden, the minister at Scott Memorial Church in Norwich, in 1920. Cardeb was a controversial figure because of his commitment to Socialist causes. As a result of the dispute, Scott and his family permanently severed relations with the church that was named after his father.
Scott designed many of the now listed and important unlisted buildings in Cromer on the north Norfolk coast, including the Methodist and Baptist chapels, the Cliftonville Hotel, Eversley Hotel, the churchyard wall and a number of shops and houses on Church Street and Cliff Avenue.
The church building has two sections, joined by a glass fronted entrance. The worship area can seat about 120 people and houses the Binns pipe organ, built by James Jepson Binns of Leeds. It was installed in 1929 and was one of the last organs BinnsNorwich built before he died that year.
The church had a major refurbishment in 2010 to improve accessibility and facilities, with improved accessibility, a sound system and a new organ console, although the original 1929 Binns organ was retained.
The church is a member of the Church at Castle ecumenical partnership with Saint Augustine’s, Saint Giles (Anglican), Saint Luke’s (Anglican/URC) and Saint Peter’s.
The Revd Jenny Pathmarajah has been the minister at Castle Street Methodist Church and Histon Methodist Church since 2022. She has a degree in Linguistics from Saint John’s College, Durham, and did her theology training at Wesley House, Cambridge.
Castle Street Methodist Church describes itself as a church where all are welcome, all the time, and says it is dedicated to providing a safe and welcoming space for all.
Sunday services are at 10 am each week, with an evening service on the second Sunday of the month. The church also hosts the Cambridge Korean Yeolim Church.
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