Manchester, Central Hall, Oldham Street

The origins of Central Hall lie in Oldham Street Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, opened by John Wesley in 1781. It was the replacement for Birchin Lane Chapel (the very first Wesleyan chapel in Manchester, opened in 1750) and it headed the Manchester 1st Wesleyan Methodist Circuit. By the late nineteenth century however the church had become desolate, with its membership emigrating to the suburbs, and the circuit's churches being transferred to Manchester (Oldham Road) Circuit and Manchester (Victoria) Circuit. In 1883 the old chapel was pulled down and replaced by Central Hall, which was opened in 1886 and became the base for the Manchester and Salford Wesleyan Methodist Mission. The building was bombed and destroyed during the Second World War and a new Central Hall was built on the same site in 1954.