11 Bridge Street, Wesleyan Methodist Chapel

The first Methodist preaching place in Blaydon was a house at No. 11 Bridge Street, High Blaydon. It was owned by William and Mary Hawdon and their initials 'W.H.M' and the 1737 were inscribed on a stone above the door. The house comprised of a kitchen and a room above, which was accessed via a ladder and trapdoor. When the congregation became too large for the kitchen, the upper room was also used and the preacher stood on a stool with his head through the trapdoor, so he could preach to both rooms.

There was a Wesleyan Methodist Society in Blaydon in 1829.

The congregation later moved to a larger room at 'Horsecrofts' and met there until 1856. Then they built a chapel in Wesley Place. This chapel remained in use until 1893 when a new Methodist Church was opened on the north side of Shibdon Road (HER 6018).