Origins & early history

Grassington village has never had its own parish church - the nearest is at Linton Falls located almost a mile away. When the Methodist Revival came to Grassington in the 1780s (John Wesley himself preached there on 29th May 1782), Congregationalists were also propelled into action. Originally meeting in local cottages or travelling to the chapel at Winterburn, they eventually resolved to  build their own place of worship; an aim finally realised in 1811. Most early members of the church were poor mill workers, miners and country labourers. Their pecarious existence almost led to closure of the church, first in the 1840s when Linton Worsted Mills wound down, and again in the 1870s/80s when lead mining entered terminal decline. Nevertheless, the 1851 Census of Religious Worship  records healthy congregations at all three (!) Sunday services. Church administration was at times chaotic as evidenced by an Indenture dated 1881 formally appointing trustees.

Heyday

The twentieth century heyday of the church was probably the inter-war period which saw stable ministry, growing congregations and financial stability. The then minister, Gilbert Leeson, (1929-43) contributed substantially to this success.

Support from Skipton

The church could never have survived for so long without the support of Skipton Congregational Church (now St Andrew's URC/Methodist local ecumenical partnership), especially during the periods 1852-87 and 1908-22. Furthermore, six members at Skipton disaffected by that church's decision in 1972 to join the United Reformed Church transferred to Grassington and contributed greatly to its life and witness in the years that followed.

Grassington Hospital

Grassington Hospital was built in 1919 on land off Hebden Road. It was a TB sanatorium with about 200 beds. Adults and children from the north of England and beyond were sent in the hope that the pure Dales air would help them recover from the dreadful disease of tuberculosis. 

With TB controlled by antibiotics, in 1966 the hospital ceased to be a sanatorium and became a Psycho-Geriatric hospital. It finally closed in 1984 and lay derelict until 1996 when a developer received planning permission to demolish the hospital to make way for luxury housing.

Dr Bill Cumming, a member of our church, was the Superintendent at Grassington Hospital for 9yrs until his death in 1937. He and his wife, Winifred, who died in 1934 are buried in the graveyard. A programme for the Hospital's 1957 open day may be viewed here.