Stone Laying
In its issue of Saturday, July 17th, 1880, the Alnwick Mercury carried the following report:
“Craster Foundation Stone Laying. - On Monday last the Primitive Methodists of this village laid the foundation stone of a new place of worship in the presence of a large and respectable gathering. The stones were laid by Messrs Joseph Archbold and W. Robertson, both of Alnwick, and each gave appropriate addresses. The Revs H. Yooll, of Newcastle; S. Adcock, Alnwick; and H. Joplin, Amble, took part in the ceremony. Afterwards a public tea was held, and the meeting addressed by the Revs Yooll, Adcock, Joplin; Messrs R. Wilson, Warkworth ; J. Stephenson, Berwick ; W. Archbold, Craster ; and others. The chapel, when completed, will seat 150. After ten years of struggle, during which time the society has grown considerably, there is a fair prospect of permanent success. The room in which services have been held has been inconveniently small for several years. It is expected that the new chapel will be opened in October, and it will be an ornament to the village. Mr. W. Archbold, Mr. M. Stephenson, and others deserve credit for their arduous and patient endeavour to promote the struggling cause."
Carrier William Simpson is credited with having carried building stone for the chapel free of charge ; but unlike the publicity given to the foundation stone laying - alas, as regards that opening service on Christmas Day, 1880, the only record of it is a short diary note that a great many people were present at both morning and evening services, and that "Mr. French and Mr. Yooll here."
Little is known either of how the chapel fared in the first ten years of its existence, but what is known is that it emerged active and purposeful at the end of them, its place and role in the community secure.
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