THE oldest Methodist chapel in continuous use in the world is facing a large repair bill after structural faults were discovered during a routine inspection.

Spokesman Mary Lowes told the D&S Times that quite a lot of structural damage, some of it quite urgent, had been found at Newbiggin in Teesdale Chapel.

"A roof truss has come out of place, there is a problem with the big chimney facing the road, we have woodworm and also a colony of bats," said Miss Lowes. "We have no idea how much it is all going to cost yet, but we are going to need a large amount of money and are determined to do it. Hopefully we shall get some grants towards it."

The chapel was built in 1760 by lead miners determined to have a meeting hall. It cost £61 13s 5d (£61.67) to build, with the cost of the land put at £5. The pulpit was later used by John Wesley.

Miss Lowes said they were now waiting for an engineer to see about the chimney coming down. "We are still waiting to see what the costs will be," she added. "We will have to go through all the Methodist channels and then will be launching an appeal."

* Gift tree helps appeal, page 12.