Yarm Methodist Church might be said to hide its light under a bushel.

Tucked away down one of the many old wynds off the High Street, it has little option.

But the building - which the minister has described as a Tardis of a place - is well worth taking time to visit.

A thriving congregation already knows the attractions and worth of the old chapel, and one man who certainly did was the founder of Methodism himself - John Wesley.

It was, it is claimed, the great man's favourite chapel.

Wesley often came to Yarm on his legendary travels around the country. In his journal, he refers to the town as having "some goodly people."

He stayed at a house in the High Street and preached at the little chapel.

Word has it that he liked the building because it had eight sides - and "the devil could not hide in the corners."

Built in 1763, with the first service taking place that year, it was originally a simple, single-storey octagonal building.

Wesley first preached there in 1764. His journal for April 24 of that year says: "I preached about noon at Potto and in the evening in the new House at Yarm, by far the most elegant in England.

"A large congregation attended at five in the morning and seemed to be just ripe for the exhortation - Let us go on to perfection."

In 1815, a storey was added. Workmen lifted the roof, put in the extra space and then put the roof - which has many Georgian features - back.

The work was done to create an upper tier for the congregation because the church was so popular and so successful. A choir gallery was added some years later.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Sunday school hall was built on and in the Sixties, another new room was added. In 1996, the church and the Sunday school hall were joined to create an entrance hall, and in 2001, a toilet for the disabled was provided.

But Yarm Methodist Church is not just about an illustrious past. Far from it. "There has been a constant programme of development," said the present minister, the Rev David Vonberg.

The church is now wheelchair-friendly downstairs and has induction loops and a deaf sign system.

The walls and windows are original, though the pews are not, and the pulpit was added in 1815. The huge pipes are just for show, as the church has an electric organ

"It would have been very basic in its original form," said Mr Vonberg, who has been in charge at Yarm for just over four years, coming to the town from Kent.

"The first impression might be that of a Tardis, but we don't step back at all," he says. "It is a lively congregation, and that's the balance we need to get, a place which is historic but which needs constantly to move forward.

"Every few years the church has moved on and developed really beyond all recognition."

Mr Vonberg likes the Tardis idea, and says everyone has got used to having to describe where the church is.

In some ways, he said, Yarm had not changed much in terms of High Street activity. "When the church was built, there was a thriving market and boats came up the river. It was a really busy little town and it still is, but in a different way," he said.

"We do suffer from being tucked away to some extent and not on the main road. But we are always trying to raise the church's profile and it is well worth people taking the time to find us."

During the summer, he gets a lot of requests for parties to look round.

The building could be on the map a bit more next year when the church celebrates 300 years since John Wesley's birth and its own 240th birthday.

Over the last 30 years, since Yarm's expansion into a larger town with many incomers, this has become a thriving church.

Mr Vonberg thinks one reason could be that worshippers sit in a semi-circle and as a result, services are more intimate than when congregations are placed in rows.

"This encourages people to get to know each other, and because it is a lively church, it attracts others," he said.

There is a congregation of nearly 300, whose ages range from under one to 90, and an impressive list of activities that includes a carpet bowls club, Brownie pack, choir, house/study group, women's meetings, boys' brigade and a club for teenagers which meets at Mr Vonberg's home.

"Past and present work well together here and that's good," said the minister.

The church has an annual cause, such as its Mozambique appeal to help provide a water supply. In 2002-3 it is looking to support the Stockton drop-in centre for asylum seekers.

Worshippers had Lent lunches for the first time this year with the Church of England in Eaglescliffe and asylum was the topic at one of these.

Needless to say, upkeep of the building is a continuous financial drain.

"Church members help a lot with the work and we keep on top of things, so it's not bad at all," said Mr Vonberg, surveying the neat and well-kept gardens and frontage by the entrance.

He does not, however, want to push the museum image, despite the fact that Yarm's is one of the oldest Methodist chapels in the country and the oldest octagonal one still active.

"This is a totally forward-looking church," he emphasised