A METHODIST chapel built by the founder of one of the North-East’s most famous department stores is to close.

The Bainbridge Memorial Chapel, which has served the tiny village of Eastgate, in Weardale, County Durham, for 120 years is for sale and likely to be converted into a home.

Angela Airey, great-greatgrandaughter of Weardale landowner Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge, who built the chapel in 1891 in memory of his father, Cuthbert Bainbridge, is saddened by the news.

The Bainbridge family were the founders and owners of Newcastle’s Bainbridge department store until the Fifties.

Mrs Airey’s father, George, was the last managing director of the firm, which was later bought by the John Lewis Partnership.

“It’s very sad, but I’m afraid it’s yet another sign of the changing world we live in,” she said.

“I’m amazed the tiny congregation here has managed to keep it going for so long.”

The chapel, which will close due to rising running costs, has been used by generations of local families.

Margaret Gibbons and her sister, Christine Ross, recall how their great-great-grandfather, Joseph “Willy” Ward, ran the farm on strict Methodist lines.

“He would arrange for the milking to take place on Sunday evenings so everyone could attend morning service at the chapel during the day,” she said.

Under long-serving organist Jessie Ward, the chapel had three choirs and a successful concert party.

“It’s a deeply sad time for the dozen of so of us who have attended services each fortnight at the chapel,” said Mrs Ross.

The Methodist congregation at Eastgate are planning to carry on Sunday worship with cafe-style services they have already held successfully in the village hall.

The last decade has seen the closure of three chapels in Weardale – in Wearhead, St John’s Chapel and Westgate.

Deacon Sue Peat now holds services in Wolsingham, Frosterley, Rookhope and Stanhope, as well as High House, Ireshopeburn, the oldest Methodist chapel in the world still in continuous use.

A service of thanksgiving is to be held at the Bainbridge Memorial Chapel on Sunday, December 11, at 6pm, followed by a final carol service on Sunday, December 18, at 6pm. Anyone with photographs or articles connected with the chapel is asked to take them.