Early History of Hallam Methodist Church
It all began with the tale of two Sarahs.
One day in 1756, at a time when Methodist preachers were truly itinerant and their visits very intermittent, Sarah Woodhouse was drawn, probably more out of curiosity than conviction, to listen to one of them speak. The venue was a small house at Ranmoor, then a hamlet in the thinly populated ‘township’ of Upper Hallam in the far west of Sheffield parish. After the gathering, which had overflowed into the garden, Sarah informed both preacher and host that the large public room of her husband’s farm-cum-alehouse a mile or so up the road at Goole Green would be far more suitable and issued an open invitation. Thus began a quarter-century affiliation during which the alehouse held licences concurrently for selling liquor and (from 1764) for use as an official preaching house.
Although details are unclear, it seems likely that the availability of a regular meeting room precipitated the desire of the small group (a dozen or so) of Hallam Methodists to have their own society. Hitherto they had had no choice but to walk to town for Sunday worship. The first and founder class leader was Sarah Moore, a young teacher in her early twenties who lived in Fargate and, of course, had to walk in the opposite direction in all weathers. This Sarah had become a Methodist member at the age of sixteen and, as one of John Wesley’s correspondents, was clearly an influential person among the Sheffield faithful. As such she would have already been well known to the Hallam folk and she led the new society from 1756 to 1758. Sarah Moore went back to her town responsibilities after her two years in charge, she and her mother opening their own house for worship and Circuit meetings, as well as accommodating visiting preachers including John Wesley himself.
At Goole Green, William Woodhouse, farmer and publican, welcomed his Methodist guests and once he and his wife had become fully committed to the Christian cause refused to sell liquor on the Sabbath. Some of his neighbours, however, were less welcoming, and claimed that had it not been for William’s popularity they would have destroyed the building. In contrast to the regular Sunday worship, itinerant preachers continued to be erratic in their visits. Sarah Woodhouse solved the problem of communicating news of arrivals and impending sermons by hanging a white sheet on a nearby tree. In the absence of the present profusion of houses and trees the sheet would have been widely visible from all points of the compass. Sadly Sarah died, still in her early forties, in 1761 “in the full triumph of faith” after catching a malignant fever whilst visiting the sick.
The two Sarahs had played a pivotal role in the birth and early nurturing of the new Hallam society. Each had contributed in her own unique manner both spiritually and practically in an age when women had little tradition of church leadership.
A small book telling the full story and entitled From Goole Green to Nether Green: the Roots and History of Hallam Methodist Church is available at a minimum price of £3-50 plus 60p p&p (cheques payable to Hallam Methodist Church) from Neville Flavell, 59 Hallam Grange Road, Sheffield S10 4BL.
Father Willis Organ
The organ was the gift of Mark Firth and was built for Broomhill Chapel at the corner of Westbourne road and Glossop Road, Broomhill in 1863. It was built by 'Father Willis' and was then a two manual organ. Samuel Sebastian Wesley, organist of Winchester Cathedral, opened it on 21 January 1864. In 1890 a third manual ws added by Father Willis and the organ remains as he left it.
Henry Willis III transferred the organ to what is now Hallam Church in 1946 when the two churches merged after the Broomhill chapel was bombed.