Westborough Methodist Church

Westborough Methodist Church in Scarborough has to be one of grandest nonconformist chapels in the country. Built between 1856 and 1862 by Baldwin Stewart, it boasts classical pillars and two towers either side. Although not technically true to correct classical style, this is a building which takes on an identity of its own. The Victorian Methodists who built it had plenty of money and wished to rival the grandeur of the Church of England with all its privileges and vested wealth. The building’s current custodians seem to be active.

The chapel’s great pillars and pilasters are topped with capitals of the Corinthian style, which is essentially a bunch of acanthus leaves. Although the most beautiful and complex of the classical schools, 'Corinthian' reminds the Bible-reader of the church of God which met at Corinth, and all the difficulties they endured- and caused. The Holy Spirit saw fit to preserve two of Paul’s three letters to Corinth because He knew that the challenges they faced would vex the church of later ages: false teachers, false gospels, sexual immorality, sectarianism, communion dishonoured, marriage disrespected. There are leaves, flowers and fruits of Corinth growing in more churches and congregations than just those like Westborough which have them carved in stone. Beware.