TOWN HALL \ Hope Chapel
Hope Baptist Chapel - The Future
Where we are now
Hebden Bridge Community Association (HBCA) was asked to assist Hope Chapel CIO (the charity formed by members of the church) and the Yorkshire Baptist Association in the management of Hope Chapel in Hebden Bridge in spring 2024, and we have been managing the building ever since. The Chapel is owned by the Yorkshire Baptist Association (YBA).
We are now at a point where we need to hear from the local community on where we go from here: there is a questionnaire link below.
The Chapel was built in 1857, is Grade II listed and stands as both a historically and visually significant building in Hebden Bridge, especially given its prominent position on the main road through town opposite Hebden Bridge Picture House. Our involvement and interest in Hope Chapel is underpinned by one of our charitable objects "the preservation of buildings or sites of historic or architectural importance" in Hebden Bridge and because of the Chapel’s significance as a home for community activity carefully built by church members over the last 15+ years.
HBCA’s goal throughout has been to work out whether it is possible to make the Chapel financially viable, and how to solve issues with the fabric of the building (like the antiquated heating system, and the twelve 6 metre-high wooden window frames, each with 50 panes of glass) and if they can be resolved, to find a way forward with YBA to manage the building in the long-term.
We originally thought that this could be through a long lease, but it is now clear that the only available option -if we are to proceed - would be to buy Hope Baptist Chapel.
What happens next
We are now working to a short timetable of the end of June 2026 to gather enough information for HBCA’s Board to decide whether taking the next step is possible. That step would be committing to the pursuit of a purchase over a timeframe likely to be a further 6 to 12months.
This is not a straightforward project.
HBCA does not have enough reserves to buy the Chapel outright. At the time of writing the most likely way a purchase could be completed would be a community share issue. Locally, there have been recent successful share issues of this sort, for example by Calder Valley Community Land Trust and Heptonstall Community Assets.
There are many uncertainties which HBCA is working through over these coming months. The most significant at this stage appear to be how the project could be delivered in a way that does not risk financial or other impact on the Association, reaching an agreement with YBA on a purchase price and the need to secure sufficient funds to start to tackle the Chapel’s windows as early as possible. In addition, there is the core question of the community’s response which is why we have launched this questionnaire.
Our goal, as it has been from the start of our involvement, is to ensure that the current community uses can continue, business-as-usual, but we also need to find a way ahead to make the Chapel financially sustainable.
Most of the conversations we have had to date revolve around music, building on the work and activities of current users of the Chapel: Hebden Bridge Underground (a recording studio and band practice space) and Hebden Bridge Junior (Brass) Band. From these, and other music-focussed users, we can see the Chapel as being a place where you can learn how to play, practice, stage, perform and record music. But there is more potential and we welcome the community’s thoughts on this.
We are well aware of the importance of musical performance in many other local venues and we will be taking to our friends at The Trades Club, Wainsgate Chapel, The Birchcliffe Centre, Wadsworth Community Centre and others to listen to their thoughts.
We need your thoughts
The purpose of our anonymous questionnaire is to collect thoughts from the local community on three key questions.
There is also plenty of space for comment:
· What do you think about this idea ?
· What are your views on the ideas we have outlined above for the use of the Chapel and what else is possible ?
· If you support this project idea, might you be prepared to financially support this project ifa share issue was launched ?
We look forward to hearing from you.
