There are several pictures of the Brunswick Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School building (1824) (32-34 William Street) on Picture Stockton:
Methodist Sunday School, Stockton
Sunday School on William Street. c1985
but I hadn’t seen any of the inside. These photographs show the 1st floor Sunday School room as it was in the late 1970’s.
It’s surprising that this large room was part of this anonymous looking building, but of course it was linked with the large Brunswick Methodist Chapel that was next door.
The Brunswick Methodist Chapel c1984
32 – 34 William Street/Brunswick Court
Decline had obviously started to set in at the time of the photographs, with peeling paint, a leaky roof and broken furniture strewn about the room. From the outside, it looks like the original ceiling is now hidden by a modern suspended ceiling, and the room has more than likely been split up into smaller spaces.
Photograph and details courtesy of Jonathan May.
I started in the Sunday school around 1948 and finished in the Youth Fellowship/Youth Club around 1960 so I spent many hours of my life in that hall and sad to see it in that state.
My only stage experience was on the stage in the photo and I played badminton there for several years even though it is a low ceiling for badminton.
In the 50’s the Sunday School was on the ground floor, right of the front door, the chapel to the left. On a child’s birthday they were able to ring their age on a set of ten bells. I received a book, Teddy Robinson, for good attendance.