On the 30th October, 1822 a bargain and sale took place. for £5.0s.0d. between William Harper, Yeoman of Seaton Ross and a group of eleven local businessmen which included 9 farmers, a surgeon and a shopkeeper. The purpose of this was to purchase a Methodist site (Wesleyan) for a new chapel to be built measuring 30 feet East to West and 22.5 feet North to South.
The site was exactly were the old Wesleyan Chapel now stands and in fact, William Watson’s plan of Seaton Ross in June 1811 shows a Wesleyan Chapel situated exactly on the same site. It would seem that this was not a purpose built chapel and was probably a house used for meeting purposes until a new chapel could be built.
So began in 1822, the building of the first Wesleyan Chapel at Seaton Ross.
For many years the structure remained a place of worship until the late 19th century when the property became so decayed as to necessitate a new building on the site at an estimated cost of £350.
Preparations for the new chapel began in 1898 and formed part of The Pocklington Circuit Chapel Renovation Scheme. In the latter part of the 19th century, many old chapels in the area were repaired or rebuilt as part of the scheme and one such chapel was the Wesleyan at Seaton Ross.
The rebuilding work was completed in 1900 and on the 4th June in that year a grand opening ceremony took place. This was a very special occasion at Seaton Ross and the events of the day were reported in many local newspapers.
The Wesleyan Chapel remained a place of worship well into the 20th century before closing in the 1980s. It is now a private house.
Malcolm Young