The original Chapel was built in 1776, at a cost of £800, with a debt of £300 outstanding at its opening. It bore the following inscription on a stone tablet above the door.
"This house was opened on September 22nd 1776 with a sermon from Exodus XX. In all places where I record my name. I will come unto thee and I will bless thee." Tom Taylor
John Wesley first visited Pateley Bridge on July 24th 1766, preaching on that occasion in the open air. Wesley recorded, "I preached at Pateley Bridge, such a congregation for numbers and seriousness I have not seen since we left Newcastle. As it rained all the time, I desired the men to put on their hats, but in two or three minutes they pulled them off again and seemed to mind nothing but how they might know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ."
His second visit took place in 1770 and Wesley preached in Thoma Green's orchard in Old Church Lane. Wesley recorded in his diary, "It rained as usual all the time; but the congregation stood as still as the trees..." Visiting in 1772 and '74 he preached in Thomas Green's chapel, but that being too small for the congregation, another was constructed in 1776. On his 1782 and 1788 visits, Wesley preached in the chapel from the pulpit photographed at the bottom of this page, which is still to be seen in the entrance of the present chapel.
In 1811, Pateley Bridge became head of its own circuit and a ministers house was built adjoining the Chapel. In 1874 a new minister's house was constructed. In 1886, a schoolroom was built on the site of the old minister's house at a cost of £685 10sh 5d.
The old Chapel was demolished and the current building erected on the same site in 1909.
Historical notes compiled with the help of information available from Nidderdale Museum.