The Methodist Church in Cumbria Cockermouth (Lorton St) Methodist Church
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John Wesley (1703-91), the founder of the Methodist Church, often visited Cockermouth, mainly when passing to and from Whitehaven on the Cumbrian coast. He preached many times in the Market Place, and by 1763 a Wesleyan cause was started with 19 members. On one occasion Wesley was invited to preach at the Independent Chapel on Main St. In 1796 a Cockermouth cooper, George Robinson, built a meeting house and sold it to the Wesleyans for £70. The building, on High Sand Lane, remains and is now called the Victoria Hall. At that time the church was part of the Whitehaven Wesleyan Circuit and remained so until 1840 when transferred to the Workington Circuit.
In 1841 the Wesleyans moved to Market Place, to a new and larger chapel (left). They sold the old chapel to the Primitive Methodists, who had rented it for 9 years, in 1851.
The Cockermouth Wesleyans continued to develop and in 1914 they bought a site with the intention of building a new set of premises. This was on Lorton St, but it was not until 1932 that the new church was opened (right) and the old church sold to the Urban District Council the following year for £325 and now serves the local councils and acts as the Tourist Information Centre.

Over the years the building has been altered, but principally in 2000 when the hall and other rooms were completely refurbished and extended, offering a valuable asset to groups in the community seeking accommodation. Present users include a Pre-School, three Mothers and Toddlers groups, the U3A, ballet and music groups for children, uniformed organisations, the Cockermouth Mechanics Band, a Warhammer Group, ante-natal and breast-feeding groups.

The present membership of the church is 165.

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