Worshippers at Yarnbrook Chapel celebrated its 140th anniversary over the weekend, with an open day and special service at the building on Westbury Road.

The open day, part of the 2014 Heritage Open Days, featured a display on the chapel’s history, archives and over 40 old Bibles, as well as children’s activities and refreshments.

It was followed by a special anniversary thanksgiving service on Sunday led by event co-ordinator Andrew Jones, with music and prayer.

Yarnbrook Chapel treasurer Mary Rossiter said: “We had a number of visitors across the two events, with almost 30 people coming to the open day.

“The open day included old records and a variety of Bibles from over the years and I think people found it very interesting to see the history of the church, which is fascinating.

“The service was also really nice and we had a few extra people than normal. There was music and singing and we also had another run down on the history of the chapel from Andrew Jones.

“It was lucky that the Heritage Open Days fell so close to the anniversary and it was great we could do something special to mark it.

"The chapel has a very interesting history and one man even came from Wells to find out more about it.”

Yarnbrook Chapel was opened on September 16, 1874, after being built for £300 the year before, but by the 1940s the number of worshippers was declining and it was closed in 1951.

The chapel building was auctioned in 1956 with the stipulation that it would not be used as a Baptist church. However Herbert Doel bought it and secured an agreement for it to be reopened as a non-denominational place of worship in 1957.

For more info, visit www.yarnbrookchapel.org