Farmer's bid to save church family helped build
Google MapsA farmer is attempting to stop the closure of a 135-year-old chapel his family played a key role in building.
John Young, from Alnwick in Northumberland, says Lindisfarne Methodist Church in Christon Bank is part of his family's history and dates back to 1891.
He said his 90-year-old father has attended the church for decades and "I have vowed that I will do my best to keep it open in the time he is still on the Earth".
The BBC has contacted Lindisfarne Methodist Church for comment.
The farmer's ancestor James Young worked with station master Theophilus Moor to build the chapel more than a century ago.
The pair approached then-MP for Berwick Sir Edward Grey to ask for land, which was granted to the community for free.
On 3 August 1891, the first stone was laid in a special ceremony. The cost of the buildings, including furnishings, was £709, seven shillings and four pence.
A statement on the church website states: "We have tried over several years to grow and engage with the village but we have not been successful. We are reviewing our role in the village and hope we can come up with the right solution."
'Church is struggling'
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, while Young is not a church-goer himself, five generations of his family have worshipped there.
Young said his father, who will turn 91 this year, "wants his funeral to be held in the family church".
He said: "Once you have lost something like this, you never get it back.
"The church is struggling. In this day and age, across the whole country, religion in certain sectors is dying off and the church haven't got an idea of how to change it."
The Lindisfarne Methodist Church's website describes the church as a "unique building" that "plays a vital part in village life" and serves as a "reminder that small can be, and often is, beautiful".