The church interior from 1826

 In 1826 the pews had 3'6” high backs, with strips underneath to put hats on, and most were rented by members for their families' own use. Pew rents continued till the 1920's. There was also a limited number of Free Benches. One change to the original specifications was for supplying backs for the Free Benches. The original pews were replaced in 1875 with those still remembered by older members. These were removed in 1985 following a death-watch beetle attack, and replaced by the much more comfortable and flexible chairs in use today. The pulpit and furniture on the dais, except the attractive modern lectern and font, presumably also date from 1875.  In the 1840's the chapel was estimated to have of a capacity of 550- It seems very unlikely that it has ever had a congregation that large! 

One of the bills from the builder in September 1826 included: “2 pulpit lights/ 6 chandeliers; 7 upright lights; 80 feet of chain + 16 yards of cord for fixing chandeliers; 3 pairs of snuffers.” These lights would all have been lit by candles- in the winter of 1854/5 the church bought 84 pounds (about 38 kilos) of them- no wonder they bought snuffers! In 1859 the decision was taken to light the building with gas instead of candles, soon after gas lighting was introduced in some Thornbury streets. But the main gas lighting was not installed until 1875. Two “6 Point Star Lights” can be seen in a photograph on the church wall. The church first considered “incandescent lights” in 1904, but electric lights were actually installed in 1927. This also came soon after electric lighting was introduced to Thornbury streets- the Deacons were very keen on the benefits of new technology. 

For many years the heating was by coal. On 4 October 1871: “it was unanimously agreed that the Chapel should in future be warmed with gas”, but it took 135 years for this ambition to be fulfilled! In the 1960's the members started to complain again about the poor heating as they had in the 19^th century, and the church converted to oil which was the cheapest alternative at the time. Eventually the conversion to gas took place in 2006.