Swell has a prominent position in the old village of Robin Hood’s Bay, overlooking the village and beck to one side and sea to the other. Bay is one of the most attractive villages in the country being precariously perched on the edge of the sea in an area of outstanding natural beauty which forms part of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park.

At Swell we aim to provide exceptional facilities and service in beautiful surroundings with stunning sea and village views from our indoor and outdoor spaces. This is truly a unique business, property and location.

Swell was established in Robin Hood’s Bay in 2004 incorporating a café bar, gift shop, concert hall, cinema and conference facility. Most recently in 2009 Swell was approved as a venue for the holding of Civil Marriages and for the registration of Civil Partnerships.

The Old Chapel is a converted former Wesleyan Methodist Chapel which has been used as a school for local boys, wartime hostel for the army, an artist’s studio, a private residence, a warehouse and most recently an exhibition centre, concert hall, second hand bookshop and café.

The history of the building dates back to circa 1725 when a local group appointed trustees to buy land on which to worship. During the next 15 years they acquired Miss Tindale’s garden, Mary Cobb’s pig cote and James Johnson’s cottage and blacksmiths forge to form the land on which the “Preaching House” was built. Reverend John Wesley attended this site on 28 July 1779. The stone on the front of the building commemorates this visit rather than, as some may think, the date of the building.

In 1841 the purchase of a parcel of adjoining land from Taylor Storm for £35 enabled the trustees to rebuild The Chapel on the site in 1841/2. In 1846 the building was further enlarged to create a school room to the rear of the property together with an upper gallery.

The Chapel continued to flourish; becoming a centre point for Bay life for worship, entertainment and education. Here the author Leo Walmsley was educated and later returned to teach. He wrote about his school days at The Chapel in ‘The Sound of the Sea’ and ‘Foreigners’.

By the 1930s coastal erosion threatened the rear of the Chapel and on 2 June 1937 the last service was held.