THE earliest dissenting chapel in Warrington will be opening it’s gates this weekend as part of the national Heritage Open Days celebration.

Cairo Street Chapel will be opening from 10am-4pm on Saturday and from 10am-3pm on Sunday.

Visitors can sit and relax in the gardens, which are a ‘quiet oasis’ in the town centre or enjoy the recently completed social area at the rear of the chapel.

Inside, the chapel will be decorated with a display of traditional corn dollies in preparation for the forthcoming harvest festival.

On Sunday at 3pm, the chapel will be holding its annual Academy Service to mark the end of the heritage weekend when Mr. Ray Beecham B.A. will lead the service on the life of William Broadbent - the Minister at Cairo Street in the early 1800s.

Cairo Street Chapel was part of the 1662 ejection and it includes monuments to pupils of Warrington Academy and prominent families of the chapel, including the Gaskells, Aitkins and Monks.

The burial grounds contain many graves including the grave of Elizabeth and William Gaskell's baby son and the anti-slavery activists Anne and William Robson.