The 1858 Primitive Methodist magazine tells us that at the time Stoke Golding was village of 600 people. It was missioned early in the development of Primitive Methodism then re-missioned by preaching in the street. Around 1855 John Moxon gave a plot of land for a chapel – needed then because they had just been ejected from their previous meeting house.
The chapel was 8 yards by 6 yards with a board floor and cast iron windows. It opened from December 13th 1857 by John Moxon, Rev T Johnson (Independent), D Smith and Thomas Roberts. Collections were good considering “the distressed state of trade“. They raised £37 8s. towards the £100 cost.
Donors and collectors included Mrs Frith and her kind daughters, Mrs Harris and Mr Moxon. Mr Moxon had also provided a chapel at a cost of £95 near his own farm, 1.5 miles from Hinkley, where there was a society of 9 members, good congregations and a small Sunday school.
Within a couple of years, J Shaw tells us that they closed the chapel for thorough cleaning, repainting and the erection of an ornamental palisade in front of the building. They also paid off the £8 owed to the lawyer who drew up the deed of conveyance for the chapel in the first place. The magazine editor scolded them for not paying that debt off earlier.
As the society grew the chapel was sold and a new one on Main Street, at the back of the present Church, was opened in October 1905. As it acted as both a Sunday school and a church, in 1933 the present church building was opened in front of the 1905 schoolroom.
The Stoke Golding website tells us that “After the sale of the Station Road building many uses were made of it. Ladies met during the First World War years to knit comforts for the troops, and it became known as the Womens Hall. That faded name can still be seen today on its wall. Latterly it was used by the Gardening and Allotments Society as a store before being sold.”
On Google Street View in 2012 it appears to be in good condition with a freshly painted front door, although its use is not clear.
Reference
Primitive Methodist magazine March 1858 p.180
Primitive Methodist magazine October 1859 p.631
Stoke Golding Village website accessed April 19th 2017 at https://www.stokegolding.co.uk/history/churches/
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Stapleton Primitive Methodist Chapel was built of brick in 1905 and the school in 1852. By 1910 £520 had been spent on the buildings. From 1910 to 1932 the chapel seated 140.
In 1940 the accommodation comprised a chapel measuring 34 feet by 21 feet and seating 120 all in pews, school hall (20 feet by 16 feet). The chapel continues to be used as a Methodist place of worship. There is an image of the chapel on this website. Find Us (hinckleymethodistcircuit.org.uk)
Sources
John Rylands Library University of Manchester, DDPD1 Methodist Church Buildings: Statistical returns including seating accommodation as at July 1st 1940/692 (Hinckley, Albert Road, Circuit)
Leicester Record Office:
Ref. DE7611: Hinckley Methodist Circuit Record. To include Primitive Methodist Records, 1881-1832/3.
Ref. DE7611/328: Stoke Golding Primitive Methodist Sunday School, year 1906. Trustees of the PM Chapel Aid Association. ( Recites Schedule 1857-1905). Mortgage paid off 1914.
Two years after the chapel was opened they closed it for improvement work, described in the Primitive Methodist magazine in 1859.
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