Shepshed Charnwood Road Primitive Methodist chapel ii

91 Charnwood Road, Shepshed, LE12 9NL

The 1822 Loughborough plan in Rev Kendall’s history of the PM connexion shows two services at Sheepshead (sic) each Sunday at 2.00 and 6.00 pm.  There was a chapel In Charnwood Road in 1876 and the present building, which was built in front of the previous chapel, dates from 1913.  It closed in 1969 and was used for some years as Knight’s printers and then a cannabis factory.  In April 2014 it is an indoor play centre.

You can read about the story of Shepshed’s current Christchurch Methodist church by following this link.

The booklet Written in Stone, available below as a download, explores the building of the village chapels by unlocking the stories behind a total of 19 foundation stones in addition to numerous named bricks.  Beneath a tangle of family relationships it tells a tale of dreams beyond the immediate capabilities of the respective congregations, finally achieved with great sacrifice and lingering debt.  The account may not be untypical of Methodist chapel building of the period.

The booklet concludes with a brief overview of the post-war development of the buildings.  It then describes their eventual assimilation in 1969 into a new church taking Christchurch as its name and making its home in the then recently modernised former Wesleyan church.  Finally it outlines an ambitious scheme to make the premises fully accessible, energy efficient and attractive for community use.

A larger booklet entitled Methodism in Shepshed 1757 – 2007 covering 250 years of Methodism in the town was also produced.

This booklet traces the origins, growth and eventual amalgamation of the
local Wesleyan and Primitive communities within the context of the
national movement.  No doubt it is typical of chapels in many small
towns and large villages.

Sources:

Kendall: History of the Primitive Methodist Connexion

Downloads

Comments about this page

  • Sorry if there is confusion Paul – it’s the way the page is laid out. I am the author of the page, but when you open “Written in Stone” it is properly attributed to David Stevenson

    By Christopher Hill (15/05/2021)
  • The author of the book “Written in Stone” is incorrectly given as Christopher Hill. The correct author is David Stevenson.

    By Paul Mould (15/05/2021)
  • Shepshed Charnwood Road Primitive Methodist Chapel, Leicestershire
    In 1940 the chapel measured 60 feet by 24 feet and had seating for 290 in pews. There was one schoolroom (presumably the 1877 chapel) which was 39 feet by 25 feet and four other rooms.
    Perhaps the most curious feature of this building is the east window. It has perpendicular gothic tracery supporting art nouveau glass under an inscribed and gilded segmental arch.
    Sources
    John Rylands Library University of Manchester DDPD1Methodist Accommodation returns, 1940/697
    Site visit 17.4.2019

    By G W Oxley (04/06/2019)
  • Leicester Record Office:

    Ref. T1950: to include Shepshed PM Church/Chapel Records. 

    By Raymond E.O.Ella (05/03/2018)

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