Woodyates is a village south-west of Salisbury.
Woodyates Primitive Methodist chapel was known as Ebenezer and opened in 1852. It was still in use at the time of Keith Guyler’s photograph in 1988 but was later closed. On Google Street View in June 2011 it is for sale and looks neglected and overgrown.
Can anyone report what has happened to it since?
Location: SU 028 193
The Primitive Methodist magazine for January 1853 contains an account by E Hancock of the opening of Woodyates Primitive Methodist chapel. Woodyates is described as a village with population of 370 “proverbial for drunkenness, fighting and other species of iniquity”. Soon after the village was missioned around 1852, a society was formed including two local preachers both previously significant members of the parish church – the parish clerk and the leader of the singing. As a result unspecified but unsuccessful attempts were made to break up the young society.
B Herrington provided a very fairly priced site and the foundation stone was laid by Mrs Hancock on May 17th 1852, accompanied by various sermons and singing by the PM choir from Martin and the Wesleyan choir from Cranbourne.
The chapel was opened on October 17th 1852. Sermons then and at later meetings were preached by A Bound, E Hancock, Rev Mr Mace, and Messrs Flemington, Shrimpton, Green, Herrington and C Martin
The chapel is 16′ x 23′ and 11′ high, built of brick, flint and slate. The overall cost was £70 towards which £22 had been raised.
Reference
Primitive Methodist magazine for January 1853 pp.50-51
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I have a photo that I took last April. It is now a home and hardly changed from the 1988 view.
Ed’s note: Photo now attached. Thanks Mark.
The Woodyates PM Chapel was on sale 2017. Pictures of the exterior including the plaque (Ebenezer Primitive Methodist Chapel 1852) and interior can be viewed via Rightmove, the Chapel recently or now Sold STC and has planning consent for conversion into a 2 bedroomed dwelling.
It was Barnard Herrington, a 38 year old Woodsman, the ‘Chaple Steward’, who completed the Return for the earlier chapel to The Census of Religious Worship, 1851 (TNA HO129/271/1/9/17). It had only 47 sittings and attracted 22 to the afternoon service and 37 to the evening service on Census Sunday. In the Remarks column he wrote [original spelling retained]:
‘Our Chaple is a Place we fitted up in 1842 & rent it at £1 10s per year it being the only Place that could be obtained at that time. It is not half large enough and we hope to build a new Chapl this Summer that will seat a 100 as it is much desired and long been prayd for by many of the inhabitants of Woodyats & Pentridge.’
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