Hoe Benham Primitive Methodist chapel

The first Hoe Benham Primitive Methodist chapel in the Newbury circuit opened in 1836 but in 1865 they still carried a debt of £37 of the £40 it had cost them to build.  With an initiative of £7  from Mr Holbrook,  a new resident, the debt was cleared and a further £60 raised towards the building of a new chapel.

The foundation stone for the new chapel was laid on April 30th 1866 by Mr Holbrook. Speakers at the opening on July 1st 1866 and following celebrations (including the required tea meeting) included Rev J Moore (Silchester), T Waite (Reading) and Mrs Osmond.  Mr Stapels provided the tent for the tea meeting – and helped to put it up.

The new chapel cost £160 and measured 30′ x 21′.

Where was this chapel? On Ordnance Survey maps from 1888 to 1968  on Hoe Benham Lane there is a Mission Room marked although it is not visible on Street View in 2009. However, a little further East, towards Wickham Heath, there is a former Primitive Methodist chapel  now in residential use which appears to carry the date 1866, so that may well be it. The building is also around the correct size. That chapel already has its own separate page – under the name Wickham Heath. Click here to see it.