Rushden Primitive Methodist chapel

The Primitive Methodist chapel at Fitzwilliam Street, Rushden was preceded by a chapel on the Green.  According to Keith Guyler’s notes the chapel was opened in 1881 and closed in 1934.

The 1897 Primitive Methodist magazine tells us that “it has been necessary to provide increased accommodation for the rapidly expanding Sunday school and congregation” at Rushden in the Wellingborough circuit..

On the Rushden Heritage website the Rushden Research Group says that ” It was a very small church and by the end of the Great Depression, around 1930, it began to decline: funds were short and the church leaders were feeling their age. In 1934 the church secretary left Rushden for his home town, Liverpool, and the following year the treasurer resigned. The expenses were rising; the boiler needed repair, as did the property, and it became clear that they could not survive. The decision to close and sell the building was taken in October 1936.”

It then became the British Legion Hall until 1987.  Google Street View in 2009 shows it as used by the St Johns Ambulance Brigade.

Reference

Primitive Methodist magazine 1897 page 394

Rushden Heritage, accessed February 8th 2015 carries the Rushden Argus description and detail of the closure. There are other relevant pages on the site