Shaw Primitive Methodist chapel

Shaw, Swindon SN4

Shaw Primitive Methodist chapel
Handbook of the Brinkworth and Swindon Centenary District Synod

The Primitive Methodist magazine for August 1852 contains an account by Samuel Turner of Stratton of the opening of Shaw Primitive Methodist chapel.  The services were held on June 13th 1852 with sermons by Isaac Humphries, Samuel Turner himself and Mr Thomas of the Independent chapel.

The land for the chapel had been given by the late Mr Sadler of Shaw. It measured 22′ x 16′, had a boarded floor and a slate roof and was surrounded by a stone wall and iron gate. It cost “only £68/16/10 and the trustees are placed in easy circumstances.”

The souvenir Official Handbook of the Brinkworth and Swindon Centenary District Synod held in 1910 records that:

“The first building was erected in 1852.  In 1882 a new Church was built which was greatly due to the energy and work of Mr W. Bridgeman.

Number of sittings: 120

Number of members: 14

Total cost: £262

Present debt: Nil”

The 1882 Primitive Methodist magazine contains a report of the opening of a new Primitive Methodist chapel at Shaw. It had cost £180.

Does the chapel still exist?

Reference

Primitive Methodist magazine August 1852 page 499

Primitive Methodist magazine 1882 page 761

 

Comments about this page

  • Thanks for the update Peter.

    Your post reminds me of delivering a donated piano to the chapel in the 1960s. Much of the energy of the chapel then came from the Pedley family, if I remember accurately.

    By Christopher Hill (14/09/2020)
  • The chapel still exists, as a private house named The Old Chapel, on what is now called Old Shaw Lane. It was originally between the two hamlets of Shaw and Nine Elms, and is now in the area called Nine Elms. It would appear that the building in 1882 was some sort of modification of an existing building, not a completely new chapel, as the existing building has a dedication reading “Primitive Methodist Chapel A.D. 1852”. On the 1886 OS map there is only one chapel, in the exact spot where the 1852 building still stands.

    The Methodist community moved to Holy Trinity, Shaw, a multi-denomination partnership church, after West Swindon was built around the existing farms and hamlets in the 1980s. Holy Trinity is still part of the Upper Thames Circuit.

    According to Zoopla, the building was sold in 1999 for a price that indicates it hadn’t been converted to a house yet, then again in 2003 for a price consistent with other houses in the area. So it seems certain that’s when it was converted. I think I vaguely remember there being another denomination using the building in the 1990s, but I am not certain of this. Someone at Holy Trinity would be able to tell you.

    The house is slightly west of Roughmoor Way on Old Shaw Lane and retains the arched windows along the roadward side.

    By Peter Sketch (13/09/2020)

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