The earliest mention of the Wesleyans here was in 1797 when the curate noted that there were “no dissenting chapels in this place and only one small room licensed for the religious worship of the Wesleyans”. By 1803 the house of Steven Bonner was licensed for Methodist services; possibly this was the property known as the Old Welcome, said to have been a chapel ( – sold in the 1830s and again in 1891). A chapel (unknown location but possibly High Street) opened circa 1805 – later figures give 189 sittings. Little else known except Edward Harker installed a pipe organ in 1837. Vacated 1839 for the new chapel and purchased in 1842 by the Primitive Methodists. Closed late C19th and after various uses was demolished.
The second chapel (1839) on Market Street (Brunswick Terrace) was a commodious building with seating for 300, and originally in the Wisbech Wesleyan Circuit. A Sunday School was added to the rear in 1886. Discord as a result of the Reformist movement led to large numbers seceding and building their own chapel next door in 1853. After 1915, following the closure of the Primitive and UMC, it became the only Methodist chapel here. Closed 1965, after which the few members united with the town’s Congregational Church. By this time it was part of Holbeach Methodist Circuit. Used as a workshop until demolition in 1971. Today, no doubt, this three-storey building, with gallery and pedimented front, would have been retained and converted.
Sources include:
Stamford Mercury 12th June 1842
Census of Religious Worship 1851
Memoirs of Charles Jerram 1856
Boston Guardian 6th April 1906
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