Thanks to Mark Churchill for the pictures of Bedchester Wesleyan Methodist chapel which he maintains he came across completely by accident whilst tracking down an early Primitive Methodist society at Bere Knap.
The chapel looks unused in Mark’s picture taken in January 2022.
Comments about this page
The following is copied from Fontmell Magna.net and written by Geoffrey Tapper.
Bedchester was initially served by Hartgrove Chapel, but it was a long way to walk and hilly. The local grocer, James Hart, gave his garden on Bedchester crossroads to the local Methodist Society. The new chapel was built in 1878 for £130. This cause also failed in the mid 1970s, and as with Hartgrove, the remaining members went to Fontmell village chapel to worship. This chapel was too small to be a dwelling, and is now a shed.
The family which provided most of the leadership in this society were several generations of the Greens from the farm at the top of St Andrews Lane, and latterly, Ivy Collins, their long serving housekeeper. When you gaze at the hamlet, it is astonishing that a Methodist chapel existed and prospered at all. But it did. The chapel housed 50 people at most, but it worked, it worked for many years.
Add a comment about this page