Wareham

One day in summer 2022 we drove to Wareham to start a tour of the chapels in the Isle of Purbeck ending up with Corfe Castle. The only one still in use as a Place of Worship is Swanage.

Wareham, with its bridges over the Rivers Piddle and Frome, is considered to be the gateway to the Isle of Purbeck.

Dorset History Centre has records for Wareham with a date range of 1835-1988 under reference NM-3/C/S/20 andNM-3/C/2/MS

The Wareham chapel, now sold, has not changed much since Keith Guyler took a photo in 1988 which you can see here https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishmethodistbuildings/29844707777/in/album-72157695661303920/

He says there was an earlier building opened in 1800 and that the present building was opened in 1851 and rebuilt in 1896.

When we saw it in 2022 builders were on the site.

The entry for Wareham in the Dorset Historic Towns Survey (date unknown) says on page 83 ‘A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was established on Dollins Lane by 1830. A new chapel was built adjacent to it but fronting on to North Street in 1896 and the old chapel was converted to a Sunday school.’ It also says a minister’s house was built on the site at the same time, both by local builders Burt and Vick.