A society at Hathern appears in the June 1780 accounts of the Leicester and Nottingham Circuit, according to Richardson, and Myles (1812) gives the date of the first chapel as 1791.
In 1810 there was a membership of 77, and the 1829 Return of Dissenters records 60 Wesleyan Methodists meeting for worship in Hathern. The return for the 1851 Religious Census records 98 free and 76 other sittings. There were 44 worshippers at the afternoon service on 30 March 1851, and 32 attended in the evening. There was also a Sunday school which met in the afternoon, and 44 Sunday scholars attended that day. The return was signed by Job Smith, the Steward, who was a Framework knitter (cotton) of Church Street and aged 42.
The chapel illustrated was built in 1864, at a cost of £424. All accounts agree that it could seat 200. It was sold in the 1940s, but is now the village hall.
Grid reference SK503212
Sources
Loughborough Wesleyan Methodist Circuit. Notes respecting chapels, schools and other trust properties … presented to the Quarterly Meeting held on Saturday, 15th March, 1930
Myles, William. A Chronological History of the People Called Methodists, of the Connexion of the late Rev. John Wesley; from their Rise, in the Year 1729, to their Last Conference, in 1812. 4th ed. London: printed at the Conference-Office … by Thomas Cordeux, 1813 p433
Richardson, S.Y. Bright Hope: Methodism in Loughborough 1. Heritage vol 7, no.3 April 2006 p 10
ROLLR, QS 95/2/1/72
TNA, HO 129/415/39
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