Nene Terrace, on the Cambridgeshire border, is a hamlet in the parish of Crowland, two miles south of the town. Erected in 1868 next to the main road, the chapel was the only place of worship for some distance. It had sittings for 150–190, rather more than the average for a small community.
This is the same chapel sometimes given as in the hamlet called Engine, which is now synonymous with Nene Terrace.
The Wesleyans had a presence here from 1819. There are indications of a previous chapel, with reports of Sunday school meetings in the “Nene Terrace chapel” in 1863.
The deep drains criss-crossing the fens are characteristic of the area. At one time, negotiating the wash at Crowland could prove to be perilous. It was here that two men, returning home from Nene Terrace in a horse-drawn cart after working on the new chapel, were drowned along with their horse. The animal had taken fright as water quickly covered the causeway during a storm.
A united missionary service with the Church of England was held in 1897 in a granary belonging to a Mr Bailey – a rare act of unity in those days!
In 1906 a new reed (pump) organ was purchased, the delivery of which would have been a red-letter day.
The chapel was a member of Peterborough Wesleyan Circuit until 1888; then Crowland Wesleyan Circuit until union in 1932; and thereafter the Peterborough Methodist Circuit.
It closed circa 2005 and the building sold and put to commercial use. The datestone can be seen in the pedimented front gable: “Wesleyan Chapel 1868”.
Note: Various records relating to this chapel can be found in the Methodist archive at Northamptonshire Records Office.
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