Welcome to the
North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit
Two hundred years of mission and change.
Last year I went on a short walking tour of the Swindon railway
village
It was a bit surprising to me to hear how Methodism had been such a major part of the town .
People had moved into the town as it started to develop in
the mid-19th century from all over the country particularly Wales and the North
East of England as the railway sought skills that were already available
elsewhere in the country.
They brought their own variations of Methodism with them.
This encouraged me to start to explore the history of
methodism in both Swindon and the wider North Wilts area.
To this end I recently borrowed a copy of the “Souvenir and hand
book of the Primitive Methodist Church: Brinkworth and Swindon District Synod
April 30th to May the 5th 1925” from John Mills at St Andrews. Thank you John
for the use of such an interesting document
We have just gone past 200 years of celebrating primitive Methodism
Swindon and the surrounding areas.
The thoughts and information in this handbook are extensive
in giving both an insight into the area and methodism at that time
in parallel there was also a development of Wesleyan
methodism which I may return to another time.
To quote from the pamphlet
“The story of the exploits of the men of faith recorded in
the 11th chapter of Hebrews expands and grows with the passing years”
Talking of those who were Prims.
very human where
these men and women with their whims and prejudice and aversion to change.
the snuffling of
the candles before the sermon was long in being displaced by the newfangled gas
.
Boisterous were they in the services scarcely
relevant according to our ideas”
“They sang because
of a wonderful experience
“God for Christ’s sake
had pardoned their sins so in their
singing was found the note of urgency, Do not
tarry come to Jesus while you may”
For some who are
reading this it will seem like that message of individual salvation needs to be
more urgent than ever today.
Others, including
myself will point to “social holiness” as one of the gifts of Methodism.
Faith in action,
world saving rather than just soul saving.
Indeed in 1924
there were many Prims involved in the official life of the Town including 9
town councillors, 4 members of the education committee and 4 on the hospital
board.
There is much to
reflect in what that says of the Prims town and wider in the country.
Some of those
criticisms we hear could be reflected also in our discussions about whether we
like new songs or new theological ideas or getting involved in politics.
During my formative
years I was one of those people who found history boring and irrelevant but as
I've got older, I find that history is a fascinating thing to study as we can
find inspiration from the past as well as a sense of purpose.
We all know that
the church in general and our own Methodist Church in North Wiltshire face
challenges ahead, but I believe if we go back to the experience of our forebears,
we can get take hope and perhaps encouragement to act and even there positive
thinking for the future and actions
So how did it all start:
“The Shrewsbury
circuit sent the Reverend S Heath in 1824 to open a new mission in the South of
England
Starting at
Cirencester and meeting with the most determined opposition and ill treatment
the mission the left that town and came on to Brinkworth.
Mr Heath who
possessed a very attractive personality was said to be a one sermon man.
The explanation is
that he had a special opening sermon only used when he visited fresh places He
spoke of heaven and hell, of sin and judgement, and was a great awakening
sermon “
Not my style. When
I started Local Preaching, my Minister advised me not to go on that track, I
think he thought I would easily become very judgemental!
One of the early church buildings was at Eastcott, Swindon.
“Eastcott occupied the 6th place upon the plan for the year
1827 with preaching at 2:00
The indoor services were held at different times in various
cottages situated in Eastcott hill.
One of these cottages was where services were held until the
first chapel was built was in the occupation of John and Mary Pike
There were 15 members in 1828 at Eastcott including 4 local
preachers”
From Myprimitivemethodsitwebsite:
“Swindon Railway works, the core of the new town in the
Nineteenth Century, was opened in 1843 with the building of the Great Western
Railway. The Prims were quick to establish their presence with the opening in
1849 of a chapel at Eastcott, at the foot of the hill down from Old Swindon.
The occasion is reported by E Bishop in the Primitive Methodist magazine.
The land, given by Mr Edwards, was midway between the New
Swindon of the Great Western Railway works and Old Town. The new chapel was 30′
square and had a burial ground.. It accommodated 214 people and had the
potential to install a gallery.
Information about the opening comes from the Wiltshire pages
of British History Online.”
From the Synod pamphlet:
“In 1848 Thomas and James Edwards, who had long been
connected with Primitive Methodism, sold a field, through which Regent Street
later ran, as a site for a chapel. The following year a small brick chapel
accommodating about 150, with a burial ground to its east, was built.
Membership was 27. In 1850 the congregation’s first resident minister came to
live in a thatched cottage in what later became Regent Circus. By 1863 the
chapel had become too small, and that year a larger one, with an adjoining schoolroom,
was built on the same site.”
From the pamphlet
“One of the Edward brothers won a lawsuit about 1848 and in
addition giving to the land to the first Primitive Methodist Chapel in Swindon celebrated his
victory by promoting the last back swording match in the town. So the old order changes
The land having been secured the Rev E. Bishop set to work
and eventually succeeded in getting sanction for the building of a Chapel on
part of the site on which Regent Street church now stands.”
“The fateful afternoon arrived for the foundation service on
Saturday July 22nd 1848 and to the dismay of all concerned the weather was
unfavourable and only a small company assembled and the collection amounted to
the sum of 6 shillings
The explanation was that with the excitement caused by the
prospect of having a Chapel built and the lack of experience of the workers the
bills announcing the meeting were not sent out”
A further church was eventually funded and built in Regents
Street which closed in 1957
From Myprimitivemethodsitwebsite:
“The chapel was sited on Swindon’s busiest shopping street
and this became less suitable as the town continued to grow rapidly. In 1957
the chapel was demolished and its funds used to improve other Methodist
churches in Swindon including the former Manchester Road Primitive Methodist
chapel and to build a new chapel in Queen’s Drive on the Walcot estate”
I have heard it said we need to get back to the church
meeting in houses. If we look at history the work of the church was often
engaged in building new places of worship to meet the spiritual needs of those
coming to a “New Place” in New Town Swindon.
Lets end with a quote from the Hebrews passage mentioned in
the pamphlet.
From Hebrews 11
11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope
for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This
is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the
universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made
out of what was visible.
Interesting that so much of what we celebrate is the very
visible presence of the people of God called “Methodist.”
Eric
Welcome to the
North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit
Two hundred years of mission and change.
Last year I went on a short walking tour of the Swindon railway village
It was a bit surprising to me to hear how Methodism had been such a major part of the town .
People had moved into the town as it started to develop in the mid-19th century from all over the country particularly Wales and the North East of England as the railway sought skills that were already available elsewhere in the country.
They brought their own variations of Methodism with them.
This encouraged me to start to explore the history of methodism in both Swindon and the wider North Wilts area.
To this end I recently borrowed a copy of the “Souvenir and hand book of the Primitive Methodist Church: Brinkworth and Swindon District Synod April 30th to May the 5th 1925” from John Mills at St Andrews. Thank you John for the use of such an interesting document
We have just gone past 200 years of celebrating primitive Methodism Swindon and the surrounding areas.
The thoughts and information in this handbook are extensive in giving both an insight into the area and methodism at that time
in parallel there was also a development of Wesleyan methodism which I may return to another time.
To quote from the pamphlet
“The story of the exploits of the men of faith recorded in the 11th chapter of Hebrews expands and grows with the passing years”
Talking of those who were Prims.
very human where these men and women with their whims and prejudice and aversion to change.
the snuffling of the candles before the sermon was long in being displaced by the newfangled gas .
Boisterous were they in the services scarcely relevant according to our ideas”
“They sang because of a wonderful experience
“God for Christ’s sake had pardoned their sins so in their singing was found the note of urgency, Do not tarry come to Jesus while you may”
For some who are reading this it will seem like that message of individual salvation needs to be more urgent than ever today.
Others, including myself will point to “social holiness” as one of the gifts of Methodism.
Faith in action, world saving rather than just soul saving.
Indeed in 1924 there were many Prims involved in the official life of the Town including 9 town councillors, 4 members of the education committee and 4 on the hospital board.
There is much to reflect in what that says of the Prims town and wider in the country.
Some of those criticisms we hear could be reflected also in our discussions about whether we like new songs or new theological ideas or getting involved in politics.
During my formative years I was one of those people who found history boring and irrelevant but as I've got older, I find that history is a fascinating thing to study as we can find inspiration from the past as well as a sense of purpose.
We all know that the church in general and our own Methodist Church in North Wiltshire face challenges ahead, but I believe if we go back to the experience of our forebears, we can get take hope and perhaps encouragement to act and even there positive thinking for the future and actions
So how did it all start:
“The Shrewsbury circuit sent the Reverend S Heath in 1824 to open a new mission in the South of England
Starting at Cirencester and meeting with the most determined opposition and ill treatment the mission the left that town and came on to Brinkworth.
Mr Heath who possessed a very attractive personality was said to be a one sermon man.
The explanation is that he had a special opening sermon only used when he visited fresh places He spoke of heaven and hell, of sin and judgement, and was a great awakening sermon “
Not my style. When I started Local Preaching, my Minister advised me not to go on that track, I think he thought I would easily become very judgemental!
One of the early church buildings was at Eastcott, Swindon.
“Eastcott occupied the 6th place upon the plan for the year 1827 with preaching at 2:00
The indoor services were held at different times in various cottages situated in Eastcott hill.
One of these cottages was where services were held until the first chapel was built was in the occupation of John and Mary Pike
There were 15 members in 1828 at Eastcott including 4 local preachers”
From Myprimitivemethodsitwebsite:
“Swindon Railway works, the core of the new town in the Nineteenth Century, was opened in 1843 with the building of the Great Western Railway. The Prims were quick to establish their presence with the opening in 1849 of a chapel at Eastcott, at the foot of the hill down from Old Swindon. The occasion is reported by E Bishop in the Primitive Methodist magazine.
The land, given by Mr Edwards, was midway between the New Swindon of the Great Western Railway works and Old Town. The new chapel was 30′ square and had a burial ground.. It accommodated 214 people and had the potential to install a gallery.
Information about the opening comes from the Wiltshire pages of British History Online.”
From the Synod pamphlet:
“In 1848 Thomas and James Edwards, who had long been connected with Primitive Methodism, sold a field, through which Regent Street later ran, as a site for a chapel. The following year a small brick chapel accommodating about 150, with a burial ground to its east, was built. Membership was 27. In 1850 the congregation’s first resident minister came to live in a thatched cottage in what later became Regent Circus. By 1863 the chapel had become too small, and that year a larger one, with an adjoining schoolroom, was built on the same site.”
From the pamphlet
“One of the Edward brothers won a lawsuit about 1848 and in addition giving to the land to the first Primitive Methodist Chapel in Swindon celebrated his victory by promoting the last back swording match in the town. So the old order changes
The land having been secured the Rev E. Bishop set to work and eventually succeeded in getting sanction for the building of a Chapel on part of the site on which Regent Street church now stands.”
“The fateful afternoon arrived for the foundation service on Saturday July 22nd 1848 and to the dismay of all concerned the weather was unfavourable and only a small company assembled and the collection amounted to the sum of 6 shillings
The explanation was that with the excitement caused by the prospect of having a Chapel built and the lack of experience of the workers the bills announcing the meeting were not sent out”
A further church was eventually funded and built in Regents Street which closed in 1957
From Myprimitivemethodsitwebsite:
“The chapel was sited on Swindon’s busiest shopping street and this became less suitable as the town continued to grow rapidly. In 1957 the chapel was demolished and its funds used to improve other Methodist churches in Swindon including the former Manchester Road Primitive Methodist chapel and to build a new chapel in Queen’s Drive on the Walcot estate”
I have heard it said we need to get back to the church meeting in houses. If we look at history the work of the church was often engaged in building new places of worship to meet the spiritual needs of those coming to a “New Place” in New Town Swindon.
Lets end with a quote from the Hebrews passage mentioned in the pamphlet.
From Hebrews 11
11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
Interesting that so much of what we celebrate is the very visible presence of the people of God called “Methodist.”
Eric