Then and Now - Chapmanslade Congregational Chapel (From Wiltshire Times)

Then and Now - Chapmanslade Congregational Chapel

2:52pm Friday 17th June 2011 in Down Memory Lane By Trevor Porter

Today we look at the village’s former Congregational Chapel.

This lies on the road out of the village toward Westbury, near the junction that leads to Corsley.

An independent chapel was founded in Chapmanslade 1761, and Congregationalists worshipped in a barn owned by the Hopkins family until 1771 when a chapel was built. This, according to records was enlarged in 1810.

This building fell in to decay and it was pulled down in 1865 and a new chapel built in its place.

It was then regarded as a convenient modern building with three stained glass windows at the rear depicting The Way, The Truth and The Life, above an elaborate pulpit .

Chapel records show that the Rev Obadiah Davies came to Chapmanslade in 1915 at a cost of £15s per annum, and the last full time minister was Mr Kemmish, who left in 1934 after nine years.

As the chapel could not afford a full time minister ministers were sent from the East Somerset and West Wiltshire Congregationalist Unions.

At various times the chapel was attached to Rook Lane Chapel and then the Zion Chapel in Frome, and eventually the United Reformed Church in Westbury. Because of this, over the years the chapel was known as the Independent Chapel, the Congregational Chapel, the United Chapel and finally the United Reformed Church.

As families moved away numbers fell and the chapel eventually closed.

It has since been converted into a private house, retaining its traditional appearance.

Our today picture shows the building minus a section of its wall, which was removed to create car parking when it became a home.