Wesleyan Methodist Chapel and School

Situation
On the east side of Witney High Street, just north of the town centre.

History
The Methodist Chapel in Witney High Street occupies a dominant position within the town that reflects the growing importance of this religious movement there in the 19th century. Many of the local blanket mill owners were Methodist or Non-Conformist by conviction and encouraged their workers to become so [1]. The early Methodist meetings in Witney were held in a cloth weaving shop until the latter half of the 18th century when a chapel was built in the High Street. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, had a direct hand in the design of this chapel offering advice on its layout [2]. The congregation eventually outgrew this too and after further rebuilding and alterations the present Methodist Church was built to seat around 700 people. Funds were raised partly from a meeting organised by John Early (1783-1862) in his blanket room at Newland, where subscriptions were invited to add to the £200 already raised from a bazaar at the Blanket Hall: the sum raised eventually reached £1,250 [3].

The new chapel was designed by James Wilson of Bath in the Gothic style [4]. The building work was undertaken by James Long, a local builder. John Early laid the foundation stone here in 1849 and the first service was held only nine months later in the completed chapel. William Smith, founder of Smith's blanket company, recalled seeing the ceremony of laying the foundation stone take place recording in his diary that:

several coins of the realm were deposited in the stone, after which every child of the Sunday school marched past, each boy and girl helping themselves to a large bun, which were placed on the stone for that purpose. I may also state that a piece of parchment with the names of all the members of the building committee inscribed, (each one writing his own name) was deposited with the coins, and if I ever felt pride in writing William Smith it was on that occasion [5].

To the rear of the chapel are the buildings that housed the Wesleyan School; this was first set up in a thatched building here in the early 19th century. John Early was largely responsible for providing a new building for teaching both boys and girls (in separate rooms) on the site following the growth in numbers of pupils attending. It was open on Saturdays and Sundays and teetotal parents were given a reduction in the fees.

Clare Sumner