Radway Primitive Methodist chapel

Radway is a village south east of Kineton on the edge of the Edge Hill battlefield. Radway Primitive Methodist chapel was opened on 23rd September 1866.  Samuel Hawkins gave land for the chapel which measured and cost £150 of which they had raised around £70. Speakers at the celebrations included RevW Hazell (Oxford), Caleb Maunder (Wesleyan) and R Brazier. G Warner wrote about the opening in the Primitive Methodist magazine.

At the time of Keith Guyler’s photograph in 2000 he doesn’t indicate whether it has closed or is still in operation. In August 2015 it is Chapel Cottage.

Anne Langley provides additional information:

Radway. The Primitive Methodist chapel was built in West End of red brick with a slate roof; the plaque says ‘PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHAPEL ERECTED 1866’. It was part of the Kineton circuit.

The chapel appears in Warwickshire trade directories from 1874-1932 and on OS maps from the 1^st edition (1800s) onwards. In 1911 and 1912 they held an open-air rally on August Bank Holiday Monday at Edge Hill Farm, with preachers standing on a wagon, the Hornton Brass Band and tea.

The chapel was still recorded as a Methodist Chapel on OS maps of the 1950s. The building still stands; it was sold in 2017 as a potential artist’s studio. The garden is rather overgrown, and the odd slate is loose on the roof.

Reference

Primitive Methodist magazine December 1866 page 755

Anne Langley’s sources:

Rugby Advertiser 12 Aug. 1911 & 10 Aug. 1912;

site visit 2017.