Stourport on Severn Primitive Methodist chapel

Lickhill Rd, Stourport-on-Severn DY13 8SA

Joseph Hutching writes about the opening of Stourport on Severn Primitive Methodist chapel in the 1856 Primitive Methodist magazine.

“Stourport is a market town, four miles from Kidderminster, containing a population from 4,000 to 5,000, with only one church and a Wesleyan chapel. We have had preaching here about thirty years, in a back street – a low, damp, and uncomfortable place, which greatly impeded our progress.

We have at length obtained 600 yards of land, in an excellent situation, on which we have built a good chapel, vestry, and house, leaving sufficient land on which to build a school-room. The chapel is built of brick, covered with slate; it has six circular windows, 11 feet high and 5 feet wide, the two front ones of stained glass. It stands fourteen feet from the road, and is enclosed by a wall and palisades, which give it a respectable appearance. The building is 45 feet long, 28 feet wide, and 24 feet from the floor to the ceiling. It has two galleries, is well ventilated, and will comfortably seat 500 persons. “

Opening services, with the obligatory tea meeting, started on Sunday March 16th 1856. Preachers included Rev. Philip Pugh, James Cautherington (both of Dudley), Revs. W. Bailey (Baptist minister), of Bewdley, J. Hutchings, R. Jones, Rev. John Mills (Baptist minister), of Kidderminster, Dr. Melson, of Birmingham and  Rev. D. K. Shoebotham (Independent minister), from Dudley.  Particular donations came from John Baldwin and John Rice.

In 2016 the building still exists and is used by Jehovah’s witnesses.

Reference

Primitive Methodist magazine May 1856 p.309

 

Comments about this page

  • As a Methodist chapel, its registration was cancelled in November 1950. The Stourport Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses registered it in June 1984, but by 2018 they had moved to Kidderminster and it was for sale in 2019. By September 2022 it had been converted into two houses, the only alteration being to the arched doorway which was bricked up and replaced by two front doors.

    By Matthew Davis (18/07/2023)

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