Herefordshire Through Time
Herefordshire Through Time
Historic Environment Record reference no. 21543, Ordnance Survey grid reference: SO 4181 5843
A Methodist Chapel in the centre of this black and white village on the side of the main Leominster to Kington road, on the route which John Wesley would have ridden when he travelled from Leominster to preach in Kington in 1746.
The building is unusual in that it is found in the centre of the village and not half hidden in isolated fields.
The building has a slate roof and an enclosed stone porch with a small window on either side. On each side wall there are two windows. There is also a galvanised iron shed adjoining the main structure. At the front of the building is a low stone wall topped with iron railings.
The building was once a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel. It was built in 1864 at a cost of £218 on land under the ownership of John Harding of Leamington. The trustees were:
In 1908 6ft of land adjacent to the chapel was rented from the nearby Lynch Estate to put up stables for those who had come a long distance to attend. The rent was 6d a year.
The chapel was registered for marriages in 1907.
In 1931 there were services at 3pm on Sundays and at 7pm on Tuesdays. The attendance at Eardisland was variable. G.L. Harriman in his book Pastor at Pembridge described Eardisland as "a delightful spot scenically but a disaster area Methodistically". He later when on to say that if he visited the village before a service he might be able to double the usual numbers but they soon fell again.
Eardisland Chapel appears on the Methodist Plan for 1962 but it was eventually closed.
In 1984 the chapel was sold for £2,300. It remains in private ownership but has not had any major conversion or work carried out on it.
HER no. 36917, OS grid ref: SO 3100 4964
The plot on which the chapel is built was once part of the garden of the neighbouring cottage, which is now known as Chapel House. At that time the cottage belonged to local preacher John Saveker and his wife Elizabeth. Prior to the building of the chapel Methodist services had been held in a room at Chapel House.
The chapel was built in 1867, and in 1934 a porch was added to the front of the building and dedicated to the memory of the first trustees.
In 1950 a schoolroom was added, which had been donated by the Sunday School attendant Mrs. Triffit. Under the supervision of Mrs. Triffit the Sunday School entered the Scripture Examination held by the Cardiff and Swansea Districts, and displayed in the chapel are two shields which had been won most by Eardisley.
Electric heating was installed in the chapel sometime after World War II.
In 1983 the chapel was still opening its doors for worship.
(Information taken from Fred Bluck, Methodism in the Marches)
HER no. 36918, OS grid ref: SO 3000 4965
A former Calvinistic Methodist Chapel of stone with a slate roof, a good-sized porch and two pointed-arched windows in the front wall. A slate tablet reads "Tabernacle/1848".
The building is now a private residence.
HER no. 36576, OS grid ref: SO 4497 3945
A Methodist Chapel in the centre of Eaton Bishop which is marked on the 1st Edition OS map of 1886.
HER no. 35252, OS grid ref: SO 4500 3900
A Primitive Methodist Chapel of red brick with yellow brick dressings. At the front there is a round-headed wooden door with windows in a matching style on either side. The chapel is now used as an artist's studio.
Attached to the chapel are two cottages known as Poverty Cottages.
The building is marked as a "Bethel Chapel" on the 1st Edition OS map of 1886.
HER no. 36616, OS grid ref: SO 3895 2850
A Chapel that is marked as "Primitive Methodist" on the 1st Edition OS map. The building is of red brick with a low-pitched slate roof. At the front there is a small slate-roofed porch with a round-headed window on either side. Above the windows are yellow brick dressings. An extension appears to have been added to one side.
The chapel is still in use as a place of worship today.
HER no. 36615, OS grid ref: SO 3885 2860
A chapel that is marked as "General Baptist" on the 1st Edition OS map. It is in the centre of Ewyas Harold village, not far from the Temble Bar Inn. The building is of grey stone and faces the road. At the front of the chapel is a small slate-roofed structure which would have once been the porch and entrance. The building is now entered via a small extension to one side. There are two rectangular windows on either side of the old porch.
The chapel is still in use today and a sign at the front reads: "Ebenezer Baptist Church, 1862". It also gives the times of service and the name of the minister.
HER no. 36919, OS grid ref: SO 5205 6395
Just off the A49 Leominster to Shrewsbury road, down Hundred Lane and some three miles north of Leominster, stands the Hundred Chapel.
The chapel stands in the middle of a triangular plot with a small graveyard to the rear which holds about 20 graves.
Originally the Hundred Chapel was a Primitive Methodist Chapel and one of the later ones to be built in the Leominster Circuit. On 10th April 1905 it was proposed that a place of worship be built at The Hundred. Mr. Probert had promised a suitable piece of ground as well as a donation of £10. There were further donations of £5 from Mr. W.J. Owens of Prospect Cottage, Stockton, who also promised to erect the building. The total of additional donations came to £24 6s 0d. The plot was part of an orchard known as "Nursery Orchard" and extra land was later bought for £10 from Mr. Probert, making a total area of 51 x 51 x 39 ft.
The deeds of the chapel show that the site was transferred on 30th September 1905 and the land for the burial ground on 22nd February 1907.
The Hundred Chapel was recorded as a place of worship on 15th June 1906. The building was constructed out of corrugated iron with a steeply pitched roof and shaped barge boards.
In the 1930s there were services at 2.30pm and 6pm each Sunday. In 1963 the Hundred was asked to amalgamate with Leominster as part of the Border Commission Experiment and eventually the chapel was closed.
(Information taken from Fred Bluck, Methodism in the Marches)
[Original author: Miranda Greene, 2003]