Herefordshire Through Time
Herefordshire Through Time
Historic Environment Record reference no. 31441, Ordnance Survey grid reference: SO 5957 5967
Situated on the south side of the road near Hockley Hall. The chapel is shown on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey maps. It was built for the Primitive Methodists in 1869, at a cost of £90, and formed part of the Ludlow Methodist Circuit. In 1882 the Ludlow Circuit agreed to pass the chapel over to the Bromyard Circuit, along with nine members.
By 1883 the membership was up to 24, second in size only to Bromyard. Two years later the estimated congregation size was 40. After being amalgamated into the Bromyard Circuit there was one service held on Sundays and one on Thursdays.
By 1906 the numbers had dropped to 11 and by 1915 had dropped further, to eight. Membership continued to fall to as few as five in 1923.
A Sunday School was held at this chapel. In 1882 there was one teacher and 12 children, but by 1902 this had risen to two teachers and 31 children.
Miss A.M.S. Saer, who was baptised in the chapel, remembers a bomb being dropped nearby during World War II, which cracked one of the walls.
The building continued to be used for services into the 1950s, when it was sold and used as a barn, with services then being held at Dhobie Cottage nearby. In the mid-1980s the chapel was demolished and a house built on the site.
HER no. 385, OS grid ref: SO 5084 3973
A Methodist Chapel at 10-11 Bridge Street. This is perhaps the chapel that was approved in 1828 and opened in 1829, although the Society had been meeting in a property in East Street since 1804.
The building was enlarged and re-fronted in 1866.
The chapel can be found by going through an alleyway between two shops. Unfortunately the shops have been built very close to the front of the chapel, making it difficult to take photos.
HER no. 36572, OS grid ref: SO 5140 4020
A Baptist Chapel on Commercial Road. It is of yellow brick with an Italianate style front. It was designed by John Johnson and G.C. Haddon in 1880. Behind the chapel is an attached burial ground. Inside, the chapel has a gallery, with seating, round three sides of the building.
The foundation stones were laid on 2nd October 1880, and the opening service was held on Tuesday 6th September 1881. The chapel cost £4265, and was designed with seating for 650.
Originally the chapel was hidden behind the Herefordshire and South Wales Eye and Ear Institute, which occupied the now empty forecourt in front of the chapel. This was demolished when the Victoria Eye Hospital was built in 1888-9.
By 1892 the church membership was 201, with 245 Sunday School scholars. By 1967 the membership had risen slightly to 253, an increase of 13 compared to the previous year.
In 1972 it was decided to use the church car park alongside the inner ring road to hold evangelistic services on a Sunday at 8pm. These services were believed to be the first of their kind and they were designed to attract the passing motorist and those who would not normally attend a place of worship. They lasted for about half an hour with sermons being preached from a farm lorry with a portable organ for the hymns. The BBC televised the first service held in the car park and services continued for the next four years.
By 1978 the membership was around 290.
This chapel is still in regular use today.
(Information taken from Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting-houses in Central England, 1986)
HER no. 26939, OS grid ref: SO 5058 4011
A Presbyterian Chapel on Eign Street, which is now the united Reformed Church. It was founded in the late 17th century. The present Gothic chapel of yellow brick and stone with gabled west front and irregular west tower was built in 1873 by Haddon Bros and replaces a building of 1829.
(Information taken from Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting-houses in Central England, 1986)
HER no. 36569, OS grid ref: SO 5085 3985
A Friends Meeting House of red brick in King Street, Hereford. It stands behind buildings on the north side of the street and was erected in 1821-2, replacing another earlier building. In 1838 the building was extended slightly.
The entrance is at the south end of the east wall and at one time had a semi-circular head. The interior is divided into two main rooms; the room to the north has a window overlooking the burial ground behind.
There is a gallery along the south and east sides, which was once accessed by an external staircase. The gallery is supported by cast iron columns and has an open balustrade.
(Information taken from Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting-houses in Central England, 1986)
HER no. 35248, OS grid ref: SO 5160 3965
A chapel in St. Owen Street, Hereford, which was opened in 1838 by a society formed in 1826. In 1880 a new chapel was built in the Gothic style by T. Davies 300 yards to the north-west. The earlier chapel then became a Salvation Army Citadel, but is now in commercial use.
(Information taken from Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting-houses in Central England, 1986)
HER no. 36573, OS grid ref: SO 5128 3984
This chapel was built in 1880 to replace the earlier Methodist Chapel further along St. Owen Street (see above). It is a Gothic-style construction of good size with impressive interior galleries. The front wall is of three bays with a pediment enclosing a date-tablet. There was originally a central entrance with a small window above and tall windows with round-arched heads on either side.
(Information taken from Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting-houses in Central England, 1986)
HER no. 43359, OS grid ref: SO 5130 4040
An Apostolic Church situated on Canal Road, leading from Monkmoor Street and Commercial Road and close to Jewson Builders' Merchants. The chapel is rectangular in shape with a large wide porch at the front that is flanked by large rectangular windows. Down each side of the building are five identical windows. The building and roof are constructed in corrugated iron. Above the porch is a small stained glass window that reads "The Apostolic Church".
HER no. 35597, OS grid ref: SO 2742 5526
Hergest is about one mile south-west of Kington on a minor road that leads to Gladestry. The chapel is small and was built in 1881. As it is in a rural area the congregation was always quite limited and by 1932 there was only an afternoon service on Sundays with an occasional meeting on Mondays.
By 1934 there was no congregation and arrangements were made to sell the property. However the sale does not appear to have taken place and, as the nearby community of Willey needed more space, it was decided to let them have Hergest Chapel to use as a tea room. The Centenary Celebration leaflet of Willey says that it was transported, using volunteer labour, in ten hours. This must surely be a rare example of a local chapel building that was moved from one location to another.
HER no. 36920, OS grid ref: SO 5153 4285
Munstone is a small village in the parish of Holmer, which is just to the north of Hereford city. The chapel is situated to the north-west of Munstone House.
The chapel is of red brick with a steeply pointed tile roof. At the front of the building is a small porch and either side of this a good-sized window. Above the porch is a smaller rectangular window.
The chapel is still in regular use, and a sign outside shows that at 3pm on Sunday the Sunday School meets and at 6.30pm there is a Gospel Service. On Wednesdays at 7pm there is a Prayer Meeting and on the 1st Sunday in the month there is the "Breaking of the Bread" at 11am.
The sign also says that "marriages can be solemnised, infants dedicated and believers baptised" at this church.
The interior of the chapel is very simple with a central aisle and seating either side. At the far end of the chapel is an altar table and pulpit. An inscription painted on the end wall above the pulpit reads: "I am the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE" - St John 14.6.
HER no. 36921, OS grid ref: SO 5185 4285
A building to the east of Munstone House is marked as a "Church Room" on the OS maps.
HER no. (awaiting entry into database), OS grid ref: SO
The Methodist Chapel at Risbury is the only place of worship within the village as the parish church is a few miles away at Humber.
This chapel is one of the largest in the circuit and was built towards the end of the 19th century by John Riley who lived at Great Marston Farm. Before this chapel was built services had been held in a room at the farmhouse.
As the numbers in attendance at Marston Farm grew, land was found on which to build the chapel and a stable block. The chapel had a Sunday School that met at 10.00am, before the service at 11.00am. There was also an evening service at 6.30pm and a weeknight service every Thursday evening.
The chapel was registered for burials and marriages.
From 1966 to 1972 the chapel was virtually closed, but then the vicar at Humber requested the use of the chapel for occasional services and the trustees were only too happy to oblige.
In 1974 the chapel was re-decorated and electric heating installed. Quarterly services continued to be held well into the 1980s.
(Information taken from Fred Bluck, Methodism in the Marches)
HER no. 36923, OS grid ref: SO 2480 5220
The society that met here originated with the erection in 1791 of a school house, of two stories with rubble walls and a slate roof. This was a Non-conformist Day School established by Edward Goff, a coal merchant from London who had been brought up in Herefordshire.
Edward Goff (or Gough) was born in Huntington, Herefordshire in 1738, the son of a farm labourer. In his early life he worked as a farm hand before becoming dissatisfied and moving to London where he was employed as a coalheaver. He was such a hard working and honest man that his master eventually passed the business over to him.
Edward Goff had no formal schooling and had taught himself to read and write. He was an active member of the Baptist Church and left money to found schools in Herefordshire and the surrounding counties for the education of the poor. In Herefordshire these schools were set up in Huntington, Fownhope and Madley. Goff died in 1813 and is buried in an unmarked grave in Hay churchyard.
On 13th June 1804 an agreement allowed regular Sunday services to be held in the schoolroom. The chapel that is attached to the schoolroom was built in the 19th century.
There is an attached burial ground with headstones that date from 1830 and later.
The chapel is close to the motte at Hengoed. It is not marked as a chapel on the 1st Edition OS map.
(Information taken from Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, Chapels and Meeting-houses in Central England)
[Original author: Miranda Greene, 2003]