Whitecroft Wesley Chapel (General)

by Mike Pinchin , Bedford, England, Friday, May 13, 2016, 20:17 (3125 days ago) @ Susanrose

A couple of quotes from British History Online show where it was and what became of it:-

"In 1824 a small square chapel, the first to be built by the Wesleyans in the Forest proper, was opened on a hillside between Whitecroft and Pillowell. Its congregation included members who earlier had attended services at Redbrook and in 1834 its minister was the collier Edward Kear, known locally as 'Clergy Ned'".

"Among the Forest's other Wesleyan societies the reform controversy of 1849 and 1850 had most impact at Whitecroft. There half of the 102 members left the chapel and, with the support of Aaron Goold, held services nearby in 1859. The chapel's congregation, which averaged c. 50 in 1851, was later boosted by the return of many of the seceders and in 1874 a larger chapel was built. The original chapel, which it adjoined, was retained as a schoolroom. Other additions to the building included, in 1905, a block containing a schoolroom and a meeting room on separate floors".

www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol5/pp396-404

You can access a PDF of the 1924 Centenary booklet here:-

http://www.sungreen.co.uk/Whitecroft-Glos/Chapel_centenary.html