History

Located adjacent to the Broadway, Woodhall Spa chapel has a rich history spanning 115 years, two world wars and myriad events which have made it a cornerstone of the local community, making Woodhall Spa chapel one of several ideal venues for hire in Lincolnshire. Work on the current building began on 29 January 1907, on what was reportedly a “wild and wintry” afternoon during which the foundation stones were laid. Local Methodists and other notable local figures gathered for the occasion, and sundry objects, such as a bottle of coins and a copy of the Horncastle News, were laid underneath the stones – where they have forever remained, deep as the building’s roots in the community.

The building work had been made possible thanks to a series of fundraising events which had taken place over the previous year, among them a bachelor’s tea, provided by the Young Men’s Bible Class, a sale of work by the Ladies’ Sewing Class, and various entertainments performed by the Sunday-school scholars – the sort of community-building events that the new chapel would continued to host in the decades that followed.

It cost an estimated £4,000 to build the chapel – and that was before the addition of its distinctive spire. In contrast to the unforgiving weather that greeted the laying of the first foundations stones, the heavens positively shone when the chapel was formally opened, on 5 August 1907, with a ceremony that began with the Boys Brigade and Sunday-school scholars marching to the building, led by a bugle band.

Addressing the crowd from the chapel steps, the Superintendent Minister of the Coningsby circuit revealed that the building’s history stretched back further than many imagined – a full 18 years earlier, to the 19th century, when the land the chapel now stood on had been purchased by a Mr J. Rivett of Horncastle, especially for the purpose of the chapel’s building. The Superintendent Minister then made way for a Mr George Lewis – a native of Woodhill Spa, now residing in Lincoln – to declare the chapel open for worship. Two religious services were held that day, in the morning and in the afternoon, respectively, and a public meeting was also held, at 6.30pm in the evening; so many people flocked to the chapel that it spilled beyond its 425-person capacity, but those gathered outside would still have been able to hear a special performance by local singer Madame Strathearn.

Described as “quite an ornament to the Spa”, the chapel was complete with vestries and an organ chamber next to one of the transepts, which the choir would use. As well as holding Sunday-school and christening events (T. W. Harrison was the first child to be christened on the site, and, fittingly, he grew up to become a Methodist minister), the chapel played host to various midweek meetings and clubs, though when World War Two broke out, the peaceful tenor of local life was broken.

Woodhill Spa was bombed in 1943, leaving the chapel damaged (repair work was carried out six years later). During the war, the building’s schoolroom was commandeered by the British Army for use as a cook room. Servicemen from the many units stationed in Woodhall Spa – which included the Sherwood Foresters, the Somerset Light Infantry, the Scottish Borderers and the Royal Inniskillin Fusiliers – became part of the local community, and, in 1945, a Thanksgiving Service was held in the chapel after the raid on Arnhem, in which local units had taken part.

The Old Methodist Church is a cornerstone of Woodhill Spa’s unique history. Its status as a local landmark makes it one of several ideal venues for hire in Lincolnshire. Please contact us for more information if you are interested in hiring The Old methodist Church as a venue.