The 1867 Register of places of Religious Worship records a United Methodist Free Church society in Shoscombe. In 1907 it became part of the United Methodist Connexion.
The 1940 Inventory of Methodist Buildings records the former United Methodist chapel in the village. It is described as stone built with seating for 200 on pews. In addition to the main hall there was a Sunday school and two further rooms. In 1940, the chapel was in the Radstock circuit.
Shoscombe chapel is still standing, but in residential use. It carries a datestone of 1892 so is clearly a replacement for the building used in 1867.
Ordnance Survey maps add to the story. The 1902 map shows the present building, and to its west a smaller building marked as Sunday School. ON the 1883 map only the Sunday school building is present marked “Methodist chapel; United Free”. It was common for societies to build a larger chapel as congregations grew and the former chapel would be used as a Sunday school.
In 2024, the Sunday school has been replaced by a modern garage, although it may retain a circle of original stonework.
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Christopher Stell lists the Shoscombe chapel in his “Inventory of Nonconformist chapels and meeting houses in South-West England”, stating that the 1859 and 1892 Free Methodist chapels stood together.
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