The 1867 Register of places of Religious Worship records a United Methodist Free Church society in Wellow. 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 90 on pews. There were no rooms other than the main hall. In 1940, the chapel was in the Radstock circuit.
But there’s a bit more to it than that:
- the 1929 Ordnance Survey map shows a United Methodist church just behind what is now Wellow school staff car park
- on the 1884 and 1902 Ordnance Survey maps the building has the same footprint but is labelled “Ebenezer chapel (Prim Meth)”
- I cannot see another building marked as a United Methodist or United Methodist Free Church in the village, although there is a Wesleyan Methodist chapel further west on High Street with an 1868 datestone.
What’s the explanation – or was the Primitive Methodist label simply an error? There is a Primitive Methodist chapel registered in 1867.
The chapel has been completely demolished.
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I would suggest error on the part of the Ordnance Survey. The Free Methodist manual of 1898 is very clear that there was a Free Methodist chapel in Wellow, in the Radstock Circuit.
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