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Whitecroft Methodist Church,
Wesley Road,
Whitecroft, Parkend, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

We believe the Church did NOT have a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded in 1823, though it is now closed, but we don't yet know when.

According to Kelly's Directory of 1923, this former Wesleyan chapel was built on a site given by Mr. T.H. Deakin, at a cost of £470. It is a large building of stone, set at an angle to the road, with sides of four bays containing pointed-arched windows. The front facing the road has a central doorway, with two small windows either side, and a larger 3-light window above the doorway. At the time of the Google StreetView drive-past in 2009, the door was painted green, with the trim to the windows and eaves in the same colour, giving an overall attractive appearance. It was still open then, apparently, but as there was a "For Sale" sign in evidence, it has probably closed, and is now in private ownership.

According to the Victoria County History series: A History of the County of Gloucester, Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (1996), pp.396-404 (Forest of Dean - Nonconformity), the society which established the chapel was split after the reform controversy of 1849/50, and half of its 102 members, led by Aaron Goold, a colliery agent and later a colliery owner, left the chapel to hold services elsewhere. Many of these were to return, and in 1874 a larger chapel was built, with the original chapel being retained as a schoolroom.

The Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/577/1/5/23) records the chapel was built in 1823, and had an estimated attendance on March 30 1851, of 40 to morning service, and 60 to afternoon service, with 40 Sunday Scholars (morning only) The return was completed by William Baker, its Minister, who lived in St James's Street, Monmouth. There were 200 sittings.

Denomination

Now or formerly Wesleyan Methodist.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Church was located at OS grid reference SO6230806350. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Whitecroft Methodist Church, Whitecroft, Parkend shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Parkend shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)

Resources

I have found many websites of use whilst compiling the information for this database. Here are some which deserve mention as being of special interest for Whitecroft, Parkend, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• The Victoria County History series: A History of the County of Gloucester, Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (null) (verified 2018-11-06)

The above links were selected and reviewed at the time I prepared the information, but please be aware their content may vary, or disappear entirely. These factors are outside my control.