Default Image We do not have a
Photograph at present.
Image by courtesy of
openclipart.org

Lydney Wesleyan Chapel,
Hill Street,
Lydney, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

We believe the Chapel 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 1816, but we understand it was closed in 1959.

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.46-84 (Lydney) provides a useful account of the beginnings of this meeting place. They explain that the first mission to Lydney was from the Cardiff Wesleyan circuit, begun in 1803; however this was abandoned a few years later. The cause was later revived, under ministers of the Monmouth circuit and houses were registered for worship in 1816 and 1819, and "in 1850 the Wesleyans built a chapel in the later Swan Road at Newerne".

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/576/3/3/8) for the "Wesleyan Methodist Chapple" at Newerne is for a separate building, erected "Septr. 1850" used exclusively as a place of worship. It had 150 sittings, all free, and standing room for 40. The estimated congregation on March 30 was 70 to afternoon service, and 110 in the evening, in contrast to the average congregation, which was 100 worshippers to morning services, and 20 Sunday Scholars. It was signed by D.L. Watts, the Chapel's General Manager, on behalf of J. Cox Jones, with an address of "Lydney, Gloucestershire".

The earliest known Map to show the building is dated 1880. Kelly's Directory of 1923 records that the Wesleyan Chapel was enlarged in 1892, after which it would seat 250. This is apparent on later maps, as the original building was square, and on OS 1902-1902 a rectangular building is indicated. Evidently it would have joined the Methodist Church of Great Britain in 1932, but the VCH account notes that it closed in 1956, "after which Methodist worship in Lydney centred on Springfield Methodist church" - formerly Primitive Methodist.

The following notice was published in The London Gazette of 17th February 1959 (p.1180) regarding its closure, which appears to have been in 1959, not 1956:

The Registrar General, being satisfied that METHODIST CHURCH, Hill Street, Lydney, in the registration district of Forest of Dean, in the county of Gloucester, is no longer used as a place of worship by the congregation on whose behalf it was on 12th February 1891, registered for marriages in accordance with the Marriage Act, 1836, has cancelled the registration. Dated 11th February 1959.

The building was later occupied by an Assemblies of God Pentecostal Church, and more recently, the Lydney Christian Fellowship. A comparable notice relating to the registration of ASSEMBLIES OF GOD PENTECOSTAL CHURCH, Swan Road, Lydney for solemnizing marriages was published 10 days later, in The London Gazette of 27th February 1959 (p.1416).

Seemingly from the above, the Methodist Church was accessed via Hill Street, whereas the Lydney Christian Fellowship is accessed via Swan Road. The two streets are at right angles to one another.

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 Chapel was located at OS grid reference SO6339103143. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Lydney Wesleyan Chapel, Lydney shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Lydney 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 Lydney, 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)
• Notices of Civil Registration of Places of Worship for marriages are published in the London edition of The Gazette. Hint: search for registrations from 1998 by choosing 'Church' notices, and the option 'Registration for solemnising marriage'. (verified 2018-12-11)

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.