Old Town Meeting House, Wotton under Edge, Gloucestershire, Church History

Gloucestershire Places of Worship

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Above Photograph(s)
Copyright of Alf Beard

Old Town Meeting House, Wotton under Edge

Old Town Meeting House,
Old Town,
Wotton under Edge, 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 1703, but we understand it was closed after 2004.

The sign on the front of the building says this is 'Old Town Meeting House - (Independent) - Erected 1701-3'. This was possibly the first permanent meeting house for a Presbyterian congregation which was formed in the late 17th century. It was registered by them as 'newly erected' in 1702, and was the first to be built of several non-conformist chapels in the town.
During the 19th century it became Congregational, and between 1898-1904 the building was drastically remodelled.
One of its pastors, the Rev. James Hardyman, served the chapel for a total of 61 years, until 1941. It was previously licensed for Marriages, but apparently it is now (2011) longer open for worship, and its former congregation now worship at Wotton United Church, in Bradley Street.
It is believed to have had a burial ground, with burials taking place into the 19th century. The fate of the gravestones, and their inscriptions is unknown for sure, but the most likely place, if any have survived, is with those from other churchyards in the town at Wotton under Edge Historical Society Museum & Heritage Centre. [Sources: Non-Conformist Chapels and Meeting Houses, Gloucestershire (1986), and information available in 2010 in the Places of Worship section and Discussion Forum of Wotton under Edge Town Council website]
There may be more information available by by selecting one or more of the accompanying images on the right.

Denomination

Now or formerly Independent.

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 ST7585393371. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

Old Town Meeting House, Wotton under Edge shown on a Google Map.
Places of Worship in Wotton under Edge 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 Wotton under Edge, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

“Established for the preservation and study of the history of Wotton-Under-Edge and its environs”… Wotton under Edge Historical Society Museum & Heritage Centre (null) (verified 2018-11-18)
The Local Government website of Wotton under Edge Town Council (null) (verified 2018-11-14)

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.

Information last updated on 14 Nov 2018 at 11:29.

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This Report was created 23 Dec 2024 - 11:06:09 GMT from information held in the Gloucestershire section of the Places of Worship Database. This was last updated on 13 Oct 2021 at 14:13.

URL of this page: https://churchdb.gukutils.org.uk/GLS562.php

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