A Short History of Highworth Methodist Church

This is a short, brief history of Highworth Methodist Church

People have lived here in Highworth for many, many centuries and Jesus Christ has been worshipped here since Saxon times. However, Methodism did not arrive until the 19th century, when in 1831 a group of missionaries visited the town.
By 1838 the first Methodist chapel was built, and in 1842 another chapel was built on Lechlade Road (now known as the Silver Threads hall). By 1850 the first chapel was bursting at the seams, so it was decided to knock it down and a new chapel was opened in 1856 in the Elms.

By the early 1960s, the Elms chapel was proving too small, and the two groups joined together to plan and prepare. God led the 2 worshipping communities to walk in faith and ‘go for it’ to build the present church.

In 1964 the new Methodist Church was opened on our present site, which was previously the ‘Welcome Home Field’ for soldiers returning from the war. By the mid-1980s, this building was also too small for the growing congregation and so a major extension and refurbishment was undertaken, again with much prayer, consultation and sacrificial giving. The enlarged church was opened in October 1992.

In 2014, we celebrated the Silver Jubilee of the present building with a large number of celebrations and events, which culminated with a presentation of the Christian musical of "Snakes & Ladders".

To see a number of articles written about our history, please see the following:

To see “40th Anniversary (2004)”, then you can download here (pdf file)

To see “Marjorie remembers 2009” then you can download here (pdf file)

To see “November 20122 article, then you can download here (pdf file)

To see a History of Methodism in the Wiltshire area, then you can download here (pdf file)

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