Building record MDO45939 - Congregational chapel, Well Court, West Street, Corfe Castle

Former Congregational chapel, later British School, West Street. The yard behind houses on the west side of the street, now Well Court, is claimed to be the site of John Wesley's preaching to a small Methodist society in 1776. It is possible that a house `at the back of two dwelling houses' on the west side of West Street, registered to Presbyterians in 1774, may also be identified with this site.

Former Congregational chapel, later British School, West Street. The yard behind houses on the west side of the street, now Well Court, is claimed to be the site of John Wesley's preaching to a small Methodist society in 1776. It is possible that a house `at the back of two dwelling houses' on the west side of West Street, registered to Presbyterians in 1774, may also be identified with this site. The former chapel on the west side of the yard, perhaps replacing the Presbyterian meeting-house, was built for an existing Independent congregation and opened in 1815, and was built to hold 300 people. It continued in use until 1834 when a day school was forced to find new quarters , and the chapel was converted for use as a british School., a new chapel being built in East Street. The building (34 feet by 22.5 feet) is of rubble with a hipped stone-slated roof. The entrance is at the east end. Two round-arched windows at the opposite end flanked the pulpit. <1>

<1> Stell, C, 1991, An Inventory of Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting-Houses in South-West England, 112 (Monograph). SDO11597.

<2> National Record of the Historic Environment, 1486458 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 17 2023 5:05PM