Terrington chapels
There are sections on chapels in the parish in the two 'Red books' in the General account section of the website. These are the links to those sections:
There seem to be little evidence of Protestant nonconformists in the parish before the 19th century, but both Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels were opened in the 19th century. There was a chapel in Ganthorpe in the 16th century and a Roman Catholic chapel in Ganthorpe in the 20th century.
On this page there is information about:
Wesleyan Chapel
A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1816 on a site north of the parish church to accommodate 150 people. According to the 1851 Ecclesiastical Census, there was an average congregation of 70 at the Sunday service held in the afternoons. In 1964 a service was held every Sunday evening with an average attendance of 11 people and a Sunday School was held for about 18 children.
The building now functions as Terrington Hall School Music Room and stands on the edge of their sports field at the end of the green lane to the left of Gardener's Cottage.
When did the Wesleyan Chapel close?
Primitive Methodist Chapel
The first Primitive Methodist Chapel in Terrington was built in 1838 at the eastern end of the main village street approximately where the gates to Terrington House now stand. It accommodated 120 people. According to the 1851 Ecclesiastical Census, services were held twice on Sundays, with an average congregation of 15 in the afternoon and 60 in the evening. The 1841, 1851 and 1881 censuses list a Minister of Primitive Methodists as a visitor in the village.
The site was bought in 1867 and the chapel demolished to accommodate the new Rectory (now Terrington House). A new chapel was built in the same year at the junction of Mowthorpe Lane and South Back Lane West.
The Primitive Methodists movement dates from around 1810, its adherents claiming that they were the true guardians of the original, or primitive, form of Methodism. They stressed simplicity in their chapels and their worship, concentrated their mission on the rural poor rather than the more affluent and influential urban classes, stressed the political implications of their Christianity, and focused attention on the role of lay people and less on the leadership of ministers.
The two branches of Methodism united in 1932. The 1933 Kelly's Directory says there are two chapels in Terrington but by 1937 there was only one.
The Primitive Methodist Chapel building was used by the Pig Club during World War 2. To help alleviate food rationing, the government introduced pig clubs to encourage people to keep pigs and gave advice on raising them. The intention was that club members could keep half the meat for themselves, with the other half being handed over to the Ministry of Food.
The building was then used as a Band Room by the village Brass Band until 1956. They practised Thursday afternoons and Sunday mornings and played at village fetes, Armistice day, Christmas, and concerts in nearby villages.
16th century chapel in Ganthorpe
During the 16th century there was a chapel at Ganthorpe which was dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene and was served from Terrington church, whose incumbent was responsible for saying two masses a year there. It is possible that this was the last surviving part of the hospital which was to be found in the parish during the late 13th century. It was said that it was about half a mile from Terrington church, stood in a small enclosure and was thatched with straw. It had a number of pieces of ground in the Ganthorpe fields and three little dales of meadow in the ings; it was also endowed with a cottage and land, all bringing in a yearly rent of 5s. In an Indenture of 1679 there is a reference to a croft in the Church Field commonly called St Mary's Land.
The chapel seems to have fallen into disuse by 1553 and came into the possession of the Methams. In 1883 it was said that a cottage occupied the site of the chapel, although the chapel building had completely disappeared.
20th century Roman Catholic chapel in Ganthorpe
A Roman Catholic chapel was established at Ganthorpe by Mrs. Rosalind Toynbee in memory of her son Antony who died in 1939 aged 24. It was in a converted 17th century cottage and was dedicated to Our Lady and St. Anthony. During the Second World War Ganthorpe Hall was occupied by a community of Polish priests and the chapel was used by them.
After the war the Hall was used as a preparatory school for Roman Catholic boys and Mass was said daily in the chapel by the school chaplain. A few years later the school moved from the Hall, but the new occupiers, Sir Michael and Lady Pallairet, cared for the chapel and services were held every Sunday and Feast Day. Sir Michael and Lady Pallairet left Ganthorpe about 1954 and from then until 1962 the Roman Catholic families in the neighbourhood continued to care for the chapel in which Mass was celebrated once a month with an average congregation of about 16.
Which building in Ganthorpe was the chapel?