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CHURCHES, CHAPELS AND PLACES OF WORSHIP |
METHODIST CHAPELS
KEYHAM OR
VICTORIA MEMORIAL METHODIST CHAPEL
Keyham Methodist Chapel was located in
Admiralty Street, Keyham. It was also known as the Victoria Memorial
Chapel.
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It was in
1887 that a Mission Band from the
Gloucester Street
Methodist Chapel at Devonport formed the first congregation in the
district in the front room of number 28 Johnston Terrace. It was not
long before a Sunday School was started as well. [1]
Mr Peter Lamb was the first Wesleyan preacher at Keyham.
[2]
In 1889, thanks to the efforts of a Mr &
Mrs W J Moon, they acquired an iron building capable of holding 100 worshippers and moved
it from near Exeter to a small parcel of land between the
Great
Western Railway and Saltash Road. The first pastor was the Reverend L Ralton.
[2]
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Then in August 1901 the foundation stone was
laid of a new Chapel in Admiralty Street, designed by
Mr H J Snell of The Crescent,
Plymouth. Known at the time as the Victoria Memorial Chapel, it was built in the
Romanesque style, in local limestone with buff brick dressings, by Mr G P Turpin &
Sons of Courtenay Street, Plymouth, and was opened by Mrs W J Moon, wife of one of the
circuit stewards, on Wednesday October 8th 1902. She had promised the first one
hundred crowns in the thousand that they hoped to collect that day towards the
construction. [2] |
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An artists' impression of the first iron
chapel
for the Methodist congregation at Keyham. |
The structure was not finished at that time as
they were still £4,300 short of their target but it would eventually consist of the
chapel itself, large Sunday Schools, class-rooms, minister's and trustee's vestries and a
caretaker's house. The minister was the 'progressive and rigorous' Reverend
W Moyle, who took up the appointment from Leicester. At the usual evening meeting
that followed, it was announced that £350 had been collected during that day, some from
purses donated by children of the other chapels in the Circuit.
[2]
Messrs Hele and Company, of Plymouth,
supplied the organ and Mr G Hele gave a 'brilliantly played and heartily
appreciated' organ recital. [2]
Although it survived the Second World War, a falling congregation meant that
this large building was no longer needed. The old one was demolished in 1975 and
replaced by a smaller chapel with social housing, designed by Mr Francis Bush. The
new Chapel was opened by Mr Paul Bartlett Lang on the evening of June 28th 1982. The
Deputy Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, Mr & Mrs Bob Bishop, were also present. The
Chapel was dedicated by the minister, the Reverend Norman Grigg. [3]
Sources:
[1] "Wesleyan
Methodist Church: Conference Handbook and Souvenir: Plymouth 1913",
printed by Messrs William Brendon & Son Ltd, Plymouth, 1913,
courtesy of the Reverend John Haley of Ridgeway Methodist Church,
Plympton, and and Mr Chris Crouch, the Property & Facilities Officer
at the Circuit Office, Devonport.
[2] "Victoria
Memorial Wesleyan Church, Keyham: Opening Ceremony: Dedicatory
Sermon by Dr. Waller", Western Daily Mercury, Plymouth,
October 9th 1902, plus drawings of the old and new premises,
Western Daily Mercury, Plymouth, October 8th 1902.
[3] "Effort
rewarded at new church opening", Western Evening Herald,
Plymouth, June 29th 1982.
Photograph - "Wesleyan
Methodist Church: Conference Handbook and Souvenir: Plymouth 1913",
printed by Messrs William Brendon & Son Ltd, Plymouth, 1913,
courtesy of the Reverend John Haley of Ridgeway Methodist Church,
Plympton, and and Mr Chris Crouch, the Property & Facilities Officer
at the Circuit Office, Devonport.
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