Wesleyans'

John Wesley was in the central Norfolk town of East Dereham on three occasions - in 1788, when he was requested to preach, again in 1789, and in 1790, on his last tour of East Anglia, when he administered communion to a congregation there.

Shortly after Wesley's first visit, on 25 November 1788, the itinerant preacher John Reynolds, stationed in Norwich, applied to register for worship the house of William Knapp of East Dereham.

In 1823, Thomas Padman, Methodist minister in the Holt Circuit, applied for a licence for 'a meeting house or Chapel belonging to the Wesleyan Methodists in East Dereham.' Building was quickly begun on a site in Theatre Street and the chapel opened for worship in 1824. It was a modest building: according to the Thetford and Watton Times of 24 April, 1880, 'Its architecture was of such an uncouth kind.' It accommodated just 140 worshippers.

Originally listed in the vast King's Lynn Circuit, East Dereham moved in 1790 to the Wells-next-the-Sea Circuit, re-named the Walsingham Circuit in 1791. In 1815 it was transferred to the new Holt Circuit and finally in 1827 became part of the Swaffham Circuit.

Itr was so much affected by the crisis in Wesleyanism in the mid-nineteenth century that almost all the congregation left the chapel and joined the Wesleyan Reformers. The Wesleyan chapel became 'the scene of disgraceful occurrences', the minister, Henry Laugher, later wrote. 'It became an object of hatred. Its windows were broken, its gas fittings wrenched off, its seats destroyed, and its floor covered with a wagon-load of rubbish.' (Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, 1861, page 370).

In 1860 the building was repaired and an additional minister was stationed in the circuit who was to reside at Dereham. This became a regular arrangement. Very slowly the cause improved.

The foundation stone of a new chapel was laid on 21 April 1880 for a building 57 feet by 35 feet, with a gallery for eighty people, and an open-timbered roof with curved braces and octagonal columns. In the Early English style, it had walls of Bath stone and dressings of Kentish ragstone. It was designed by the Norwich architect Edward Boardman and the builder was William James Larner of Dereham. It was named 'Trinity Church'.

A cast of notables attended the opening ceremony in December 1880: the President of Conference, the Rev. ???; the Secretary of Conference, the Rev. Marmaduke Osborne; and the Revs Dr Morley Punshon, Francis Sharr, and Robert Morton. The cost was £3400 and this included building and furnishing a house for the minister. £275 of this came from the Methodist Extension Fund and £50 from the Connexional Chapel Fund.

The following year East Dereham was made into a separate circuit.

Wesleyan numbers in Norfolk had never recovered from the Reform dispute and at the end of the nineteenth century most Norfolk circuits were dissolved and re-formed into two missions covering very large areas of the county. East Dereham was placed in the Mid-Norfolk Mission.

Debts dogged the Dereham Trust, not helped by the fact that monies given to the minister, the Rev. R.W. Pickersgill, were never handed to the treasurer.

Primitive Methodists

After a tentative start, with the town missioned from Fakenham, a permanent cause was established in the town and was part of a new circuit gathered by Robert Key and based on the village of Mattishall. Problems repeatedly arose in finding a permanent preaching place until 1843, when a chapel was rented in Norwich Street.

In 1844 the residence of the superintendent was moved to East Dereham and in the following year Dereham became the head of the circuit to replace Mattishall.

A site for a chapel was found in Commercial Road. Thomas Lowe, minister, was indefatigable in raising money for a new building and travelled extensively round the country lecturing in an effort to swell the necessary funds. The stone-laying took place on 23 June 1863. The stone was laid by William Hodge of Newington Hall, Yorkshire, former Mayor of Hull, and Robert Key preached the opening sermon. The new building consisted of 450 seats and cost a little over £1000. A Sunday school met in the basement and a gallery was added in 1870.

The circuit was an active one with very many members particularly amongst agricultural workers. The National Agricultural Workers' Union gained much support amongst the Primitive Methodists in particular.

United Methodist Free Churches

A licence for worship was obtained on 17 January 1850 for a chapel on Wellington Road, which cost £280. This building was relinquished in the 1860s and various properties were rented for worship. A site was bought in Norwich Road in 1902, a stone-laying took place on 4 August 1902 and the new chapel opened on 10 December. It seated 200 worshippers.

Union

At Methodist Union it was agreed that the Primitive Methodist chapel would close and the congregation should join the two other Methodist churches in the town.

Debts gathered following the Second World War and by 1974 it was agreed to help resolve this problem by combining the Dereham and Swaffham Circuits.

Building issues with the Norwich Road church led to a decision to close in 1982.

In 1985 a large building project was undertaken at Trinity Church. The work was undertaken by A.J. Woods and Sons of Norwich and the glazing by the firm of G. King. The total cost was £40,000. The building was given Listed Grade 2 status in 1999.

Trinity Church is now part of the Central Norfolk Circuit.

Entry written by: NV
Category: Place
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