The
History of
1739
- 2006
The Wesley Days
Methodists in Evesham
can claim to belong to one of the oldest Methodist societies in existence. When Charles Wesley visited the
town in August 1739 he found a small society already in
existence.
His brother John, the founder of the
In October 1739 he visited a friend, Benjamin
Seward, in Bengeworth and preached in his house, now
the Evesham Hotel. On future occasions he preached
under the yew tree in the grounds.
One of Mr. Seward’s sons, William, accompanied
George Whitefield, a preaching colleague of Wesley’s, to America and later,
against his father’s wishes, became one of “Mr. Wesley’s preachers” as they were
known. In 1740 he was
attacked while preaching below the town wall at Hay-on-Wye in Breconshire. He died of his injuries and thus
has been described as the first Methodist martyr.
On subsequent visits to the town Wesley did not
always find much to cheer him.
In June 1742 he ‘earnestly besought’ members of
the society (as Methodist communities have always been known) not ‘to disputing
but to love and do good works.’
In 1743 he visited the town at least four times and preached to large
congregations, on one occasion in the Abbey.
Later visits included one on 18th
February 1745 when he travelled to Evesham through floods, commenting in his Journal that, ‘The
brooks were so swollen with late rains that the common roads were
impassable. We came after
sunset (wet and dirty enough) to Evesham.’
On 28th June 1748 he preached again
at Evesham and still finding things lacking in the
society wrote that he ‘exhorted them to strengthen the things that remained
which were ready to die.’ The
weather continued to be a feature of his visits. On 17th March 1751 as
he rode down Broadway Hill ‘the wind was ready to carry away both horse and
rider.’
In 1753, preaching in the Town Hall, he
commented, in a reflection of the social mores of the day, that ‘at the upper
end of the room a large body of people were still and attentive: meantime at the
lower end, many were walking to and fro, laughing and talking as if they had
been in Westminster Abbey.’
Wesley came twice in 1755 again ‘through heavy
rain and almost impassable roads.’
On 10th March 1764 he preached again
in Evesham, commenting that, ‘Many did not design to
hear or let anyone else hear.
But they were over-ruled and behaved with tolerable decency till the
service was over; then they roared amain; but I walked
straight through them and none offered any rudeness.’
Things were not always thus however. On a visit three years later he
was pleased to report that ‘the people were eager to hear.’ There was a large congregation,
‘and again God gave us his blessing.’ On 17th March 1766
however, things again got out of hand as ‘the mob, encouraged by the wretched
magistrate, were rude and noisy, yet as they neither assaulted us with stones
nor dirt, we were well contented.’
Two years later he noted a ‘large and exceeding
quiet congregation’ and made the additional comment, ‘How long a winter has been
in this place !. Will not the spring at length
return.’
In March 1770, the weather again at its worst,
he rode from Evesham to Broadmarston ‘through a furious shower of snow driven full
in our faces.’ On
17th March 1774 he preached in the Town Hall at Evesham ‘to a numerous and serious congregation.’ However, on 23rd March
1776, he commented of a congregation in the Town Hall that ‘few came from any
other motive than to gratify their curiosity. However, they were deeply
attentive, so that some of them, I trust, went away a little wiser than they
came.’
From 1777 onwards, references in Wesley’s
journal are always to Bengeworth. He records large congregations at
his weekday services. A
familiar pattern was to preach in the parish church at Pebworth in the morning and then in the evening in Bengeworth.
On 17th March 1780 Wesley preached
in Bengeworth to ‘the largest congregation I ever saw
there’ and on 23rd March 1781 he wrote, ‘I preached at
On 18th March 1784, at the age of
80, Wesley arrived again in Bengeworth. His Journal entry for the
following day reads, ‘Being informed that my chaise could pass part of the way
to Broadmarston, I went boldly for a while, and then
stuck fast. I borrowed a
horse and went on. At five I
preached in Pebworth church and at five in the morning
in our own chapel at Broadmarston. As we rode back to Bengeworth the cold was so intense that it had an effect I
had never felt before; it made me downright sick. However, I went on and preached in
the church at eleven and in the evening at
On March 17th 1786 Wesley preached
at Bengeworth morning and evening, the last visit
recorded in his Journal. He
died on 2nd March 1791 having laid the foundations of what was to
become a worldwide church.
The Early
Years.
Despite Wesley’s comments Methodism grew
steadily in Evesham as the eighteenth century
progressed, greatly encouraged by two devoted preachers, a Mr. Mather and a Richard Maile.
From the earliest days Wesley was perfecting
the organisation of his societies. They were grouped into circuits,
very large at first but gradually decreasing in size as the movement
advanced. Evesham was one of the original seven circuits, its area
including
From 1784 onwards, society representatives
began to meet on a quarterly basis, the first Circuit meetings, and very soon
after this quarterly preaching plans were issued. In the Evesham Circuit quarterly meetings were happy occasions with
dinner and a plentiful supply of beer. Churches were warned however to
make sure that itinerant preachers who traveled to take their services were not
put in damp beds !.
The
In due course the Methodists acquired the use
of a room in Bengeworth but it was of uncertain
tenancy and so it was decided to build a chapel in
A piece of land was purchased for £40 and the
chapel was opened on Sunday 4th September 1808, free of debt. Much of the work had been carried
out by converted boatmen, to whom much of the vigorous open-air preaching was
directed. The new chapel
seated two hundred and services were arranged so as not to clash with services
at the parish church as some members were still Church of England
adherents. A minister’s house
was built at the rear of the chapel, most of the building materials being
supplied by the local merchants, Burlingham &
Company.
The society grew steadily and as the twentieth
century dawned it was clear that the
By the River
The new church, in an attractive location and
at the river crossing point between Bengeworth and
Evesham, was opened in 1907, many hundreds of people
thronging
The church, a striking and prominent building
of red brick and stone, accommodated some eight hundred adults and children and
a schoolroom and spacious manse adjoined the building. There was already on the site a
boathouse and a flight of steps leading down to the river.
Between the wars Methodism continued to
flourish in Evesham. Services were well attended, there was a strong choral tradition and a large
morning and afternoon Sunday School.
One highlight of the year was the Sunday School Anniversary with two
hundred children taking part and delighting a packed
church.
During and after the Second World War the Avonbank Youth Club met at the church and through the work
and commitment of Mr. F. Warren and others, a lasting impression was made upon
many young lives. The Avonbank Band was formed from the
club.
In the 1970’s, with spiraling costs, it was
found necessary to sell the adjacent school room and divide the large church
building to provide both a worship area and a hall. This proved of great benefit in
maintaining the viability of the church and allowed for a period of
consolidation.
During the late 1980’s congregations and
general activity began to increase and in 1990 changes were made to the
forecourt and foyer to make them more welcoming. A small garden was created in
front of the church and bollards and an innovative circular church sign with
notice boards were added, matching the town’s street
‘furniture.’
During the 1990’s the church continued to enjoy
growth. A weekly Shoppers’
Service was introduced on Fridays, the church remaining open afterwards for
prayer and meditation. Some
improvements were made to the church, including new lighting, but it was
realized that the interior of the premises no longer met the needs of the church community nor its wish to become a resource for
the wider community.
The Church Council began to consider various
options for change with a view to providing a building which would meet the
needs of the church into the Third Millennium. This was seen to be a necessary
investment for the future and had to be of lasting value. The church adopted the slogan
‘Building for the Future’ as a sign of its confidence in the ongoing work of God
in Evesham.
The Avonbank Centre.
In 1995 exploratory work was carried out in the church basement, hitherto a dark and inaccessible area with very low headroom, to determine whether it could be developed into usable accommodation.
At
this stage tons of earth were removed, much of it by
members of the
The
Centre, with two halls, a lounge area, kitchen and toilets was opened on March
9th, 1998 by the Revd. Christina Le Moignan, Chair of the Birmingham District of the
On April 9th and 10th 1998, however, the Centre was severely damaged as the Easter floods of that year produced a record rise of 17.2 feet.
The Centre was flooded to a depth of over four feet. With much hard work and invaluable assistance from the Methodist Insurance Company however, restoration work was completed and the Centre re-opened in November 1998.
The Avonbank Centre became home to the Youth Club and the Riverbank Club, a new venture for younger children. A new Toddlers group soon filled both halls twice per week with an attendance of over fifty mothers / carers and sixty or more children. A monthly lunch club was formed. The Centre also became a much sought after venue for Bible study groups, church committees and many other meetings as well as being hired by a range of outside organisations. The terrace proved an ideal setting for a range of outdoor activities.
At the same time, ‘Oasis’ was formed. a ‘drop-in’ for coffee or a friendly ear on several days per week, using the upper hall. From this developed a service for Wholeness and Healing, originally held monthly but now a weekly service. All of this was in addition to existing groups such as the Women’s Fellowship, the Thursday Group, the Wesley Guild, Meeting Point and a number of House Groups.
Into the New
Millennium.
Once the Avonbank
Centre was in use the Church Council began to discuss plans for what had always
been seen as a necessary second building phase, that of transforming the worship
area and upper hall.
The brief was;
(a) to provide a modern and flexible worship area
which would more comfortably house the congregation, provide space for a growing
choir and music group and be more suitable for more innovative worship, and;
(b)
to offer a low
threshold and inviting entrance area at the front of the building, with the
possibility of further accommodation above that.
An architectural competition for the production
of sketch plans resulted in consideration of several schemes and the appointment
of Mr. Andrew Foster of David Robotham Limited, to
produce more detailed plans, in discussion with the church. This was done during the latter
half of 1999 and by December the officers of the Methodist Church Property
Committee were consulted.
They fully endorsed the scheme and indicated a high level of grants from
Methodist sources.
On Sunday March 5th 2000 Phase Two
of the Evesham Methodist Church Building Scheme was
officially launched.
The estimated cost was between £350,000 and
£400,000 with an immediate financial target of £100,000 ‘own money’ being
required by March 2001 in order to set in train the required Methodist
funding. At the launch date
some £16,000 of this was already in hand. A further £100,000 ‘own money’
would need to be raised during the following three years.
Having raised the necessary funds and finalized
the plans, a loan was taken out for the balance of the cost of the scheme and
work commenced on transforming the worship area in July 2002. While the building work was in
progress morning services were held at the
Fund raising continued in order to raise the
money to repay the outstanding loan.
However, following the sale of two small chapels at Newbold and Long Marston an
application was made to the Circuit for a sum of £38,000 from the Circuit
Advance Fund to clear the outstanding amount of the loan. This was duly granted and before
the end of 2004 the scheme had all been paid for.
The story of Methodism in Evesham stretches over 266 years and there is much in our
history of which we can be proud.
But now we are concerned about the years that lie ahead. ‘Building for the Future’ is about
handing on to future generations a church equipped for the challenges of the
Third Millennium.
‘We’ll praise
him for all that is past,
And trust him
for all that’s to come.’
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The “History of
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