History of Stratton Methodist Church
If anyone has any information about our former ministers (including dates when they were with us) then please let us know using the contact details below. We are looking to get more information about the history of Lower Stratton Methodist Church / Stratton Methodist Church. We are excited to celebrate 200 years of Methodists in 2026. More info here
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In terms of early Methodism in Stratton, the initiative starts when, "early in 1824 Mr. S. Heath of the Shrewsbury Circuit, established this mission in North Wilts." Stratton was part of that Wiltshire Mission that spread out from its centre in Brinkworth.
Other sorts of Methodism predate the Primitive Methodists (first camp meeting in 1807) and the Wesleyan branch may well have been active locally. Swindon was only a village before the railway arrived in 1840, so not much to attract missionaries. In Swindon, of the currently active societies, only Bath Road Methodist Church predates Stratton 's building.
Methodist worship in Lower Stratton began in 1825 when meetings were held in Mr Habgood’s carpenter’s shop at Stratton Crossroads. The first chapel was built on Swindon Road in 1830 and later enlarged in 1842. As the congregation grew, a new chapel was constructed in 1883 on the site of a former blacksmith’s shop, costing £1,600. A schoolroom was added in 1891, and gas lighting followed soon after.
Throughout its history, the church has been central to community life. It hosted tea meetings, concerts, fetes, and gatherings such as the annual Harvest Festival and Sunday School celebrations. By the early 1900s, the chapel seated over 300 people and provided school places for 250 children. During this time, activities such as the Band of Hope, choir performances, and local societies thrived.
The 1920s and 1930s saw the creation of tennis and bowling clubs, built largely by volunteers. These became important parts of local recreation, with fetes and children’s events often held in the adjoining orchard. A new organ was installed in 1938, accompanied by the introduction of electric lighting.
During the Second World War, the church and its hall supported the community by hosting the War-Time Guild, Christian Endeavour meetings, and even a communal kitchen for local children. The building remained a place of fellowship and resilience through difficult times.
A Manse was added in 1959, and the 1983 centenary celebrations included a church float in the Stratton Carnival. In 1995, the organ was restored, and a new Church Hall opened in 1998 at a cost of £250,000.
Notable early members included Charles and Rebecca Morse, founders of a Primitive Methodist family and a well-known Swindon department store. The church was also home to the Stratton Boys’ and Girls’ Brigade and continues to be a welcoming place for worship and community gatherings.
Locations of the two Methodist Chapels in Lower Stratton in 1886.
Date of the following photo unknown
Electric lights replaced gas lights in June 1938. The cost was £40 and was overseen by Mr W H Iles.
This unknown wedding took place in the church with Mrs Louisa Miller playing the organ.
Inside the church before the orientation was changed in 2000
Inside the church with the old lighting
A task force tied up the land at the back of the church
Our Church used to have a tennis club which played in the tennis courts behind the church in the area known as the orchard. Miss Frances Hill was the secretary to the club and ran its finances. Below is an extract from the accounts book showing income and expenditure in 1933. Tennis balls, water rates, chalk were regularly purchased as were the £4 fees paid to the groundsman (Mr Wells) per season.
Local historian, Rev Dr F W T Fuller documented his description of the church property in 1993.
The present church building was erected in 1883 and the school hall in 1893, on land which had once been the site of a blacksmith’s shop. The whole of the land owned by the Methodists then was mainly all taken up with those two buildings. On the north side there is a pathway, hardly two yards wide. A short-walled pathway on the south side and the wall of outbuildings attached to the schoolroom was the boundary on that side. The Church did not then own the land which is now the car park and the site of the Manse. This belonged to a Mr Freeth of Elborough Farm, the house still standing south of the chapel (Some new houses have been built on what was the walled garden of Elborough Farm).
In the Mid 1920’s Mr William Roberts, one of the Church Trustees negotiated with Mr Freeth to buy at a reasonable price the piece of land, now used as car park of the site of the Manse. After the sale was completed, immediately an area was prepared, mostly by voluntary labour, and a bowling green was constructed, and a flourishing bowling club was established, and this went on for many years. A tennis court was also constructed, and at the side nearest the wall of Elborough Farm, a path or driveway was constructed to give access from the street to the tennis court and the doors or a small lean-to which had been erected at the back of the school hall, without having to traverse the fine turf of the bowling green.
This driveway was used on Sundays and sometimes in the week, for two or three vehicles of worshippers. It was never a public right of way, although before the Manse was built, some people used to go through to the field beyond, through a gap in the hedge and over a ditch to join the official footpath in the next field. It was never a right of way, the original footpath still used, is between the Elborough farmyard and 117 Ermin Street.
In about 1928-1930 Mr Roberts had the opportunity to buy the small orchard, now largely overgrown.
In the corner farthest from the Church, the Tennis club laid out a second tennis court. The rest of the orchard was used extensively by the Church. Up until they acquired this orchard, for camp meetings, Sunday school treats and fetes, they had to rely on some kindly Methodist farmer lending them the use of a field.
From about 1930 all these activities took place in this small orchard, and so did others such as Circuit Garden Fetes, firework displays and frequently the young people of the church camped out there.
At the beginning of summer, swings were hung on the trees, and in one sense the area became an unofficial playground for children, under the supervision of Church officials (The swings were tied up on Sundays).