Wesleyan Methodists

In 1813 there was a Society meeting in cottages. By 1819 there was a membership of 52 and a wooden chapel was built in Middle Wall; an organ was installed in 1821. There was a flourishing Sunday school. In 1854 22 senior boys from the Sunday school formed a drum and fife (flute) band which in 1975 was the oldest Sea Cadets Unit in the country. In 1857 the wooden chapel was demolished and on Wednesday 25 March 1857 the foundation stones for the new brick church were laid. A new Sunday school was opened on Friday 2 December 1859. With the continually increasing numbers of people attending worship the chapel was extended by 20 feet in 1862. The trustees soon realised that they needed to find a bigger site and in the early spring of 1867 a plot of land was bought in Argyle Road for £250. Immediately fund raising for a new church was started in earnest. The memorial stone for a new church to seat 500 people was laid on 11 June 1868 by James S. Budgett of Ealing Park, London. The chapel was opened in October 1868. In 1869 the Baptists rented the old chapel which they purchased for £500 in 1875. In 1870 the Whitstable Circuit was formed out of the Canterbury Circuit. Around 1881 the chapel was vandalised and also needed updating. On Sunday 6 May 1883 the chapel was reopened after extensive renovation. Following Methodist Union the church was renamed St John’s Methodist Church.

Primitive Methodists

In the 1850s the area was evangelised by Primitive Methodist preachers. They regularly preached on the beach to large crowds of people. On Sunday 5 October 1856 they opened a small church at the end of Island Wall. On Sunday 8 March 1857 the Primitive Methodists were severely mobbed as the held their open air meeting in front of Hockless’s sail loft. The mob was dispersed by Thomas Hockless, the most feared drinker and fighter in the town. From then on he called himself as the 'Protector of the Prims'. The County Police Force who had been formed on 14 January 1857 paid little attention to Whitstable until this occurrence. The seriousness of this mobbing incident prompted the Police Force for the first time since its inception to send Stephen Bates, a newly recruited police officer, to maintain order in the town. In 1864 the trustees bought land in Albert Street. Two memorial stones were laid on 24 May 1864 by Joseph Acworth, Esq., (1796-1866) of Chatham and his son-in- law Thomas J. Plommer (1823-1910), Local Preacher, of Boughton. The chapel was opened several months later. In 1957 the church was closed and the members transferred to St John’s Methodist Church.

Entry written by: DHR
Category: Place
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