John Wesley first visited Chatham on 18 February 1768 and between then and 3 December 1790 he visited over 40 times, preaching on at least 20 occasions. On the first and second visits he preached to the soldiers in the barracks. On the third occasion he preached in George Whitefield’s meeting house because the Wesleyan Methodist meeting house was too small for the congregation.
Wesleyan Methodists
There was a Wesleyan Methodist meeting house opened before 2 February 1768 and a new Meeting House was opened by 3 December 1771.
Outreach to the Armed Forces in Chatham began with the chaplaincy work of Charles H. Kelly. In 1901 the Wesleyan Conference appointed the Rev. Richard Hall (1864-1927) to the Canterbury Circuit. He was the chaplain to the soldiers who were preparing to go to fight in the Boer War. Even though there was no Wesleyan Society at Chatham, in 1903 the Conference appointed Hall to the Chatham Garrison Circuit and stationed him in the garrison town and naval port of Chatham. Hall paid £220 to hire the Town Hall for 12 months for worship services and the first service was held on 27 September 1903. Soon the Sunday evening congregations grew and filled the Town Hall to capacity. A place for a permanent Mission Hall was sought. The site previously occupied by the London and County Bank was purchased for £2500. Work began in February 1907 and the Chatham Wesleyan Central Hall was opened on 11 March 1908. Richard Hall was the Superintendent Minister until his sudden death in 1927 at the age of 62. The Chatham Methodist Central Hall was sold in 1966 and it became a centre for culture and music.
Primitive Methodists
An Ipswich Primitive Methodist preacher missioned Chatham in 1844. A Society was formed and rented rooms for worship until they built a chapel in George Street. The foundation stone was laid on 23 October 1854 and the opening services were held in March 1855. In the 1890s the congregation had become too numerous to be accommodated in the George Street chapel so the Society rented the Gladstone Hall for Sunday worship. The Society purchased a plot of land in Mills Terrace and Salisbury Street adjacent to Magpie Hall Road and sold the George Street chapel. On 31 May 1893 the memorial stones of the new chapel were laid, and the chapel was opened on 14 February 1894. The chapel closed in 1954, its Diamond Jubilee year.
Bible Christians
In 1822 there was a Bible Christian Society in Chatham. They opened a chapel on Union Street in 1829, making it an early Kentish Bible Christian presence. It was also the head of the Chatham District. On 20 October 1889 the chapel was re-opened after a major renovation; it later became Union Street United Methodist Church, closing in 1960. There was a second Bible Christian chapel in Luton Road, opened in 1885.
The United Methodist Free Churches had a chapel in John Street in the 1880s.
Methodist Church
In the present century there are Methodist/Anglican partnerships at Christ Church, Luton Road, and Holy Trinity/St David’s in South Chatham.
Entry written by: DHR
Category: Place
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