High Wycombe, formerly Chipping or Chepping Wycombe, is a town in the Buckinghamshire Chilterns. A significant local industry was the manufacture of chairs.

John Wesley visited the town between 1739 and 1790 at least 47 times and preached on 32 occasions. In June 1740 Charles Wesley and the vicar of Wycombe ministered to a man who had been shot by a highway man just a short distance from the town. The following day Charles ministered to the apprehended murderer.

The Sunday school pioneer Hannah Ball (1734-1792) lived in the town most of her life. In 1769 she started the first formal Sunday school in Britain and possibly in the world. She taught the children working in the local inns how to read and instructed them in Chistian faith and scriptural knowledge.

Wesleyan Methodists

On 11 November 1779 John Wesley opened the new chapel which had been built in the garden behind Mr Batten’s house in St Mary’s Street. By the time Wesley returned in October 1787 three galleries had been added. A Sunday school was started in 1801. In 1815 the High Wycombe Circuit was formed out of the Oxford Circuit. In 1824 the chapel was enlarged but because there was no school-room the children were taught in the chapel. In 1832 a building scheme was started to build a school-room. By 1861 the chapel and school-room had become too small. Two houses were bought so that a large new chapel could be built. The plan was reviewed and it was decided to find a better site and a plot was secured in Cemetery Road (later Priory Road). On 3 October 1865 Lord Carrington laid the memorial stone. The chapel was opened on 12 July 1866; in 1872 the school rooms were opened, and in 1893 a large three storey school extension was added. Wesley Methodist Church Priory Road continues to be a vital Methodist presence in the town.

The Wesleyans extended their work in the town with chapels in Victoria Street (1882-1977), London Road (1893), and Sunnybank, Downley, where the original chapel of 1824 was enlarged and renovated several times during the nineteenth century.

Primitive Methodists

The first Primitive Methodist mission was in Downley, a village on the outskirts of High Wycombe. In 1835 the Rev. James Pole (1806-1846), who was stationed in Hounslow, walked some 20 miles to High Wycombe, launching a mission which lasted six months. The first chapel was built in 1864 and closed in 1965.

There were four other Primitive Methodist Chapels in the town. Frogmoor school chapel was opened on 3 September 1848, enlarged and reopened in 1861, and replaced by the White Hart Street chapel in 1875. Slater Street chapel opened in 1873 and Westbourne Street in 1877, where a school chapel was followed by an iron chapel in 1883 and a new building in 1897. All three chapels closed in the late 20th century. Wycombe was also the centre of PM outreach into the neighbouring villages.

The Wesleyan Reformers also maintained a presence in Wycombe and its rural hinterland, tending to adopt the name 'Free Methodists', although belonging to the Wesleyan Reform Union rather than the UMFC.

Entry written by: DHR
Category: Place
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