Sleaford, Lincolnshire

Sleaford is a market town in Lincolnshire.

Wesleyan Methodists

Regular Wesleyan preaching in Sleaford began in 1795, through the initiative of Thomas Fawcett, a local preacher and draper. A former Dissenting meeting house was rented in 1799, and replaced by a chapel in Westgate in 1802. This was in turn replaced by a larger building on the same site in 1823 and then by a new chapel in Northgate in 1848. A day school was added in 1865. Structural problems led to the building of a new church in 1971-72.

Primitive Methodists

After three unsuccessful missions, the Primitive Methodists established a presence in Sleaford in 1840 and opened a meeting room in 1841. This became the Westgate chapel, extended in 1871, rebuilt in 1906-07, and closed in 1964, when the congregation joined the Northgate society.

Sources
  • Cornelius Greenwood, Short Account of the late Mr Thomas Fawcett, to which is added the rise and progress of Methodism in Sleaford (Sleaford, 1839).

Entry written by: DHR
Category: Place
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