Stopsley Wesleyan Methodist Church

Stopsley Wesleyan church on a map of 1926

Stopsley Wesleyan Methodist church opened in 1843 and formed part of the Luton Wesleyan Circuit. Edwin Welch researched the history of registrations in Bedfordshire for Bedfordshire Historical Records Society Volume 75 Bedfordshire Chapels and Meeting Houses [published in 1996] and found that the chapel was registered on 18th to 23rd September 1846 by John Crofts of Luton [ABN1/2, ABN2/391]. It cost £120 to build and could seat 120 [MB1694].

On Sunday 30th March 1851 a census of all churches, chapels and preaching-houses of every denomination was undertaken in England and Wales. The local results were published by Bedfordshire Historical Records Society in 1975 as Volume 54, edited by D. W. Bushby. The return for Stopsley Wesleyan was by James Godfrey, a local preacher from Pegsden [Hertfordshire] who recorded:

• Chapel opened 1843;
• There were sixty free seats and sixty others;
• The general congregation in the morning was 40;
• The general congregation in the afternoon was 101;
• The general congregation in the evening was 108

The chapel was again registered on 6th February 1854. This time the person registering it was Wright Shovelton of Chapel Street, superintendent minister. In 1880 the Luton Circuit split into two and Stopsley became part of the new Waller Street Circuit. The chapel was registered again on 3rd October 1894 by George Dimmock of Luton, straw merchant (trustee). Irving Rumbles, in his very useful booklet on 20th century Methodism in Luton, states that a new chapel was built in 1902.

In 1932 the Wesleyan Methodists came together with the Primitive and United Methodists to form the Methodist Church of Great Britain. The following year the five Luton circuits (two Wesleyan, three Primitive) were amalgamated into two – Luton Circuit and the largely ex-Primitive High Town Circuit. Stopsley was part of the Luton Circuit. In 1965 the Luton circuit split into two – north and south and Stopsley became part of the Luton North Circuit.

The church and church hall both closed on 28th April 1974 as a result of problems with the premises and a circuit decision to concentrate activities in the area at Round Green [MB2489]. The chapel was sold in 1977 to Apthorp Contractors of Luton for £15,000 and was demolished and the site used for housing [MB2489].

Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service has the following records relating to Stopsley:

• MB1694: Impact! The history of Methodism in Luton 1750-1962;
• MB794: baptism register: 1897-1973;
• MB795: Sunday School minute book: 1905-1948;
• MB796: Sunday School account book: 1906-1943;
• MB797: church notice book: 1923-1931;
• MB2487: Trustees’ minute book: 1936-1974;
• MB798: inventory of the Church Hall when taken over by the ARP: 1940;
• MB804: photographic copy of deeds of church property: c. 1945;
• MB805: glass negatives of MB804: c. 1945;
• MB799: letter reminiscing about Luton fifty years before: 1948;
• MB800: correspondence regarding replacement chain link fence: 1949-1951;
• MB801: sale odd trip of land for road widening: 1954;
• MB2488: Leaders’ Meeting minute book: 1957-1973;
• MB802: proposed alterations and development of church and site: 1961-1962;
• MB803: proposed extension to the Church Hall: 1963;
• MB2489: closure of the chapel and sale of premises: 1968-1977