Deopham Common Chapel

1843

The 1843 tithe map shows that the chapel was in existence at that time (piece 142 outlined in green on the extract below):

The survey accompanying the above plan shows a cottage, chapel & gardens as being owned by Robert Eason and occupied by Wright Goward & Others:-

The following image shows the chapel and beyond that a row of cottages. New houses were built behind these cottages and then the older homes were demolished in 1932.
The chapel was closed in 1934 and demolished (or fell down) during WWII.

Thanks to Anne Edwards for sight of this image.

This chapel was erected by the Primitive Methodists.

1851 Census of Religion

On March 30th, 1851, there was a national census of religious attendance and worship. It is believed that this is the only one of its kind to have taken place. The Norfolk Records Society published the detailed results of this survey in 1998 (previously only aggregated totals had been available). This shows that on that date there were 35 worshippers at the morning service, 120 in the afternoon and 120 in the evening. The chapel is said there to have been erected in 1818 although this date seems very early considering that the Primitive Methodists did not become active in surrounding towns until later . The attendance figures were signed off by Robert Eason (he appears in White’s 1854 directory as a farmer). Robert Eason’s wife appears in the 1861 census where her occupation is given as “Primitive Local Preacher”. The full figures for the Deopham returns are available here.

The second signatory to the return is Thomas Low(e), described as “Travelling Preacher”. The Rev. Thomas Lowe was attached to the Rockland group of chapels from 1849 to 1851. This photograph is from the Primitive Methodist Magazine of 1863, reproduced on myprimitivemethodists.org.uk/. It is said that “He had a fervent, optimistic temperament and a highly rhetorical style.”
His obituary records that “when in his prime, he was one of the most popular ministers in the connexion and in great request for ‘specials’ all over the country”. “Connexion” was a word used to refer to the whole of the Primitive Methodist movement – the Prims!
… And here he was at Deopham Low Common Chapel!

1880

A note on the deeds records that on 15^th November 1880 the ownership of the chapel was conveyed from Mr. R. Easton and his Mortagees to Mr. William Allen and others.

1886

Norfolk News, February 20th 1886, page 8.

1888

Page 6 of the Downham Market Gazette and People’s Weekly Journal of February 4th 1888 included the following report:

1892

1892 map showing the location of the chapel

1920

In 1920 the chapel went through major changes. A new committee of trustees was formed on January 26^th 1920 comprising:

Name	Home	Comments
William Turner	Deopham
Albert Wrenham Stone	Deopham
Frederick Henry Potter	Deopham	The Secretary’s book says “removed to Calthorpe, Aylsham”, although he must have remained as a trustee since he was at the meeting on May 29^th, 1935
James Edward Lloyd	Deopham
Charles Leverett	Deopham
Herbert Bernard Coldham	Deopham
Charles Walter Downes	Hackford
Ralph Burgess	Hackford
William James Flint	Morley
David James Nurse	Attleborough	The Secretary’s book says “Buried at Attleborough in 1926”.
George Saunders	Gt Ellingham
George Sculpher	Hardingham	Letter from Primitive Methodist Chapel Aid Association of 8/9/1928 records that he had died by this date.
Reginald James Sculpher	Hardingham
James Batley	Hingham	The Secretary’s book says “Died November 30th 1920; buried December 3^rd Hingham”.
Alfred Arthur Duffield	Hingham

The initial actions of this committee were to:-

Pay off an outstanding mortgage that had been provided by Miss Moore of Gt. Cressingham;
Carry out a series of renovations for which Mr. C.J. Pooley was the contractor. These works cost £150-6s-0d;
Take out a new mortgage with the Primitive Methodist Chapel Aid Association for £100 which had to be repaid at £4 each year, plus interest at the rate of £4-10s per £100 per annum (4.5%);
Borrow £20 from M. Leverett (this was repaid in two installments during 1921);
Organise a reopening service in July, the income from which was £65-19s-7d.

1925

The EDP of July 25^th 1925 reported:

Towards reducing the debt¹ on Deopham Common Chapel, gatherings were held on Wednesday in Mr. Palmer’s meadow.² A sermon was preached in the afternoon by the Rev. E. Sellers (Wymondham). A sacred musical programme was rendered. Mr. D. Nurse (Ellingham) presided, and those who rendered solos were Mr. and Mrs. Sutton, the Misses Lloyd (2), Mrs. Leverett, Miss Leverett, and Mr. A.W. Stone. Mrs. W. Turner unloaded the cargo from an airship during an interval.³ At the close Mr. C. W. Downes stated that the proceeds of the day amounted to £11 7s. 6d. for trust funds.

Notes:

Whilst this event ensured that they could meet their obligation to pay the annual repayment of £4 on the loan plus the interest on this loan, the accounts to not show any further reduction of the debt;
Mr. Palmer’s meadow would have been at Ivy Farm, Victoria Lane.
I have been unable to discover why Mrs Turner would have unloaded an airship during the interval, nor why this would have been mentioned here.
The accounts for that day also mention the airship, recording an income of £8-10s-2d as the reward for this work. In 2023 values, that would be over £400, and was by far the largest single financial receipt that year.
If you have any explanation or information, please let me know – Geoff@DeophamHistory.co.uk.

1927

The accounts for 1927 show that the chapel was unable to make its annual £4 loan repayment, nor the interest on it, nor could it pay the insurance. Rev. Harper therefore advanced £7-1s-8d to keep the chapel’s funds solvent. Some of this was repaid in 1927, with the balance being repaid in 1928 using a loan from the Circuit of £6-3s-6d. It may have been these problems that gave rise to the letter from the mortgage company detailing the signatures on the Mortgage Deed addressed to Rev. F. J. Harper.

1929

There was a welcome windfall in 1929 when the Trustees received £7-8-4d as a result of the sale of property in the Rockland Circuit. This enabled the 1928 loan from the Circuit to be repaid.

1930

The EDP of March 22^nd 1930 reported that an evangelistic mission had taken place at the chapel. There is however no record of this event either in the chapel accounts or the Sunday School accounts for that year.

A mission, under the auspices of the Caravan Mission to Village Children, is concluding at Deopham, where the missioner, Mr. T. W. Lambert, has laboured for the past fortnight. Several lantern and evangelistic services have been held and on Sunday and Wednesday Mr. Lambert visited the Primitive Methodist Chapel at Deopham Common. A quartet was rendered by Mr. and Mrs. H. Beales and Mr. W. Dye and Miss Beales. The children’s services have been well attended.
A duet was rendered by Miss P. Lloyd and Miss E. Leverett on Monday night, when ” The Passion of our Lord” was shown on the screen. The missioner proceeds to Hingham and begins tomorrow in the Primitive Methodist Church.

The EDP of Dec 19^th 1930 reported:

The Deopham Common Primitive Methodists held a successful jumble sale on Wednesday afternoon; it was followed by a musical evening the programme being rendered by members and friends of the Besthorpe Primitive Methodist Society and arranged by Mrs. G. Daniels.
Business was brisk at the sale, and the stall holders were Mrs. Darkins, Mrs. W. Lincoln, Mrs. Phoenix, Miss G. Phoenix, Mrs. Phillips, and Mrs. E. Stone. Mr. Jackson (Attleborough) presided at the evening meeting, and the following contributed items: Mrs. Webster (Rockland), Mrs. Daniels, Mr. J. H. Baker, Miss Watson, Mr. Reeder, Mrs. J.H. Baker (Attleborough), the Misses B. ard D. Dodman. and L Betts, Miss Eva Atkins, Mrs. Sider (Besthorpe), and Mrs. Daynes. An anthem and chorus was rendered by the Besthorpe P.M. church choir. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson both briefly addressed the gathering.
Greetings and a donation was received from Mrs. Sparks (Besthorpe). The proceeds go to augment the fund to provide a new organ for the church, and a good sum was realised from the effort. Mrs. G. Daniels was at the organ. Mrs. Lincoln, on behalf of the Deopham Common Society, thanked the Besthorpe friends and all other helpers. A coffee supper closed the proceedings.

The accounts for that year show that £4-14s-6d was raised by this jumble sale.

1931

The new organ mentioned by the EDP above was purchased on January 24th 1931 (although recorded as a footnote to the 1930 accounts) at a cost of £7-5s-0d leaving little in hand to carry forward into 1932. A whip-round by the Rockland Circuit covered the £4 loan repayment for that year; interest and insurance were covered by the chapel’s own funds. 1932 was the first year that there was no jumble sale, which until then had been a significant fundraiser in most years. The following year, 1933, the interest payments and insurance were covered, but not the loan repayment.
The auditor confirmed that the figures balanced and were ready for the annual meeting on January 16^th 1934. It must have been at that meeting that the decision was taken to close the chapel.

1935

A note in the Secretary’s Book records the following momentous resolutions:

Minutes of Trustees Meeting
Deopham Common Trust at Deopham Green.
Wednesday, May 29th 1935.

Members present:
– F.H. Potter
– James E. Lloyd
– Charles Leverett
– Herbert B. Coldham
– Charles W. Downes
– Ralph Burgess
– George Saunders
– W. Howard in the chair.

Resolved:
1. That we take steps to sell the property.
2. That we consider that it should make not less than £50.
3. That we form a Committee of H.B. Coldham, J.E. Lloyd, C.W. Downes & C. Leverett with the Circuit Stewards E.A. Harvey & G. Saunders to make necessary arrangements to sell the property.
4. That we sell the organ to Morley High Oak.

Just after the above resolution, the chapel was offered to Mr. Woods at Park Farm for £50:

Mr. Woods however declined this invitation, stating that he would make an offer for it for use as a storehouse; the fact that Mr. Woods states that this would be “for his own use” implies that the above invitation from the chapel trustees was to put the chapel to some form of communal use – perhaps for the “young fellows of the village”.

There is a note in The Journal of June 29th, 1935, reporting on a meeting of the Watton and Rockland Circuit which says “The Rev. W. Howard and Mr E.A. Harvey reported with reference to the disposal of the chapel at Deopham Common where services have been discontinued for several months“. Nothing is said as to what was reported!

1943

Mortgage paid off

A letter from the Methodist Chapel Aid Association dated April 21^st 1943 records that the principal and all interest on the chapel’s loan had been paid off following the receipt of a payment from Mr. E.A. Harvey. Mr. Harvey was one of the circuit stewards mentioned when the trustees resolved to sell the chapel in 1935.

Letter from Parish Council

On May 25^th 1943 the following letter was sent to Mr. Harvey at Watton:-

Dear Sir,
I am instructed by the Deopham Parish Council to draw your attention to the very dangerous condition of the disused Chapel at Deopham Low Common.
The Council think that immediate action should be taken in the matter as there are so many children living near by.

Yours Faithfully,
M.J. Askew
Clerk, Deopham Parish Council

1987

The booklet published in 1987 to celebrate 150 years of the Deopham Green Chapel (see here) included the following couple of paragraphs concerning the Deopham Common Chapel:-

Mention was made earlier of two chapels in Deopham. The other one to the North of the Church and was a similar clay lump building. It was closed in 1934 and sold the following year. The trustees instructed that it should not be sold for less than £50!

It was demolished during the last War and now a bungalow stands on the site. Although the “Common” was a community on its own, it did share in fellowship with the “Green”. During the First World war Mr. E. Nickalls was a Steward and today many of his descendants worship in other chapels in the circuit. There was a Sunday School and services every Sunday as well as a mid-week service once a month. Mrs. Burgess (née Nickalls) was the organist from the age of 12 (incidentally she still plays the organ at Wymondham) and can remember preachers walking from Rocklands and Besthorpe. Special “camp meetings” were conducted by visiting evangelists and services were held in the chapel yard or in an adjoining meadow.

Date	Change
1/3/24	1886 Temperance Meeting
9/10/23	Link to Sunday school accounts for 1930; 1888 Temperance Society meeting
3/10/23	Corrected “Wood” to “Woods” and name of his home to “Park Farm”.
28/9/23	Revised postcard of chapel
26/9/23	Exchange of letters with Mr. Wood
11/9/23	1920 reorganisation
17/8/23	Tithe map extracts
30/8/22	Published