In October 2017, we found ourselves asking whether our much loved Chapel had perhaps reached the end of its useful life. Its core membership was small and aging and we weren’t sure what its role in the community or the church was any more.
We decided to use 2018 – the year of Chapel’s 150th anniversary- to think and make contact with the community and to celebrate the Chapel’s history.
This anniversary year did give Chapel a real boost and it was wonderful to meet many people whose lives and families have been linked with Chapel over the years. In addition, we were given a generous gift to enable us to restore the defunct earth closet and reinstate an accessible toilet. This had become a problem over the years and it was the catalyst to thinking seriously about the future.
Although we were very keen to have a loo again after very many years (at least the 30 that I have been attending Chapel), there were other things to consider. The other problem for the elderly is the poor state of the path and the fact that the access along the Snake has become dangerous. If we were going to sort out the loo we would like to also sort out the path! However, to spend money making Chapel fit for the future, it was important to have a vision of what that future might be.
When it was built in 1868, by the local people, using land and stone gifted by the Duke of Devonshire, it was a meeting place that they owned and they chose to be affiliated to the Wesleyan Church. This makes it unique in that it is a Chapel that belongs to the community and not to the church.
After much deliberation, we have decided to go ahead and carry out the necessary building work to enable the Chapel to continue to be used into the future.
We would like to explore the possibility of the building being better used and more available to both the community and the local Methodist circuit who have supported us so faithfully and would love to hear from any who have ideas to share.
Woodlands Methodist Church 
Hope to attend when out of quarantine
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