In recent years no member of the society has been more valued than the late octogenarian, Mr. John Rivett, J.P., who died Sept 4, 1906. For nearly 70 years he was a generous supporter of the cause; he represented the district at no less than 13 Conferences, in various parts of the country, and at the Leeds Conference, in 1882, he spoke for an hour and a quarter in advocacy of its principles. Mr. Henry Lunn, of Horncastle and West Ashby, is also well known, as, for many years, an able local lay preacher and practical man of business; he was a representative at Conferences in London and at Burslem.
Of the buildings in Horncastle, connected with this society, we have gathered the following details. As already stated the first chapel was erected in Cagthorpe about the year 1786. It stood a few yards to the north of the present Baptist place of worship, which is close to the north-west corner of the Wong. The early history of this first erection is little known, but a letter written by Rev. T. Williams of Ballarat, dated May 10, 1889, to the late Mr. W. Pacy, states that, after some years, it was replaced by a larger building, of which the dimensions are elsewhere given, as being length 54-ft., by width 36-ft., with 4 large windows, having pointed heads, on the north side, and single windows on the south and west; a small porch at the south-east corner, facing the Baptist Chapel, giving entrance to the body and galleries; a door at the south-west end for the use of the minister, opening near the pulpit, which was at the west end; the eastern gable being the roadway boundary. Of these “pointed” windows the Rev. T. Williams says, “the lancet windows, with quarry panes, were a whim of Mr. Griggs Lunn and of my father. Of this building some remains are still visible, to the height of about 3 feet, in the south wall of Mr. Scholey’s garden, about 50 yards to the north of the Baptist Chapel. Towards its erection a number of masons, joiners, and others, who could not afford subscriptions, gave their labours gratuitously. Two houses for ministers were also built close by.
In 1836 a third chapel was begun, on a new site in Union Street (now Queen Street), and was opened on Good Friday in the following year, the interior fittings being transferred from the second building in Cagthorpe.
In 1866 a movement was commenced, with a view to the erection of a still larger chapel, and the present fine building was the result; opened in 1869, with accommodation for over 1,000 persons (1024), at a cost of £5,876. [70b] The Sunday School adjoining, with large class rooms and infant school being built in 1875, at a further outlay of £2,578. The fittings of the chapel are of stained polished deal, the gallery front and pulpit are white, picked out with gold, the latter standing upon 4 round-headed arches of light and graceful design. A new organ was erected soon after the opening of this chapel, at a cost of £300, and in 1883 the instrument was enlarged and improved.
In 1886 the Centenary of Wesleyanism was celebrated and the occasion was marked by a strenuous effort to clear off the debt from the Horncastle Circuit. This effort was supplemented by “Ye olde Englyshe Fayre, houlden in ye Exchange Hall, Nov. 20, 21 and 22, MDCCCLXXXVIII;” and at a tea gathering on March 12, 1889, it was stated that the original debt had, in the previous two years, been reduced to £60, and since then the whole had been cleared off, the exact sum raised being £1,526 2s. 4d.; while, as an evidence of the general prosperity of the Society, the Chairman stated that in the last 24 years debts had, throughout the country, been paid to the total amount of no less than £1,226,245. [71a]
In 1860 a former foundry show room, in Foundry Street, built by the late Mr. Tupholme, was acquired through the generosity of Mr. J. Rivett, to be used as a mixed day school; it had one large general room, four classrooms, and two large yards, and afforded accommodation for more than 400 scholars. The premises cost £450, but before the school was opened some £1,300 had been spent in adapting them to educational purposes. This has now been superceded by an even more commodious building in Cagthorpe, on the south branch of the canal, at the corner near the Bow Bridge, opposite St. Mary’s Square, at a cost of £2,500. It has a very large room for a mixed school, another for an infant school, with classrooms and everything required, in accordance with the latest conditions by Act of Parliament. The foundation stone was laid June 22, 1904, and the school was formally opened Jan. 4, 1905.
A Young Men’s Institute was established in the beginning of 1889, by the Rev. G. White, then Superintendent Minister, for which the classroom of the Sunday School was to be available for their use, every evening except Sunday, supplied with daily papers, magazines, &c.; classes also being held for the consideration of important subjects and for mutual improvement; these are still continued. There is also a Wesley Guild, which meets every Friday evening, in the band room, Queen Street, at 8 o’clock, during the winter months, and on the first Friday evening in the month during the summer. Marriages are celebrated in this chapel. [71b]
THE PRIMITIVE METHODISTS.
We have given an account of the rise and progress of Wesleyanism, but, as that society eventually made a complete separation from the Church of England, of which its founder remained through life an ordained minister and communicant, so the seeds of disruption spread in itself. At different periods it threw out off-shoots, amounting in all to some eight different daughter societies; such as those which are named “The Original Connection,” “The New Connection,” “The Primitive Methodists,” &c. Of these the last alone is represented in Horncastle. More than 50 years ago [71c] the Primitives had, in this country, 2,871 places of worship, with 369,216 sittings; with the exception of the “Original Connection,” none of the other off-shoots had then as many as 100,000 sittings.
In Horncastle the first chapel, opened in 1821, was a small building, situated on the left side of what is now Watermill Yard, to the north of the town. This proving too small for the growing congregation, a larger structure, an oblong building, with front gable at the east end and a gallery, was erected in 1837; the minister’s house being at the west end. This was about half way up Watermill Road, on the north side, now a stable, but still retaining a pointed window. This building was of the date of the superintendency of the Rev. John Butcher. The residence was found to be too damp to be comfortable, and a house was taken for him in Prospect Street. In the early days of this chapel Mary Crossley, a Revivalist, occasionally preached here. Possibly the services at this time were rather too demonstrative, as they were not unfrequently interrupted by roughs, and the sect acquired the name of “The Ranters.” [72] An amusing anecdote is related of Mr. Butcher; he was a somewhat eccentric character, and in the discharge of his intinerant ministrations he usually rode on a donkey, sometimes accompanied by her foal; and a waggish passer-by on the road is said, on one occasion, to have saluted them with the greeting “Good morning, ye three,” adding sotto voce, “donkeys.”