PROTESTANT NONCONFORMITY.
In the
1660s Nathaniel Webb, formerly rector of
Yatesbury, and Thomas Rutty, formerly rector
of Milston, were among ejected ministers who
preached at Calne, and in 1669 it was said that
200-400 people attended a Presbyterian conventicle held by Webb and Rutty. (fn. 10) In 1672 a
house was licensed for meetings of Presbyterians,
and another, in Church Street, was licensed c.
1695. Also c. 1695 a Presbyterian chapel was
built in Back Road, (fn. 11) and in 1717 John Melhuish
was the pastor of a congregation which numbered c. 250. (fn. 12) Unitarianism appeared in the
congregation after 1770, perhaps partly because
of the influence of Joseph Priestley, the librarian
at Bowood House 1772-80, who lived at Calne
and preached at the chapel. The congregation
declined in number in the late 18th century and
early 19th (fn. 13) and numbered only 30 in 1829. It
was considered Unitarian in the 1830s. (fn. 14) The
chapel had been closed by the late 1830s and
was re-used by Primitive Methodists and later
by the Salvation Army. (fn. 15) It was a rectangular
building of four bays with a hipped roof and
was demolished c. 1960. (fn. 16)
There is a tradition that Baptists worshipped
at Calne before 1660 and held meetings at
Moss's mill west of the town. (fn. 17) A house at
which a Baptist conventicle attended by 20-30
people met in 1669 (fn. 18) was probably in the town,
and a chapel was built near the back of Castle
House in Castle Street. In 1703 the chapel was
destroyed by a high wind, and in 1704 a new
chapel was built on the same site. In the earlier
18th century a baptistry was built on a stream
not far from Lickhill Farm and possibly on
Fisher's brook. Only part of it survived in 1776.
Isaac Taylor, pastor from 1776 to 1810 and the
first resident pastor, lived in a house at Ratford.
Until 1787 he baptized at Ratford where, immediately below Ratford bridge and the
confluence of Cowage brook and Fisher's
brook, large walls to retain the course of the
combined stream survive. A baptistry was built
in the chapel in Castle Street in 1788. (fn. 19) The
chapel was rebuilt on the same site in 1817; (fn. 20) a
vestry was added in 1832, a schoolroom was added
on the east side c. 1858, and the main north
front of the chapel was rebuilt in Decorated
style with three spheric triangle windows c.
1865. (fn. 21) On Census Sunday in 1851 morning
service was attended by 100, evening service by
160. (fn. 22) The chapel remained open in 1996. From
1887 a cottage at Ratford was used as a mission
room and in 1900 a separate corrugated-iron
room was built there. (fn. 23) The room was closed c.
1970. (fn. 24)
In 1813 a group seceded from the Castle Street
Baptist congregation, formed a new congregation,
and received Particular Baptist teaching. The new
congregation met in a converted cottage near
the Castle Street chapel, in 1824 converted a
warehouse in High Street to the Zion chapel,
and in 1836 built a new Zion chapel in what was
then called Pippin Road. (fn. 25) On Census Sunday
in 1851 three services were held with an average
congregation of c. 85. (fn. 26) Services were still held
in the chapel in 1996.
Quakers were said to have had a meeting
house at Calne in 1660 (fn. 27) and were numerous in
the town in the late 17th century. (fn. 28) In 1672 they
bought from their leader, Israel Noyes, a plot of
land in Wood Street, and between then and
1696, presumably soon after 1672, built a meeting house on it; the land behind the meeting
house was used as a burial ground. (fn. 29) In 1838
the meeting house was rebuilt. On Census Sunday in 1851 a morning meeting there was
attended by 12 people and an afternoon one by
11. (fn. 30) Meetings ceased in the early 20th century; (fn. 31) the meeting house was leased before
1921 and sold in 1962. (fn. 32)
Methodists met in Calne from c. 1808 and
built a chapel in Back Road in 1811. The chapel
was enlarged in 1815 and 1828. On Census
Sunday in 1851 three services were held with
an average congregation of c. 134. (fn. 33) A much
larger chapel, a towerless rectangle in Decorated
style, clad in rock-faced rubble, and with
prominent buttresses, was built in Silver Street
in 1876-7; (fn. 34) it remained open in 1996.
A Primitive Methodist society was formed in
Calne in 1830, and in 1832 certified a cottage in
or near Back Road as a meeting house. In the
late 1830s services were held in the former Unitarian chapel in Back Road, afterwards again in
the cottage, and from 1846 again in the chapel. (fn. 35)
On Census Sunday in 1851 two services were
held: 72 people attended in the afternoon, 148
in the evening. (fn. 36) The congregation bought the
former Wesleyan chapel in Back Road in 1886
and held services in it from 1887. (fn. 37) In 1965 that
chapel was closed and the congregation was
merged with that of the Wesleyan chapel in Silver
Street. (fn. 38) The chapel in Back Road was afterwards demolished.
Plymouth Brethren met in Calne from c.
1848. (fn. 39) They may have been the dissenters who
met in a room in Wood Street from 1849 and
held two services on Census Sunday in 1851,
when they refused to denominate their assembly on the census return; seven people attended
each service. (fn. 40) Plymouth Brethren met in Wood
Street in the late 19th century, and from c. 1899
Close Brethren met in a new building called
Stanley Home off the west side of North
Street. (fn. 41) From the 1950s, and probably from the
1930s, Stanley Home was used only by Exclusive
Brethren, whose meetings there continued until
the 1970s. (fn. 42) The Oxford Hall was built in Oxford Road in the early 1930s, (fn. 43) was later rebuilt,
and was called the Gospel Hall in 1999. Probably from when it was built, certainly from the
1950s, it was used by Open Brethren, who held
Sunday and weekday services there in the late
1990s. (fn. 44)
In 1866, led by members of the Harris family,
89 or more parishioners left Calne parish
church because they found the high-church
ministry of John Duncan, vicar from 1865, unacceptable. They held services in the town hall
until, in 1867-8, a new church, later called
Calne Free Church, was built. The church, of
rock-faced stone, in Geometrical style, with a
north-west tower, and to designs by W. J. Stent
of Warminster, stands in the part of Church
Street formerly called Butcher Row. Services
in it were at first conducted according to the
Anglican liturgy; that was gradually given up,
from the late 1940s some services were nonliturgical, and in the 1950s no liturgy was used
for any service and believers' baptism was introduced. (fn. 45) The church was still open in 1996.
In 1899 the Salvation Army was using the
former Unitarian chapel in Back Road as a
barracks. (fn. 46) It continued to do so until the Second
World War. (fn. 47)
A cemetery for nonconformists was opened
in Curzon Street in 1867, and a mortuary
chapel and a lodge were built in that year. The
cemetery was given to Calne borough council in
1955. (fn. 48)
At Derry Hill the Little Zoar chapel, small
and of stone, was built in 1814 for Baptists.
Although in 1847 members of the congregation
seceded and joined the Baptist congregation at
Sandy Lane, (fn. 49) in 1851 services at Derry Hill on
Census Sunday were attended by 100 people in
the morning, 100 in the afternoon, and 40 in the
evening. (fn. 50) Strict Baptist services were held in
the chapel in 1996.
East of Quemerford the Zoar chapel was
built in 1832 beside Marsh Lane near Cherhill
village for Methodists. On Census Sunday in
1851 there were morning and evening services,
each with a congregation of 50. (fn. 51) The chapel
was apparently open in 1899, but had been
closed by 1922. (fn. 52) A meeting house for Plymouth
Brethren was built in 1860 beside the London
road east of Quemerford bridge. (fn. 53) It was open
until 1939 or later. (fn. 54) In the 1970s it was converted to a private house. (fn. 55)
At Sandy Lane meetings of nonconformists
were held from c. 1790, (fn. 56) and in 1811 a meeting
house there was said to be old and in poor repair. (fn. 57) A Baptist congregation was formed in
1810 and a chapel, of ironstone with ashlar
dressings and called Providence, was built in
1817. A schoolroom was added to the chapel in
1825. The congregation was supplemented in
1847 by those leaving Derry Hill chapel. (fn. 58) On
Census Sunday in 1851 there were three services at Providence chapel with an average
attendance of 45. (fn. 59) Services were held twice
each Sunday until c. 1910, once each Sunday
until c. 1956, occasionally thereafter. (fn. 60) The chapel
was a private house in 1996.
At Stockley a Primitive Methodist chapel
was built in 1841. On Census Sunday in 1851
two services were held, each with a congregation
of c. 50. (fn. 61) The chapel was closed apparently after
1966. (fn. 62)
At Studley a meeting house for dissenters
was licensed in 1798. Methodists certified a
meeting house in 1826 (fn. 63) and built a small redbrick chapel in 1855; a schoolroom was added
to the chapel in 1896. (fn. 64) Methodist services were
still held in the chapel in 1996.
There is a tradition that Baptists held openair meetings at Whitley in the 1660s. (fn. 65)