Spaxton: Nonconformity

NONCONFORMITY.

There was a Roman Catholic in Spaxton in 1740, probably the recusant recorded in 1767. (fn. 1)

A house was licensed for protestant worship in 1701. (fn. 2) Wesleyan Methodist services were held as part of the Taunton circuit by 1838. (fn. 3) Premises were acquired in 1847 (fn. 4) and in 1858 a chapel was built. A Sunday schoolroom was added in 1922 as a war memorial. (fn. 5) In 1960 there were two Sunday services, attended by an average of 23 and 19 people respectively. (fn. 6) The chapel was still in use in 1987.

A shared Baptist and Congregational chapel was built at Merridge in 1839. It was closed c. 1860 but restored and reopened as a Congregational church in 1883. (fn. 7) It closed c. 1938. (fn. 8) The chapel was being converted into a house in 1987.

There was a Baptist chapel in Merridge between 1861 and 1875, probably established after the closure of the joint chapel. (fn. 9) It was described as an iron chapel in 1872 (fn. 10) and was probably the later Church of England chapel opened there in 1876. (fn. 11)

The Trinity Free Church at New Charlinch, Four Forks, was licensed in 1845, (fn. 12) but was probably built a few years earlier, and was used by the Revd. George Thomas, a follower of the Revd. Henry Prince. In 1846 the group of houses and chapel known as the Agapemone was built by William Cobbe, and Prince and his followers occupied the site from the end of that year. (fn. 13) In 1851 there were 65 people living on the site, (fn. 14) a number which had fallen to 36 by 1881. (fn. 15) Prince died in 1899; John Smyth-Pigott took over leadership of the community and further houses were built, (fn. 16) but he spent part of his time in London where he had claimed to be the Messiah in 1902, and the Agapemone declined. A hospital was opened there during the Second World War but in 1957 the Agapemone was sold. (fn. 17) It was divided and the chapel was converted to a dwelling. The main house is a two-storeyed, Tudor style building with crenellated bay windows.