| Date | 13 May 2016 |
|---|---|
| Source | Slough Observer |
| Reference | VP-0071 |
| Volume | Views of the Past |
| Collection | Views of the Past |
Transcript
A history of worship
LAST week I had the honour of addressing the local history section of the Windsor branch of the University of the Third Age at Windsor Methodist Church in Alma Road. This was a church which I did not know a great deal about. The church itself has changed and evolved in more recent years with the area of worship in the eaves of the church since the early 1990s. I was now hungry to know something of the history of the church….
The Alma Road Church was the fourth Methodist Church to be built in Windsor. John Wesley preached for the first time in Windsor on May 24, 1738. The first person recorded as having been a leading light in the Methodist Church was John Ould whose house was used for the first meetings.
By 1815 the membership had reached 26 and the following year plans were made for a small chapel in Bier Lane, today’s River Street. The church was too small to accommodate the growing congregation so a gallery was added in July 1825. John Higgs, Maidenhead’s leading Methodist congregant, and responsible for Maidenhead’s Methodist Church, was converted at the Windsor Chapel in 1829.
By 1837, the congregation had outgrown Bier Lane and new larger premises were found off Peascod Street in the area now occupied by King Edward Court which lasted for 40 years before they moved in 1854 to Windsor Primitive Methodist Church in Denmark Street.
The final home for Methodists was found in Alma Road and a foundation stone was laid on May 8, 1876, opening for worship on February 21, 1877. The architect was Joseph Morris of Messrs Morris and Stallwood of Reading. The church had a flourishing Sunday school and in 1906 both church and school room were renovated providing a better heating system. The church received major renovations again in 1961.
In 1991 there was concern that the building was no longer fit for purpose and a new scheme was proposed costing some £800,000 in June 1990. The re-developed Church was officially opened by The Queen on April 6, 1993.
Image: Sketch of the interior of the Alma Road Methodist Church in 1877.
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