The small

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

at Raithby Hall in

Raithby by Spilsby Raithby by Spilsby or Raithby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated about north-west from the town of Spilsby. Raithby has associations with founder of Methodism, John Wesley, and ...

is the oldest Methodist chapel in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, and one of the oldest in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is one of the few surviving chapels that was opened by

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

, the founding father of Methodism, and is still in use today. The chapel was built in brick over an existing stable in 1779 by

Robert Carr Brackenbury Robert Carr Brackenbury (28 May 1752 – 11 August 1818) was born in 1752 at Panton House, near Wragby, Lincolnshire. His biographer, Terence R Leach, Brackenbury's biographer, describes him as a ‘poet, practitioner, philanthropist and mystic’. ...

, the well-to-do Methodist minister who built and lived at Raithby Hall and was dedicated by John Wesley on 5 July 1779. The building housing the stable and the chapel is

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Services

John Wesley is recorded as having delivered a service here on 3 July 1788. The chapel is now part of the Mid-Lincolnshire Methodist Circuit. Occasional services are still held at the chapel.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapel At Raithby Hall Raithby Methodist Chapel Methodist churches in Lincolnshire East Lindsey District