Non-Conformity

There is no evidence of a chapel being built in the parish before 1863 when a Methodist chapel on Huish Hill was first registered. Different sources describe it as both Primitive and Wesleyan. In 1864, when the rector of Huish completed his visitation return, he remarked that a good number of his potential congregation attended the chapel ‘for convenience sake’. It had room for 50 people and was probably supported by the residents of Oare as well as Huish. The chapel was abandoned when the hamlet on Huish Hill was deserted in the 1920s. It was demolished c. 1940.

The Salisbury Times carried an interesting article in 1901, relating to the retirement of Thomas Razey, a staunch Methodist. He was born in Huish in 1809. His parents were poor labourers and Thomas started work at a very young age. He worked as a shepherd (including Sunday work) until he was 78 years old. Primitive Methodists first visited Huish in 1842 and Thomas was one of the first to join a society. They met with bitter persecution from the rector, the Rev William Bleeck (mentioned above). On one occasion, the rector rode his horse among the Methodists, cracking his whip. Thomas and his friends would not be intimidated, eventually building their own chapel in 1863.