Tabernacle Church, Trowbridge

The church has its origins in the meetings of pious people who gathered around Mrs Joanna Turner, the daughter of a local clothier. At first they met in each other's houses and then in the house of a preacher blacksmith. Later Mrs Turner acquired a cottage as a meeting place and she replaced this with a small chapel built at a cost of £500. In 1771 a proper chapel, measuring 40 feet by 30 feet was built at the cost of Mr and Mrs Turner. It was called the Tabernacle in honour of George Whitfield and his Tabernacle at Moorfields in London. The first minister was John Clark, a member of a local family of clothiers, and both he and Mrs Turner had been Methodists. In 1780 John Wesley preached at the church. There were substantial changes to this chapel - in 1785 a galley was added for the Sunday school; in 1794 the chapel was doubled in width and houses and land were put in trust for the church; in 1829 there was a congregation of 700 and between 1827 and 1837 side galleries were added. Many rooms were added alongside the church through bequests from members - a new Sunday school in 1842, a new infant school in 1873, the Hadens built a new classroom in 1873 and more were added in 1882.

All this time the church was flourishing under Thomas Mann (1839 - 94) and in 1884 the whole church was rebuilt on the same site with sittings for 730. It is in the Perpendicular style by Paull and Bonella.The graveyard had closed in 1856. On 1st October 1968 the church joined with Methodists to form the United Church and in 1972 they were joined by Congregationalists and Presbyterians to form the United Reformed Chuch.