Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Potterne

A Methodist society existed here in 1782, when it was part of the Bradford circuit. By 1811 it was part of the Melksham circuit. Early meetings seem to have been in a cottage in Silver Street. There seem to have been a good relationship with the Church of England locally, which was not the case in some parishes where early Methodists were persecuted. In 1822 a house owned by Sarah Prieters (?) was licensed for Wesleyan Methodist meetings. In 1832 there were 13 members, although this had dropped to eight in 1852, when a group seceded to found a reformed church. The Wesleyan chapel was in Coxhill Lane and in 1871 there were 22 members. A feature of the chapel was Catley's School, Samuel Catley was an outfitter and draper of Devizes, which was first held in the malt house used by the secessionists. A Sunday School was then built at the bottom of Rook's Lane and was run as a United Sunday School, attended by Wesleyans, Reformers and Baptists. The school prospered greatly but declined at the end of the 19th century. In 1906 the chapel was described as 'nearly dead' and closed during the First World War.