Methodist Church, High Street, Melksham

John Wesley came to Melksham and preached to a large gathering on 23rd October 1750. After this early meetings were held in a small cottage with only a few people attending. Later half of a house in the town was used for meetings but numbers remained low. In 1802 Charles Maggs moved to Melksham from Radstock and opened a rope factory in the town. He came from a strong Methodist family and he provided the stimulus for Methodism in Melksham. In 1808 he bought a house in the High street where meetings were being held and built the first chapel there. This meeting was always known as 'Mr Magg's'. Until 1811 Melksham had been part of the Bradford circuit but after that it became head of its own circuit. In 1821 the chapel was enlarged and membership continued to grow. There was an active Sunday school here by 1857. The chapel was licensed for marriages in 1865. In 1872 a new chapel was built on the site of the original one. This was designed by Wilson, Willcox and Wilson of Bath and is an imposing two storey building, rock faced, with a Welsh slate roof. After union with the United Reform Church in 1976 this became the Melksham United Church.