United Reformed Church : Broad Chalke

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Some of the above content has been reproduced with the kind permission of the CHALKE TALK management.

History

The original non-conformist meeting house was in Chapel Lane (or Springs Lane, originally called Low Lane) off North Street and a Chapel was built there on adjacent land, part of the cottage now called Chapel Cottage.

Abner Burrough's widow Elizabeth owned Chapel Cottage in 1900 and rented it to Elias and Mary Case and Fred Thick until her death in 1914. The old Chapel was used as a Sunday School until about 1950 and for band practice until about 1970 when it was converted and made part of Chapel Cottage.

The present United Reformed Church in High Road was built in 1862. Three brothers of the Burrough family must have been founder members; they are buried in the front of the graveyard. One brother, John, was a builder living in Bowerchalke and built houses in North Street and Chapel Lane (Low Lane) but it is not known whether he had any part in building the old Chapel or the present one. A fourth brother was a member of the All Saints' Church and is buried there.

There is a photo of the Chapel in about 1930 here.

A rear lean-to extension to the URC was built by Mr Goodfellow in about the 1970s or 1980s for a vestry, kitchen and toilet.

In 2006 Ian Chalk renovated the Chapel, installing a ramp for disabled access and modifying the interior. The gallery has been maintained but the hall has been split into several rooms. The larger area is used for worship and large meetings while the area under the gallery is two rooms; a general purpose room for meetings or other functions and there is a small office for Church administration which is also used by the Surgery.

Some of the information above has been obtained from The Broad Chalke Book and some from Burrough family Wills.

The grave positions are shown on this Graves Plan and grave inscriptions on this Inscriptions Schedule 1 (then use the "next" links to see further inscriptions).