Welcome to Bower Hinton Chapel
Bower Hinton Chapel originates from an assembly that met at a chapel in Pound Lane, Martock, which was founded in 1688 as a result of the Great Ejectment. In 1772, a section of the congregation became attracted to the teaching of the Reverend Christopher Hull, and met together in barns and cottages.
In 1791 a gift of land was made and the present chapel was built. In 1834, they joined the Congregational Union, and in 1972 became Martock United Reformed Church. The school room, manse (early 19th C), porch and vestry were added later. Since the chapel opened there has been a graveyard behind the building. Some of the earlier gravestones have been moved to stand against the wall. The graveyard is in constant use. Many people come regularly to visit the graves and to lay flowers. It is a priority of the chapel elders to keep the graveyard in good condition and continue in use for interments.
Services take place once a month or more frequently as required. Details can be found on the “Services” section of this website. We are not registered for weddings. We are however available for baptisms, funerals and interrment of ashes.
You can also follow us on Facebook
A message from the Church Elders
Why is our Chapel staging concerts and other events?
We are pleased to confirm that any rumours that we currently have plans to close the chapel at
Bower Hinton are incorrect. Unfortunately like many other local chapels and churches our
membership numbers are at an all-time low as are the number attending regular worship. Our
chapel has a rich history as the centre of Bower Hinton village life, both spiritual and
recreational.
Society has changed considerably over recent years, but we feel that there is still now a great
need for people to inter-react socially. Whilst at our present stage, the easy way out would be to
close the chapel, we consider that it is worthwhile fighting to keep it open. If we do close there is
a possibility that in doing so the village will lose an important social facility including the
likelihood of closing the graveyard to future burials. Keeping the graveyard open and viable is
our primary objective as well as continuing the use of the chapel itself for Christian Worship.
Our buildings are our major resource and therefore we intend to make full use of them by
staging regular activities. We are fortunate in having some very talented musicians in the village
and they have agreed to help us start these new ventures.
We got off to a great start in February 2024 with a Ceilidh. This was well attended, and we are
grateful to the band and Caller who donated their services free of charge. This gave us a
tremendous boost and encouragement to proceed with further events. Our first concert was
given by Blair Dunlop and again this was successful and other concerts have followed. We also
brought back the Chapel’s outside summer fayre which was well attended and is something we
wish to continue each year.
We offer a great heartfelt thank you to all who have contributed and supported our Chapel
events over the past few months. The response from you all has been overwhelming and we
hope that we can continue with monthly music events.
We are pleased that so many old boundaries are being broken and new friendships formed. We
now have volunteers from many who would not consider themselves “Chapel” but who willingly
give their time and expertise to what we consider to be a “Community Cause.” We cannot turn
the clock back, but we can do our best to encourage a warm friendly community feeling in
Bower Hinton Chapel.
This feeling is evident from the positive reactions received so far from those attending. Our aim
is to reach a point where the use of the Graveyard and buildings can be safeguarded for use by
future generations. Until that time comes, and hopefully beyond, we would like to think that we
are building a caring and friendly community here at Bower Hinton Chapel.
Once again I must begin by thanking all who have contributed in any way to a renewed 2024 in the life of Bower Hinton Chapel. Response financially has been heartwarming with many outstanding contributions together with generosity at our events, This has helped to ensure that 2024 has been a financial success in that our income has exceeded our expenditure. However, financial success is not our main goal.
We set out last year to raise awareness of the chapel and bring it once more into the day-to-day life of the community and to help save the graveyard for future generations. This, in my view, has mostly been achieved, as the majority of our events have been well supported and enjoyed by those attending. In addition the schoolroom has been booked, several times, as a venue for personal celebrations. Unfortunately a way to save the graveyard if the chapel closes has yet to be achieved.
I believe that 2025 will be a crucial year in the life of Bower Hinton Chapel as we need to build on the success of last year if the chapel is to continue. The achievements so far have been the result of hard work by a few dedicated people who are learning fast the stress and hard work involved in organising and running public events. I am afraid that with the best will in the world these few people could face “melt down” without help. We therefore urgently need volunteers to help us. This is not a “Religious Crusade” but I see it as a chance to help in continuing the use of a much-needed local community asset. We particularly need help with publicity and with teas, raffles and other various duties at each event. Anyone interested please contact Helen whose details are available on our website “bowerhintonchapel.org”.
I am pleased to report that our Christmas carol service was a great success even though at the last moment we had to change venue to our Schoolroom as the chapel heating system broke down. Attendance was well above that of previous years and the brass band members enjoyed the event and we hope to arrange for the band to play for us at the chapel later this year.
Publicity is posing a problem for us, particularly with posters and IT. One effective way to promote us is by personal contact and word of mouth. I appeal to anyone who has visited and enjoyed their time with us to pass on the word to friends and family. I am worried that, to some extent, the fact that we are a “Chapel” is off putting. My experience is that at all our events there has been a warm friendly and free atmosphere.
Please check out our website for full details of worship dates and events but I particularly draw your attention to our proposed party in the schoolroom on 10th May to celebrate VE Day. We are in the process of booking a special professional act to entertain us in 1945 style. Feel free to drag out clothes from granny’s wardrobe to dress as she did in 1945. As for me, I was informed by my mother that I was enjoying the celebrations in Swindon from my pram!
Nigel, Elder, Martock URC. 01935 706795