Welcome
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Welcome to Raithby Methodist Chapel.
Raithby is a class of Spilsby Methodist Church. Services are held monthly (last Sunday in the month) at 2.30p.m.
The Annual Wesley Day Service is held on the 24th May at 7.15p.m.
The Annual Brackenbury Memorial Lecture is held on the second Saturday in July at 3p.m. The lecture is organized by ‘Lincolnshire Methodist History Society’; ‘Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology’ and ‘The Tennyson Society’ who each in turn provide a speaker. The lecture is followed by tea in the Spilsby Methodist Schoolroom.
Wesley’s Chapel, Raithby is a Grade I listed building and as such is of historical importance. It was built in 1779 by the squire of Raithby, Robert Carr Brackenbury (1752-1818) above the stables of the country house which he built at the same time. The chapel was opened by John Wesley, a great friend of Brackenbury, on 5th July 1779. The chapel has changed very little.
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| It was however undertaken in faith, prosecuted with energy and zeal and the effort crowned with success. The Rev Ridgill undertook the superintendence of the work and by means of the local freed slaves, thus skillfully directed, the neatest and most commodiusWesleyan Chapel in the Western Province was erected, as a lasting monument of the genius, zeal and liberality of the Missionary, the people and friends who had so nobly united their efforts in it’s erection” The Chapel was formally opened for Worship on the 29th August 1861 with over 1000 people in attendance.
Indeed this chapel has been a living monument to Methodist Missionary effort in the Helderberg Basin. This congregation continues to serve as a “Haven of Healing “ for those who are broken in spirit, mind and body.
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| As the world’s eyes were focused on the opening Celebrations of the Fifa 2010 World Cup in Africa, with the Vuvuzela’s and car horns blaring the walls of the 150 year old Church Street Somerset West, Church building, known as the “Grand Old Lady “ of Somerset West came crumbling down at 1:45pm on Friday 11 June 2010.
This devastating act brought to an end a era of a imposing Methodist landmark on the Helderberg skyline accompanied by an outpouring of emotions, shock and disbelieve at the sudden collapse of the façade of the spiritual home of Methodists in Somerset West and its environs.
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| Last year we celebrated our 175th year of Witness in Somerset West, the beginnings of this church has been closely linked to that of the Emancipation of the slaves in South Africa 170 years ago, when Barnabas Shaw purchased a parcel of land to accommodate the freed slaves. The only building on this land was an Old Wine Cellar, which was very soon converted into a Chapel in 1834.Under the supervision of Barnabas Shaw the freed slaves built dwellings for themselves which is still home to their descendants today. By 1860 the Wine Cellar now a chapel became to small for the growing congregation and as it was incapable for further enlargement, it was resolved to attempt the erection of a new one. Records of this time show, “This was certainly a bold project when viewed in connection with the comparative poverty of the people, the lack of skilled artisans and other difficulties.
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Quote
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 we went to Raithby: an earthly paradise! How gladly would I rest here a few days; but it is not my place! I am to be a wanderer upon earth. Only let me find rest in a better world! At six I preached in the church to such a congregation as I never saw here before; but I do not wonder if all the country should flock in thither, to a palace in the midst of paradise. -John Wesley, July 1788
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