The Methodists

A strong free-church tradition grew up in the 18th Century. John Wesley and George Whitefield are both said to have come to the Stroud area and there is a little hillock on the Common near Moor Court, called “Whitfield’s Tump”, where George Whitefield is said to have preached to a huge crowd of people. There still exists a licence for services to be held on that little hillock. As well as services in the open air, several of the cottages were used for worship and in 1790 the Littleworth Wesleyan Chapel was built. After 200 years of very active life this Chapel was closed and sold and its congregation, small by then, joined Amberley Parish Church, which became a Local Ecumenical Project in 1990. The Vestry, renamed The New Room, has been retained and is used for prayer by the joint congregation.