In the first half of the 19th Century, both Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists tried to establish societies in Old Windsor. Unfortunately (from a Methodist point of view!) the seed did not germinate. Indeed, a further 50 years passed before Old Windsor had a place of worship for Non-Conformists. A small group (under the auspices of the Baptist Church) started house meetings in a cottage in Albany Road. As numbers grew, the group moved, first to the hall of the Boys' School, sited at what is now Croft Corner, and later to the Iron Chapel, believed to be on the present site.
A permanent House of Worship, the Old Windsor Gospel Hall, was built under the auspices of the London Evangelical Society. In 1928, financial constraints resulted in the link with the London Evangelical Society being severed. The members of the Gospel Hall approached Messrs King and Elisha, who both transferred from their Churches in Windsor and, with others, took over the running of the Old Windsor Gospel Hall. Selected preachers from various Non-Conformist Churches, Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists and the Assembly of Open Brethren agreed to come and preach at their own expense. One preacher, refusing public transport on a Sunday, rode over on his horse from Chertsey!
During the Second World War, the ranks of the Sunday School were swelled by evacuees. It became more and more difficult to find preachers both during and after the war. Eventually, on 19th June 1952 the Gospel Hall members decided to seek union with the Methodist Church. The congregation was accepted unanimously by the Windsor and Maidenhead Circuit of the Methodist Church, at the next Circuit Meeting. Old Windsor held the inaugural meeting of its Methodist Trust on 28th October 1952. Throughout the 1950s the Church's youth work grew rapidly. An extra building was needed. A new hall was built and dedicated on 15th June 1963 by Baroness Schröder. The Church switched to electricity for heating; no longer must “a long shovel and a full coal scuttle be always left in the vestry”!
Major work was carried out on the building in 1972. The inside of the Church was “turned round” and modernised, a vestry/meeting room was added, and the current side entrance incorporated. Unfortunately, planning regulations then meant that the front entrance porch, a feature of the original building, had to be removed to provide space for car parking. Later in the '70s the old wooden pews (bring your own cushion) were replaced by chairs, and a new organ replaced the original (organists, pump with your feet) one.
In May 1997 a Centenary Challenge was launched. Completed in May 2000, this gave us the current attractive exterior with its glass cross visibly proclaiming to all passers-by that it is a church. Called the "Turret", it is extremely unusual, perhaps unique, for a Church of this size! Look at it from both inside and, preferably in the dark, from outside. Other features include the stained glass in the church windows, included when the Church was built over 100 years ago, it was made in Old Windsor. This is one of the few buildings in the village retaining this aspect of village history. Elsewhere, examples can be seen in Windsor's Guildhall and Brigidine School. Above the Sanctuary doorway is a Polish carving of the head of Christ. This was presented to the church by Rev Janusz Oslzanski as a gift from his Church in Bydgoszcz in Poland during an exchange visit organised by Windsor's Outreach committee.
Standing in front of the church you will find two foundation stones, one either side of the turret.
Convert the date on the right to the format dd/mm/yyyy, this is then ABCDEFGH
On the left is a reference, chapter of John = J, verse = KL
Cache is located at N51 27.(A+K)(D-E)(G-C) W000 35.(F-H)(A+K+L)(J+B)
Update: The cache has been compromised twice and therefore has been moved slightly. If you are among those who had already worked out the co-ordinates but could not find the cache, rather than redo the whole, you can use the following calculations:
Subtract 0.003 from the Northings and subtract 0.010 from the Westings
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See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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