Headless Cross Methodist Church History

 

Methodism in Headless Cross dates back to the early 19th century. The first services were held in a cottage in Webheath and then in a cottage at 44 and 44A in Birchfield Road. The spiritual and general care of the village was entirely provided by "Wesleyans" until St. Luke's (now The Bridge) was opened in 1843.

 

The first Chapel was opened in 1827 in Evesham Road, on the present site. In 1873 a new Chapel was built to meet the needs of the growing congregation with the new building seating some 300 persons. It was, however, discovered that the building quality was quite poor and on the 24th of March 1895 a severe gale caused the roof and gables to fall into the road. Services were continued in the schoolroom which had escaped damage. The last church (shown in the images) was opened in 1897.

 

The Centenary Celebrations were held in 1997. Shortly afterwards it was discovered that the church was suffering from dry rot and looking more closely into it, the church found it would be terribly expensive to try to cure it. A Steering Group was set up to try to alter our premises and met with still more problems. An Appeal was launched to raise money for new premises which raised about £100,000 but the congregation realised they needed a partner to work with.

 

Headless Cross Methodist Church joined with St. Luke's Church (Church of England) as an Ecumenical Partnership called The Bridge, based on the St. Luke’s site, on Ash Wednesday 25th February 2009.

 

The Methodist Church building and land was sold in April 2014 and the church building and halls were subsequently demolished during the summer of 2016. The site has now been redeveloped as a residential area (see image below). The spire is currently being stored by its present (private) owners in Herefordshire in the hope that it can eventually be rebuilt somewhere in Redditch.

 

This history was originally written by Elsie Haden with later additions/editing by the website administrator and others to reflect the current status.