Church History
A Wesleyan Methodist Society, which grew to a membership of 12, met in the village in the 1840s, but it was 1883 before Methodism was truly founded in Solihull. In the autumn of that year, the Superintendent of the Belmont Row Circuit visited Blossomfield Farm to enquire whether Mr John Beamond and his wife Catherine would support Methodist services if they could be started in the village. The Beamonds, who had been staunch Methodists when they had lived in Shropshire before coming to Solihull, were pleased to accept this challenge.
They arranged to hire the Court Room at the Public Hall in Poplar Road for 6 shillings a week to hold two services every Sunday. All services were taken by local preachers who travelled from Birmingham and were usually entertained to lunch at Blossomfield Farm. Weekly Class Meetings were held in the farmhouse on Tuesday evenings and led by farmer Mr Joseph Hulston who travelled from Sheldon. Once a quarter a Circuit Minister would visit to lead a communion service and to give out the previous class tickets.
The small village Methodist Society continued with a membership of less than 20 until the late 1890s, when only the Beamond family remained, so all services were held in the farmhouse. The faith and perseverance of the family was rewarded in 1901 when due to an interregnum at the local Congregational Church, numbers suddenly grew to about 70. The first resident minister was appointed and a Sunday School was started in 1902. Suddenly it seemed possible to build a Methodist Chapel in Solihull. This was achieved in an amazingly short time. The Old School Chapel situated on the corner of Streetsbrook Road and Blossomfield Road, seating 150, was opened by Rev F Luke Wiseman in February 1905.
Membership of the chapel flourished, reaching about 60, divided into 3 classes, by 1914. A ladies’ sewing meeting was formed by 1907 and rthe Wesley Guild in 1909. A choir was formed and the first paid organist was appointed in 1921. There were also numerous fundraising events, both to pay off the debt on the School Chapel and, as numbers continued to grow in the 1930s, to raise £10,000 to build a new church. The bricks and stones laid in 1936 can be seen in the church vestibule and the new Methodist Church was opened and dedicated, again by Rev Luke Wiseman on 5th June 1937.
The School Chapel became a Church Hall where church groups could meet and during World War II a servicemen’s club was formed. Membership of the church continued to increase after the war, exceeding 200 by 1952, with a tremendous growth in the Sunday School and it became obvious that a new Church Hall was needed. More fundraising followed. The last service in the Old School Chapel was held on Christmas Day 1960, before it was sold, and the new Church Hall was opened on 9th December 1961. Membership continued to grow, reaching a peak of 501 in 1976, with many midweek organisations using the premises. Special occasions such as Festival Fifty (50th anniversary of the new church in 1987) and the 250th commemoration of John Wesley’s conversion in 1988, have been celebrated and various fundraising and social events held.
Despite many years of concerns about subsidence, the church was declared safe in 1990 and alterations to the chancel, choir vestry and kitchen took place, together with refurbishment and alterations to the Church Hall.