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London Metropolitan Archives

MUNSTER PARK METHODIST CHURCH


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0074 DD/0976

Held at: London Metropolitan Archives

Title: MUNSTER PARK METHODIST CHURCH

Date(s): 1880-1995

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 1.2 linear metres

Name of creator(s): Munster Park Methodist Church | Hammersmith xx Munster Park Wesleyan Church | Hammersmith

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Munster Park Wesleyan Church was founded in 1880. In 1932, following a vote taken at a meeting of the United Methodist Church, it changed its name to Munster Park Methodist Church. For many years it was highly attended, and became a centre of community life in Hammersmith, hosting meetings of the Munster Park Wesley Guild, the Munster Park Cycling Club and the 6th Fulham Girl Guides among others. During the Second World War, the roof of Munster Park Church suffered severe bomb damage, and the congregation was temporarily transferred to the Methodist church at Munster Road. The Munster Park church organ was rescued and rebuilt in the 1950s, when the church re-opened for worship.

As the years progressed, however, the congregation dwindled, and Munster Park Church became too large to serve the Methodist community's needs and too costly to maintain. In the late 1960s, the community took the decision to sell the old church and much of the land, and to convert the existing assembly halls into a new church. The sale was completed in 1971, and the new church opened for worship in 1972. It continued to provide a venue for community groups, and in subsequent decades other local church communities also used the premises for worship. At the same time, the Methodist congregation at Munster Park became involved in an ecumenical project at St. Barnabas Anglican Church in Kensington. The Anglican-Methodist Experiment, as it became known, began in 1966 and was formalised in 1969. In the 1980s, however, the Anglican community was considerably increased by the closure of nearby Anglican churches, while the cost of maintaining St. Barnabas placed a greater strain on Anglican finances. The Methodist community consequently felt under-represented at St. Barnabas, and began to question the feasibility of the Experiment. In 1985, the Anglican and Methodist communities jointly decided to terminate the project.

Munster Park Methodist Church saw a severe decline in attendance throughout the 1980s. The Hammersmith and Fulham Methodist Circuit, taking into account Munster Park's ageing congregation and lack of religious engagement with the local community, decided to close the church, and in 1995 Munster Park's remaining assets were sold.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of Munster Park Methodist Church including church registers, administration and finance, records of clubs and societies and records of the St Barnabas Anglican-Methodist Experiment.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Arranged in sections as follows:
DD/0976/01: Munster Park Methodist Church
DD/0976/02: The Anglican-Methodist Experiment at St Barnabas
DD/0976/03: Clubs and Societies
DD/0976/04: Miscellaneous

Conditions governing access:

These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information may be subject to access restrictions.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright is held by the Depositor.

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Deposited at Hammersmith and Fulham Archives and Local Studies in 1998.

Transferred from Hammersmith and Fulham Archives and Local History Centre in 2015.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Related material:

See also DD/0370/02/12.

DESCRIPTION NOTES Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: Added July 2015.


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Methodists | Protestant nonconformists | Protestants | Christians | Religious groups
Nonconformists
Religion

Personal names

Corporate names
Munster Park Methodist Church

Places
Hammersmith | London | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Hammersmith and Fulham