1826  --- 2026 

                                    200 Years Young

                                                     
                        Clearing the chapel's debt

Last month we left Rev Palmer riding off into the moonlight in 1827 taking a lot of the
chapel's debt with him. In the next few years the Trustees did what they could, mainly by
making loans of about £100 each. The Treasurer, George Motley, a pig butcher, took on
£350- a large sum in those days, equivalent to about £47,250 today.
Rev William Dove accepted the call to be Minister at Thornbury in 1831, with the express
intention of clearing the Chapel's debt. He travelled the country, keeping meticulous
records. One sheet lists the amounts collected at Frampton, Chepstow, Newport,
Castletown, Cardiff, Midsummer(sic) Norton, Paulton, Radstock, Gloucester, Cheltenham,
and the collection at the church anniversary- a total of £43.15.0 1/2 d. Another is for
“Expenses at Nailsworth, Stroud... etc while begging for the Chapel for one month”- the
total expenses were £1.5.7d!
After Mr Dove was “headhunted” by Lord Ducie in 1843 to open his new chapel at
Whitfield (now a private house by the A38), the debt was largely taken on by Mr Motley. It
was finally cleared in 1859 from the legacy left to his wife. He was clearly a successful pig-
butcher!