Gadfield Elm Chapel

Gadfield Elm Chapel stands in the countryside near Pendock village in Worcestershire. Built in 1836 as a simple meeting house, it was first used by the United Brethren, a group of breakaway Primitive Methodists led by Thomas Kington. The chapel’s whitewashed walls and small windows still show the plain style of early 19th-century dissenting chapels. It sits among elm trees on a quiet lane, far from main roads, giving it a secluded feel. The chapel became important in 1840 when Wilford Woodruff, a Latter-day Saint missionary and apostle, preached here. Almost all of the 600 United Brethren members converted to Mormonism after his visit. Brigham Young, then leader of the Quorum of the Twelve, spoke here at least once before the chapel was sold in 1842 to help fund emigration to America. The building passed through private hands until 1994, when the Gadfield Elm Trust restored it. Today the chapel is open to visitors as a historical site. Inside, the original wooden benches and simple pulpit remain, with a small museum area showing photographs and documents. The Gadfield Elm Trust donated the building back to the LDS Church in 2004, and it was rededicated by church president Gordon B. Hinckley. The quiet lane and surrounding fields add to the peaceful atmosphere of this early Mormon meeting place.