Many people have been puzzled or intrigued by the chapel like appearance of the current Masonic centre in St Peter Street Marlow. It's location opposite the Catholic church of St Peter's has often led to the assumption it was built as a kind of parish hall for them. The clue to the true history lies in the family actually responsible for putting it up - the Morgans. They were prominent members of the Salem Chapel as it was then known (Aka Congregational church, now the U.R.C Quoiting Square) and it was for a break away group of worshippers that the building was established as a place of worship.
The Music Room, above. Image ©Colin Groves and used with permission.
A severe break at the Salem Chapel
The story of why there was a significant sundering of the congregation at the Salem Chapel has partly been told already by us in Charlotte's biography of the Rev Thomas Styles (and can be read in more detail here). To sum up, Rev Styles expressed in 1854 a wish to marry a lady that some members of the congregation regarded as an unsuitable choice for a minister. In addition, some thought he shouldn't marry at all as the living they could provide would not be sufficient for a married man. If he did, then resignation should follow they reasoned. Thomas disagreed and married Eliza anyway. You may think that would have been more or less the end of the matter. Not so - a significant number of worshippers lead by Mr Morgan "broke away" from the main congregation and remained so estranged for nearly 10 years. At first they met in the Albion rooms West Street, but in 1855 the breakaway group were planning a purpose built building that would double as a lecture hall for hire. This was not completed until 1861 in St Peter Street and is what we call the Masonic Centre. It was licenced for worship and used as such until 1863.
The press and town as a whole were very much on the side of the Rev Styles. The loss of half his congregation severely dented his income. The deficiency was made up by voluntary donations made by those of all denominations. The South Bucks Free Press thought the dispute was really about internal power struggles within the church and many criticized those who presumed to tell their "respected" minister what to do.
The lecture room opens
In July of 1861 "the lecture room" (and it was then just a single room) opened. Big enough to hold 300 people, it was provided with a stage and state of the art harmonium at one end as well as gas lighting and a hot water heating system. The lighting was a constant source of complaint later but at the time of opening this was a facility with all modern conveniences. The building was designed by Marlow architect Charles Carter and it was completed by our builder Thomas Corby. The first lecture was on "the existing barriers [to the] social, moral, and religious elevation of the people". Temperance lectures were a big feature of the early days too, especially by the Great Marlow Temperance Society.
It was of course also used for worship. The Rev Mitchel was engaged as a probationary minister there and Sunday congregations were regarded as well attended.
Peacemaking?
In 1863 the Rev Styles had finally had enough. He had continued to offer an olive branch to those who had left his church and many had indeed returned to him. Thomas now said he was ready to retire altogether. The breakaway group felt this was an opportunity to reconcile. The question then was of the pension to be offered. Thomas had been living on an income of £30-40 a year which was found to be less than half of what any incoming minister would accept to replace him. But there was those (especially in the breakaway group) who thought the pension of the same amount would have to do. It was felt that as this group had caused the Rev Styles to have to live on such a small sum and were generally the better off, that they should contribute to his pension fund. They initially refused and were accused of trying "to crush and sweep away" Thomas with "a system that shames them". It was noted this was not the first time a such a system of "persecution" had been used to shed a minister. Strong language was used on both sides - one member of the main congregation referred to the breakaways as "illiterate nonentities" for example! In the end Thomas was given the right to live in the Manse for life as well as £40 a year.
A month after Thomas preached his last sermon, a "re-union" meeting was held in the lecture room, presided over by church member Joseph Wright of Marlow Mills. He said they were gathered to "give assistance and counsel to the little cause in Marlow now making an attempt to recover it's position once enjoyed". A visiting preacher pleaded for all to forgive and be forbearing.
Lectures? No thanks!
With the lecture hall no longer needed for purposes of worship, it was kept open for the secondary role as a sort of public hall. Unfortunately as such it was initially a failure. The main users were groups who would otherwise have used the Salem Chapel schoolrooms and when the rift was healed, they generally did so. The Mutual Improvement Society did hire it for educational talks but these were poorly attended. In 1864 the lecture room was declared a failure. The Rev Millman of All Saints (Anglican) then took a lease of the premises for 5 years for use as the National Girls School. (They got their own premises in 1870.) In 1867 Owen Peel Wethered of Marlow's well known brewing family bought the freehold. He intended to use it as a public hall for hire. It would soon generally be known as the Music Room as it was often used for concerts and choral union meetings.
The Music Room - respectable audience only please
In the 1870s the shift from educational and temperance related offerings to more general entertainment was complete. Both the Literary and Scientific Institute and Mutual Improvement Society still used the facilities on occasion but attendance was usually reported as poor. The emphasis was on respectable entertainment - for example when Mrs Howard Paul visited in 1877 to offer songs and impressions we are reassured that there was "an utter absence of anything coarse or objectional"..
Other best selling Victorian events included an exposure of the sleight of hand used by spiritualist mediums, a recreated Japanese village as part of an exhibition of their craft, displays of photographs, Pepper's Ghost, and magic lantern exhibitions. My favourite event though was a show in 1883 of curiosities and artefacts collected by local people. A polariscope, stuffed skunk, photographs of microscopic algae from the USA, a portion of the wrecked HMS Eurydice, a calculating machine and a display of ferns were amongst the eclectic items on display.
In 1888 the Music Room was licenced for dramatic performances and these would be a big feature going forward. In the 1880s the room had been used more by travelling troupes or showman. As these were sometimes regarded as a little noisy and not educational enough, a decision was made by the Wethereds in 1894 that the music room would no longer be available to showman or groups not resident in Marlow (unless taking part in a Marlow organised fundraising event such as for the cottage hospital.)
As gymnasium and cinema
In the 1890s the music room became home to the Marlow Gymnastic club - you can read more on those energetic fellows here
It's other significant use was as Marlow's first regular cinema from 1911-1913 - again the full story has been told in a post - here
As the Public Hall
In 1906, the Wethered family sold the freehold of the music room to a small limited company of Marlow men including prominent Congregationalists William J Morgan and Joseph Dorsett. The new owners say it will be now known as the Public Hall - although the Music Room name stuck for a long time! They made some additions to the building and improvements to the lighting.
In the Edwardian era it saw meetings of the Woman's Freedom League and Suffragette groups - usually interrupted by belligerent young men armed with whistles, cow bells and mouth organs.
Afterwards
The story of the buildings use in the First and Second World Wars is covered in another post here. The Freemasons bought the freehold in 1934.
NB. The Rev Alexander Henderson also resigned as the Congregational minister specifically in order to get married - after the congregation voiced "doubts" about whether he should. (1883) A biography of that minister is available here
Post written and researched by Kathryn Day.
Related posts:
Index of church and chapel related posts (all denominations):here
For other posts about St Peter's Street or other specific buildings see here
Votes for women? Marlow discussions on the issue here
Sources include :
Charlotte's research on Rev Thomas Styles
Marlow Directory 1891
Kelly's Directory 1889
Marlow Almanack and Directory 1903, 1907, 1915.
South Bucks Free Press 13th December 1857, 8th August 1860, 26th July 1861 2nd February, 27th March, 19th June, 4th July & 28th August 1863, 23rd January 1864, 27th September 1867, 26th October 1883, 30th November 1888, 15th May 1908
Reading Mercury 3rd August 1861, 17th Jan 1863, 24th February 1877, 12th September 1885
Bucks Advertiser & Aylesbury News 29th August 1863
Bucks Herald 127th October 1877
Maidenhead Advertiser 14th February 1894
South Bucks Standard 6th July & 26th October 1906
Information on the Congregational Church as was from Martin Ashford with thanks.
© MarlowAncestors
