THE tiny chapel at Kinsham has had a chequered history but its centenary was celebrated with major alterations.

A new floor and roof, internal decoration, carpets and new chairs, a new notice board and a panel inscribed with the date of re-opening all mark the milestone and point to a bright future.

The Merrell family has been involved with the chapel for the whole of those 100 years. Ben and Win Merrell kept Kinsham going while chapels at Bredon, Kemerton, Aston Cross and Westmancote closed, but in 1993 they had to go into a nursing home.

Their daughter Jean Pitt and her husband Phil agreed to help keep the chapel going for six months. Now, 11 years on, they continue to travel 30 miles each way every Sunday to keep the chapel open and have seen numbers growing.

Mrs Pitt said it was in February 1904 that members of Westmancote Chapel decided to re-open Kinsham Chapel, and Arthur Merrell and Frederick Upstone were two of the leading lights.

"With the responsibilities to their young families and early in their married lives the devotion and eagerness they showed must be applauded," Mrs Pitt said. "In 1904, it is recorded that Kinsham, a preaching station from Westmancote, had five Sunday School teachers and 21 scholars."

Mrs Pitt said there were many references to Kinsham in old Baptist records, some under Gloucestershire and others under Worcestershire as county boundaries changed.

Kinsham was opened in 1849 and Overbury in 1861. The reason for its closure seemed to be tied up with the Seventh Day Baptists, who had a church in a farmhouse at Natton.

The 1904 re-opening may have been a result of the revival in Wales spreading to Gloucestershire and the building of the Jubilee Cottages leading to an increase in the population of the tiny hamlet. Missions were held annually by the Rev Arthur Scudamore and the work grew.

Despite the hard times of the First World War and the 1926 slump, the Christian Endeavour meeting on Monday evenings, the Friday evening Prayer meeting as well as Sunday School and Sunday afternoon meetings continued, with local preachers visiting.

Sunday School anniversaries, summer outings, Harvest Festivals and Christmas parties were all enjoyed.

In 1945-6 when the Rev J Jones became Minister at Westmancote, including Kinsham and Eckington, he took a monthly afternoon service at Kinsham, as did his successor the Rev J M Timpany.

"Eckington closed and much later both Westmancote and Aston Cross sold and converted to houses," Mrs Pitt said. "Kinsham continued and now looks to the future. Numbers have increased gradually over the past few months and we look for more to come."

Members of the Upstone and Merrell families were well represented at the centenary celebrations and another sharing was Horace Long, aged 93, whose childhood was spent in Kinsham with his grandmother, the chapel caretaker.

He attended the Sunday School and from 12 became involved in the other activities. He left Kinsham Chapel in 1934 as a missionary to Africa with the Sudan United Mission.