In the 1790s Witney was connected with the large Oxfordshire circuit. In 1795 Newbury circuit was formed which included Witney until 1803. In 1803 Witney was made into a separate circuit.
The Primitive Methodists first began their mission in the Faringdon circuit in 1829. The Berkshire Mission was formed and the first society was formed at Lambourn in North Berkshire in 1829. The first chapel to be built was Bishopstone in 1831.
Before 1836 Faringdon was in the Shefford Circuit and it was a mission station. In December 1836 Faringdon was made a separate circuit which included Abingdon and Wantage. The first Superintendent was Henry Heys and in his class book the following places are listed: East Ilsley, West Ilsley, Blewbury, Chilton, Milton, East Hagbourne, Littleworth, Faringdon, Shrivenham, Watchfield, Sparsholt, Westcott, Abingdon, Frilford, Steventon, Harwell, Upton, Milton, Drayton, Ashbury, Bishopstone, Black Bourton, Goosey, Lower Letcombe, Childrey, Kingstone Lisle, Bourton, and Clanfield.
In 1849 in Henry Sharman's class book the following additional chapels are listed: Fallow, Langford, Northmoor, Longworth, Old Shefford, East Challow, Little Coxwell, Standlake.
In 1843 the Filkins mission was established and in 1845 was united to the Highworth circuit. The Filkins mission included Little Faringdon, Eastleach, Whelford, Southrop, Shilton, Alvescot, Dunfield, Castle Eaton, Lechlade, Inglesham, Kencot, Buscot, Burford and Fairford, Filkins and Eachleach chapels joined the Faringdon circuit in 1873 on the division of the Highworth circuit and apart from a few chapels that have closed, this was the last major circuit change until 1963 when at the Methodist Conference in that year the following changes were proposed:
1) Fawler and Stanford to become part of the Wantage circuit
2) Ashbury, Bishopstone and Watchfield to become part of the Wantage circuit
3) The remainder of the Faringdon circuit namely Faringdon, Littleworth, Langord, Eastleach, Black Bourton, Filkins will help to make a section of the Witney circuit. In 1963 the Witney and Faringdon circuits combined.
The circuit contained chapels in Berkshire, Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire and a full list of the chapels covered by this catalogue is:
Aldsworth, Ashbury, Bampton, Barnardgate, Black Bourton, Brize Norton, Burford, Carterton, Charlbury, Chilson, Clanfield, Curbridge, Eastleach, Eynsham, Faringdon, Filkins, Fordwells, Fulbrook, Hailey, Long Hanborough, Lambourn, Langford, Littleworth, Lowells Place, Newland, Northleigh, Ramsden, Southleigh, Standlake, Stanford-in-the-Vale, Stonesfield, Swinbrook, Witney (High Street, Corn Street, and Davenport Road), Wootton, and New Yatt.
The records date from 1834-1996 and include registers of baptism, circuit plans and directories, minutes of various kinds, circuit schedules, a variety of accounts, correspondence, administrative papers, class books, plans and photographs.
They were deposited at different dates, the main bulk (accession 1060) were received in 1973, other deposits being accessions 2337, 2314, 2227, 2560, 2646a, 2734, 3123, 3673 came to us in the 1980s, 1990 and 1993. Further accessions (3879, 4109, 4117, 4166 and 4273) were received between 1994 and 1997. Additional accessions 4721, 5796, 5985, 6058, 6181, 6235, 6251, 6266, 6445 and 6494 were deposited between 2000 and 2016.
The catalogue is divided into:
NM2/A Records of the Witney Wesleyan Methodist Circuit
NM2/B Records of the Witney Primitive Circuit
NM2/C Records of the Witney Combined Circuit after 1932
NM2/D Records of the Faringdon Primitive Methodist Circuit
NM2/E Records of the Witney and Faringdon Methodist Circuit
NM2/F Miscellaneous Circuit and District records
NM2/1-45 Records of individual chapels both Primitive and Wesleyan
Material less than 50 years old which has not already been made public is not accessible to researchers without the permission of the Circuit Superintendent.
Catalogued by Jeanette Grisold, December 1993, with additions by Mark Priddey in November 1997. Further additions by Alison Smith in October 2009, September 2012 and March 2017, Hannah Jones in May 2014 and Katherine Kinrade in January 2019.