With the 2015 merger of the United Methodist Churches in Pepperell and Townsend, this is now known as the
New Beginnings Methodist Church.
Just 20 years younger than the oldest church we've yet found, Townsend United Methodist is an eighteenth century survivor which continues to serve its congregation. When still standing on its original location about a mile to the east it was used by the Congregationalists and the Unitarians, as well as serving as the town hall. It remained there until 1804, when it was partially dismantled and moved to its present location, "the center of town". Bought by the Methodists in 1852, it had been a Unitarian church until that time. Given that the Congregational Church was built in 1830, we assume this church to have been Unitarian from 1830 to 1852.
One of the church's more notable features is its bell tower/steeple, the rather massive square tower ending in a flat roof with a widow's walk around. From that point a stepped in octagonal belfry emerges, the belfry is open on all sides with low arched openings supported by columns at each corner, with overhanging eaves having large modillions atop. Still further above is a second, smaller octagonal tower of the same style but enclosed, topped with a domed roof, a finial, ball and weather vane. While the tower may be as old as the sanctuary, apparently it didn't receive a bell until 1876.
The following history of the Townsend United Methodist Church is from the church's website.
History
Compiled by Susan Gerken
This building was begun in 1770 and completed in 1771. It originally stood about a mile from its current location off of Highland Street on Meeting House Hill Rd. The Meeting House was the Town Hall and used by the Congregationalists and then the Unitarian Society. During the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) fathers and sons practiced marching and signed their enlistment papers there. Later, during the Civil War (1861-1865), patriotic speeches were made there for young men to enlist.
In 1798 the town voted to "find the center of town and say where the Meeting House ought to be."
In 1804, mid winter, this building was moved piecemeal by oxen to this site. It had porches, 3 entrances and only 1 floor, with side balconies or galleries.
In 1852 the Methodists bought the building and what is now the Townsend Common for $600.00 from the Unitarians. The deed is dated August 15, 1852 and 4 days later they voted to turn the building "quarter wise round" to face the south (it had faced west), remove the porches and the old fashioned square pews and install the floor to make it 2 sections. The town continued to use the 1st floor until 1894 when the present Town Hall was built.
The bell in the tower was installed in 1876. It weighs 2500 pounds and was bought for $837.60 plus transportation from Boston for $5.27; total $842.87. It was said "a bell truly of rare sweetness, and a volume of sound unsurpassed by any other in the valley."
The "slave" pews as we call them, are four very narrow seats or pews. They are located in the tower overlooking the sanctuary and are reached by stairs in the tower.
Documented in The Squannicook Parish booklet by Rev. Charlton in 1917 as "four pews in the attic for the Negroes, which still remain as originally built." And from Sawtelle's History of Townsend, "over the stairs at the West end were seats for Negroes, the small remnant of the Race that was here at the beginning of the century" (1800).
Whether freed slaves or runaway slaves, the Negroes in town used these pews. The name "slave pews" has been used for as long as anyone can remember. These pews are the only ones we know of in any church in the country and we are proud to preserve them and show them as historical evidence of the past.
From Townsend United Methodist Church