 to it. In 1969 the coal store was converted into a kitchen and toilet, the latter replacing an earlier bucket lavatory outside. A folding partition enables part of the schoolroom to be used as a vestry. There are two framed pictures, one of Mary with the infant Jesus and another of Jesus on "The Hilltop at Nazareth", the latter presented by Mr. and Mrs. James Banham of Hendon, Middlesex, in 1951 in memory of Mr. Banham's grandmother, Mrs. Houchin. Mr. Banham's widow Olive is sister to Mr. Charles Banham, Church Warden: an ecumenical link. A Memorial Panel in the southeastern wall of the schoolroom bears names and initials of those who laid bricks in the panel on 4th August 1924.
A commemorative card records that the Minister was the Rev. G. R. Brake and that Mr. Ernest Buckle (for over 33 years village sub postmaster) was Treasurer.
The initials refer as follows:-
E.K.-Edward Knott; L.B.-Leonard Balls; E.B.-Eva Balls; M.M.B.-Mary M. Balls; G.M.J.-George M. Jenness;
E.A.B.-Edward A. Barnard; L.B.-Lily Banham; C.M.-Carol Macro; A.M.W.-Annie M. Ward; J. & C.S.-J. and C. Stubbs; H.D.-Henry Downes; H.M.B.-Hilda M. Barnard; E.L.F.-Emily L. Flowerdew;
W.M.W.-Winifred M. Ward; I.E.B.-Ivy E. Barnard; E.F.-Ernest Flowerdew; H.C.-Harriet Cator; J.T.B.-James T. Bambridge; G.W.M.-George W. Murrell; G.W.E.-George W. Eagling; A.T.C.-Albert T. Cator; A.C.-Arthur Cator.
Of these people, four are still resident in Caston in 1974: Mr. Edward Knott, organist at the parish church; Mr. Leonard Balls and his sister Eva, now Mrs. Nicholls; and Miss Ivy Barnard. Miss Barnard's sister Hilda, now Mrs. B. E. Cooke, lives a few yards over the parish boundary in Griston.
Mr. J. Stubbs, who is believed to have been a Local Preacher, lived in nearby Thomp¬son. He was one of the original Trustees at the time when the Primitive Methodists took over the church.
Electricity reached the village in 1935 and the Chapel was one of the first buildings to be connected to the mains, thus ousting the paraffin lamps. Heating was for many years provided by a solid fuel freestanding "Tortoise" stove, its great efficiency being aptly described by the motto it bore: 'Slow but Sure'. It was replaced by a white enamelled solid fuel stove in about 1955 which was in turn replaced by oil fired central heating in 1971.
The present harmonium, bought new in about 1930, replaced a pipe organ which had been obtained second-hand from Watton.
In 1964 the interior of the Chapel was re-decorated and modernised. At the service of Opening and Dedication on Wednesday 15th July 1964 the opening was carried out by Mr. Jesse Macro of Wattlesfield, Suffolk, a Trustee from 1905 until his death in 1973.
The present Trust, elected in 1968, consists of Mr. and Mrs. Basil Cooke (Griston), Mr. and Mrs. David Dodman (Chadwell Heath, Essex), Mr. A. Nobbs (Scoulton), Mr. and Mrs. Musket (Scoulton Hall), Mr. D. Saunders (Carbrooke), Mr. Dudley Howe (Breckles), Mr. G. Wilson (Watton), together with Mr. and Mrs. G. Perry, Mr. R. Dade, Mrs. M. Burns and
Miss 1. E. Barnard (Trust Treasurer), of
Caston. In the Methodist Church a Trustee is normally elected for life, regardless of subse¬quent movements, and a new Trust is not normally elected until membership of the existing Trust falls below six in number.
In 1878 Caston was in the Downham Market and Watton Circuit, but at about the turn of the century, the Downham Market area formed its own circuit and Caston became part of Watton Circuit. In 1934 an amalgamation produced Watton and Rocklands Circuit and by reorganisation in 1968 Caston became part of the Wymondham, Attleborough and Watton Circuit. The minister at present lives in Watton and the Circuit Superintendent lives at Wymondham.
Caston Methodists have never had a burial ground of their own, having shared the graveyard of the parish church. The usual practice at a Methodist funeral is that the funeral service is held in the Methodist church and the committal at the graveside at the Church of the Holy Cross. The first such funeral was that of Mrs. George Murrell, Miss 1. E. Barnard's maternal gr