Detailed History of our Church

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

To get a feel for the origin of our Church it may be useful to learn a little about the Congregational Federation and it's history. Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs. Congregationalism is often considered to be a part of the wider Reformed tradition.

Many Congregational churches claim their descent from Protestant denominations formed on a theory of union published by the theologian Robert Browne in 1582. These arose from the ideas of nonconforming Protestants during the Puritan Reformation of the Church of England. In Great Britain, the early Congregationalists were called Separatists or Independents to distinguish them from the similarly Calvinistic Presbyterians.

In 1972, about three quarters of English Congregational churches merged with the Presbyterian Church of England to form the United Reformed Church (URC). However, about 600 Congregational churches have continued in their historic independent tradition. Under the Act of Parliament that dealt with the financial and property issues arising from the merger between what had become by then the Congregational Church of England and Wales and the Presbyterian Church of England, certain assets were divided between the various parties.

In England there are three main groups of continuing Congregationalists. These consist of the Congregational Federation, which has offices in Nottingham and Manchester which our church is affiliated with, the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches, and about 100 Congregational churches that are loosely federated with other congregations in the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, or are unaffiliated.

Our Congregational church is situated west of the green and originated in or before 1756 when a group of dissenters registered a house for use as a meeting-house. In 1776 they registered a newly built chapel, which as mentioned on the "about" page was built in 1776 by a local builder Daniel Hewlett. The Church was opened in that year by Rowland Hill, the evangelical preacher, please see his history on our website under "About". A burial ground by the chapel was in use 1778-99. The building, of brick with a double-ridged roof, was given pointed windows apparently in 1849, which was when the similarly windowed schoolroom was built.

In 1801 the chapel got its first settled minister, whose successor in 1851 claimed a congregation of 200. There was a resident minister until the end of the 19th century. In 1968 the church was served by lay preachers and a retired minister. In 1983 Rev John Hunter began his service at the Church and over the years brought the church back to life. We remember John on this website with his own page, please click on About" and scroll down to his own page to read more about him.

There has been added since, the more recent additions of a new prayer room with entrance hall and disabled toilets which was installed in the year 2002 which was named after Thomas Hewlett. The church now boasts a brand new stage and pulpitt which was installed by 2013. We have completed the balcony seating in the main Church building to accommodate more people for our church services and very popular entertainment evenings, which had its debut on the 21st April 2019.

The church is accommodated with a very modern and efficient central heating system. We also have a very well equipped kitchen with brand new cooker, which is very important for all the catering that we do for our lenten lunches, autumn lunches, harvest suppers and other events that require catering such as our entertainment evenings. We have recently had installed a brand new entertainment system which includes an induction loop for the hard of hearing.

Thanks to all the sources that made it possible to piece together the history of our church.