THE BAPTIST CHAPEL.
This is the oldest nonconformist building in Horncastle. It is generally supposed that there was a still earlier chapel, situated near what is called the Bow Bridge, which spans the southern branch of the canal, between Cagthorpe and St. Mary's Square, but we have no definite proof of this beyond a vague tradition.
The Baptist community date their origin from the time of the Commonwealth. The earliest person of note connected with this religious body being John Bunyon, author of The Pilgrim's Progress,[1] who espoused the cause of the Parliament against Charles I. He first preached in Bedford, where he was a tinker by trade, in the year 1655, visiting various other parts of the country in succeeding years, until he died, August 31st, 1688, and was buried in Bunhill Fields.
An old document shows that at a meeting held at Bedford, in the spring of 1655, over which he presided, it was decided to send one of the members, "Mr. Brown to Horncastle, in Lincolnshire, to a few persons of the belief, seeking help to guide them in forming a society." Before the "Toleration Act" was passed in 1689, nonconformist places of worship were not allowed to exist within five miles of a market town,[2] In Asterby, about six miles from Horncastle, there is a Baptist chapel, locally reputed[3] to be the oldest in the kingdom. At Coningsby is a Baptist Chapel, with a school, dating from nearly the same period, with an endowment of 26 acres of land. The Baptists of Horncastle mostly, in those days, worshipped at Asterby. At Donington-on-Bain there is also a very ancient chapel, where the Baptists of Louth worshipped. The two chapels of Asterby and Donington have a joint endowment of £20 a year, and are now affiliated to Northgate Chapel in Louth.
The Foundation Deed of the Chapel in Horncastle is dated Sept. 19, 1767; and the names of the founders are given as William Bromley, Vicars Keal, Hamlet Dabney, William Taylor, William Storr, William Dawson, Thos. Hollingshed, Charles Bonner, George Gunnis, James Coates, John Blow, and William Tenant.
The Chapel was originally a structure of one story, having its entrance in the centre of the north wall, and the pulpit opposite. Until the early part of the 19th century it had no baptistry, immersion being performed in the water-mill pit,[4] in the north of the town.
Considerable structural alterations were made in the year 1843, when the walls were heightened and upper windows inserted; a gallery was erected at the east end; the north door was bricked up, and the present entrance at the east end opened; the pulpit being removed to the west end, facing the door. A further enlargement was made by a small vestry on the west being added, thus providing sitting accommodation for 250 worshippers.
On the north side of the building is a graveyard, but only three inscriptions
- ↑ Written in prison, A.D. 1675.
- ↑ Under what was called "The Five Mile Act."
- ↑ The chapel generally regarded as the oldest in the kingdom is that at Highthorne, in Kent, which dates from 1650.
- ↑ There is a tradition that there was a chapel near the watermill, but this was probably only a room retained for the convenience of those who were "dipped" in the pit. Under date, Aug. 7, 1889, it is recorded, as though a novel event, that at a special service in the evening, the Lay Pastor, Mr. W. P. Milns, performed the ceremony of baptism, by immersion, in the chapel, the baptized being an adult. Horncastle News, August 10, 1889.
