Baptist Chapel, Long Street, Great Ellingham
Attleborough Heritage Group
The listing for the Great Ellingham Baptist Chapel on the British Listed Buildings website describes the building as:
Baptist chapel. 1824. Brick with gabled pantile roof. 2 storeys. Pair of modified Doric columns on plinths support Ionic architrave to form porch. One sash window left and right and 3 to first floor, all with glazing bars. Lunette above inscribed BAPTIST CHAPEL 1699. Interior with dado panelling. Gallery on 3 sides inserted 1847 supported on thin turned timber pillars. Upper storey also with dado panelling.
Immersible font below floor installed during 1887 restoration.
Bench seating of same date.
Listing NGR: TM0192396538
From the above image (date unknown, but taken considerably later than its construction), the Chapel’s appearance suggests that the construction followed the principles of Georgian architecture i.e symmetry, proportion and balance.
Baptist Church
Great Ellingham has had a Baptist Church since 1699. Well before 1724, members of the Baptist Church began to meet in a barn or outhouse (likely stables and bakehouse) in Long Street, which belonged to Elizabeth Asty.
Indeed on her death around 1724, Elizabeth Asty left her cottage, stables and bakehouse to the Trustees of the Great Ellingham Baptist Church. The ‘stables and bakehouse’ were possibly the premises which became the Baptists’ Meeting House.
Chapel opened in 1824
However by 1824, the Meeting House is in a state of decay. A new Chapel will be built. £400 is raised for the work to begin. The Baptist Church raised a further sum of £150 amongst themselves.
The Chapel opened on the 4th November, 1824.
In his A History of English Baptists Vol 4 1830, Joseph Ivimey writes of the [Baptist] Church at Great Ellingham “… The meeting-house was at first very small; it has since been enlarged. It is now forty-two feet long and eighteen wide, has two galleries, and will contain about three hundred persons.”
Marriages
In November 1847, the Chapel is registered for the solemnization of marriages pursuant to the earlier Marriage Act of 1836 (also known as the Dissenter’s Marriage Act).
Works & Alterations
With the help of the Great Ellingham Baptist Church Minute Books, various online entries from The Baptist Magazine and David Bugden’s informative book “The story of the Baptist Church at Great Ellingham”, we are also able to learn about some of the works and alterations carried out to the Chapel over the years.
1848
In 1848, the Baptist Chapel is closed “for three sabbaths” for the purpose of erecting two side galleries for the sabbath school. Other alterations and painting work are also proposed. The Chapel re-opens on the 12th November.
1849
Public Worship in the Cottage
In his entry of 1849 in the Minute Book of the Baptist Church (1849-1868 ), Pastor James Cragg mentions that the Congregation frequently assembled “for public worship in the cottage on the premises, in preference to the Chapel from the smallness of their numbers.” However this seems to contradict his entry concerning the 150th anniversary celebration.
The 150th anniversary is celebrated in the September and October of 1849. The Reverend Cragg mentions that during his pastorate (then some 2½ years), the membership of the Church had doubled, new side galleries had been erected and £200 had been spent on alterations and repairs. The sabbath school is now attended by 128 children.
1853
An entry in the Baptist Church Minute Book for 1853 mentions that the outside of the Chapel needed painting. The estimated cost amounted to £3-10s. Mrs Cragg and Miss E Beales are asked to “collect for the same”.
1855
Around 1855, the Trustees of the Baptist Church agreed for a ‘British School‘ (Day School) to be built on part of orchant land belonging to the Baptist Church. The school was opened in 1855.
1871
At a Church Meeting held on the 1st July 1871, it is resolved that the Chapel and premises be throughly painted and repaired. The Chapel is closed for a few weeks to enable this work to be carried out. Services re-commenced on the 2nd November, 1871.
1883
On the afternoon of the 12th September, 1883, a sale of ‘useful articles’ is held to raise funds for the repair of the Chapel roof.
1884
In 1884, major restoration and alterations are carried out.
Discussions
On the 10th January, 1884, Mr Samuel Colman (one of the Trustees) met with the Pastor (now the Reverend Frederick Harvey) to discuss plans for the Chapel to be floored, re-seated and other alterations.
On the 18th March, 1884, the Pastor met with James Barnard (Deacon) and Samuel Colman to continue the discussions. It was agreed to extend the improvements by erecting a new rostrum, stuccoing the walls and inserting new windows and blinds.
Three days’ later, the three men met with joiner, Mr Wilton, of Brandon who had been consulted. Mr Wilton provided a plan of the work for the re-seating of Wyndham Chapel which he had carried out.
Additional works were agreed. The school room and the Minister’s vestry should be floored, new stones be fixed, a new copper and new pump and well sunk 12 feet deep, match boarding throughout, painting, the staircases inside to be enclosed, new gutters and drainpipes outside. Mr Witton was requested to prepare specifications for the works.
A further meeting between the men took place on the 2nd April, 1884. Mr Wilton’s specification listed 34 items with an estimated cost of £198-19s and £11 for cartage.
The work now included a new stone portico to the front door, the painting of the brickwork at the front of the Chapel, also a cement moulding for the front gable.
Generous Donor
The cost of the alterations and improvements was met by an unknown gentleman. This is the same generous donor who paid for the improvements carried out to the Manse at a similar time.
Commencement of Works
The work to the Chapel commenced on Monday 16th June, 1884. The work also included a new gig house, the name and date on the front of the Chapel and a new tablet to the memory of the late Pastor James Cragg.
On the 27th July, 1884, with the Chapel undergoing the alterations, the Anniversary Services of the Sunday School were held in the barn belonging to John Downes of nearby Chestnut Farm in Town Green.
Completion
The Chapel reopened on the 30th September, 1884.
1885
An entry in the Baptist Minute Book for 17th May, 1885, tells us that since the reopening, “the site of the Chapel on the stable side from the front wall to back of vestry have been well drained and the Chapel, school room and vestry fitted with hot water apparatus”.
The cost of this work is also met by the same generous donor who covered the cost of the alterations and improvements the previous year.
1895
In 1895, the Chapel was badly damaged by a storm. The Reverend Sparham records that “..tiles were thrown from the Chapel roof, one of the fir trees in the front by the wall was thrown down by its roots with which several yards of the front wall was thrown down”.
1897
Two years later ‘patriotic coloured glass’ was inserted in the windows above the pulpit to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee.
1889
In 1889, the bi-centenary of the Baptist Church was marked by a new roof and ceiling along with other improvements at a cost of £100.
Maintenance & Refurbishments
As with all structures, there is always the need for periodic maintenance for buildings to withstand the passing of time. I have no doubt that the Chapel continued to undergo maintenance and some refurbishments well into the 20th century.
Indeed in 1998, renovation and improvement works including extensions to the back of the Chapel, were completed.
Today the Chapel remains one of the most important and recognisable buildings in our village.
Sources:
Great Ellingham Baptist Church Book 1781, Register of Births etc (Baptist Chapel) Great Ellingham No.2 Book, Baptist Church, Great Ellingham Minute Book September 29th 1849. Baptist Church Book inc. Minutes 1868-1903. Misc. Correspondence & documents. Thanks to Great Ellingham Baptist Church & Hugh Collier
The Story of 300 years of the Baptist Church at Great Ellingham – David Bugden
The Baptist Magazine https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/articles_baptist-magazine_03.php