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Providence Chapel, Northampton

Antony Solomon & Graham S. Ward        Order a copy

Particular Baptists in Victorian EnglandAlthough one of the lesser known nonconformist churches in Northampton the Baptist congregation by the name of Providence has stood witness in the town since 1792. It can now claim to be Northampton’s oldest Baptist church. This book traces the church’s antecedents through the early part of the 1700s. The story of Providence itself begins with the exclusion of some members from the much larger and well known Baptist chapel in College Lane. The events that led to the new meeting were as a consequence of a visit to the town by William Huntington. Huntington was not invited to use the College Lane meeting but two of the members there, James Hewitt and John Adams made alternative arrangements in the town. Edward Vorley was the first known pastor of what was to later become Providence Baptist Church in Northampton from 1796 until 1807. By the 1820s Providence had obtained the use of a permanent building in Fish Lane (later Fish Street), subsequently moving to a new building at the north end of Abington Street where they remained until the end of World War II. Although now numerically a much reduced congregation, new opportunities presented themselves in a move to a new housing estate on the east of the town. Antony Solomon, a former member of the church and Graham Ward have collaborated to produce this record to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the chapel at The Headlands, Northampton. The book includes, in addition to the record of the church life, lists of members from 1810 to 1883, four pages of photographs and background to events in the wider Baptist witness in Northampton, adding to the story of the nonconformist heritage of the town.

UK price £4.80 for paperback including UK delivery.

81pp; ISBN 978 0 900 366 16 1       Order a copy