PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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In 1953 the Free Church Federal Council had the opportunity to purchase a site at Honicknowle for a new chapel. It was decided that only one of the free church denominations should be represented and the vote went to the Congregationalists. The first services were held at Honicknowle Primary School during 1957. In the meantime, on the afternoon of Saturday September 22nd 1956 Mr W E Luxton, of the Sherwell congregation, laid the foundation stone of a permanent building at Honicknowle Green, which was paid for by the War Damage Compensation received for the Courtenay Street Chapel in the centre of Plymouth. It cost around £24,000 to erect and the two-storey building consisted of a main hall capable of accommodating 250 people, a small hall for 100 people, a kitchen and five other rooms. The Citadel Band of the Salvation Army accompanied the hymn singing. The Reverend Harold Bickley, Moderator of the Western Province of the Congregational Union of England and Wales, performed the opening and dedication ceremony on Saturday October 19th 1957. The architect of the building was Mr H Norman Haines of Messrs Gordon Jackson & Partners while the contractors were Messrs Wakeham Brothers Ltd. The organ had been removed from Emma Place Congregational Chapel under the supervision of the Reverend Frank Quick, the minister of Sherwell Chapel. In 1972 the Congregationalists joined forces with the Presbyterian Church of England and became the United Reform Church.
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