PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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Although the first Baptist chapel in England was built in 1612 at Newgate in London, it was not until the time of the Civil War that this nonconformist group had any substantial presence in Plymouth. In 1641 a Plymouth fuller by the name of Abraham Cheare was baptised into the Church and soon after was invited to be its pastor. The size of his congregation may be judged by the fact that 150 members are said to have signed the invitation. He accepted and along with the people of the Town joined them in defending it against the enemy during the Civil War. In 1651 some land was purchased within the Pig Market in Bedford Street and a meeting-house was erected. Cheare preached here until, during the Restoration period, he was imprisoned in Exeter gaol for three years. When he was released he returned to Plymouth but in 1665 he was imprisoned once again, this time on St Nicholas Island, where he died on March 5th 1668. The Bedford Street building served for a century before being rebuilt and re-opened on June 30th 1751. However, not long afterwards, in 1789, the congregation moved to rented premises in Howe Street, which they were later able to purchase. Over in Plymouth Dock, the oldest of the Baptists chapels was the one built in the Liberty Fields area in 1781. This later became the PEMBROKE STREET CHAPEL. With the Baptist congregation continually growing, in 1843 it was decided that there was an urgent need for much larger premises. A suitable site was found in George Street, Plymouth, and the foundation stone of the new building was laid on May 15th 1844. The completed GEORGE STREET BAPTIST CHAPEL was publicly opened on September 17th 1845. The Pembroke Street Chapel remained the only place of worship for them in Plymouth Dock until 1798 when a chapel in MORICE SQUARE was acquired. The congregations worked in harmony for two years but then the Morice Square chapel organised its own affairs. A further split led to the formation of the HOPE BAPTIST CHAPEL in Fore Street, Devonport, in 1852. In 1924 this congregation moved temporarily into Pounds House until their new Chapel at Peverell Corner was ready for use in 1927. Further chapels were built at Union Street (the EBENEZER CHAPEL); North Road (EMMAMUEL CHAPEL), erected in 1864; Alfred Road at Ford (FORD BAPTIST CHAPEL), opened in 1868; Mutley Plain (MUTLEY BAPTIST CHAPEL), erected 1869; Hooe Road, Plymstock (HOOE BAPTIST CHAPEL) erected in 1876; Wolseley Road, St Budeaux (St BUDEAUX BAPTIST) in 1902; and at Salisbury Road (SALISBURY ROAD BAPTIST CHAPEL), opened in 1907. The Baptist movement also took over the TRINITY CHAPEL in York Street, Plymouth, which had been founded in 1828 as a place of worship for the High Calvanists, and the formerly undenominational Estover Mission Chapel in Plym Bridge Lane, Eggbuckland. Crownhill Baptist Chapel, on the new estate to the north of Plymouth, opened in 1958. Christ Church Ecumenical Church was opened in Leypark Drive, Estover, Plymouth, to serve the Anglicans, Catholics, Methodists and Baptists.
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