Building record 1624/19/1 - Irthlingborough Baptist Chapel

Baptist chapel in Meeting Lane built in 1713, and became Strict Baptist in 1770. Galleries were added in 1794. Further rooms were built at one end, the front windows were altered, and the interior refitted in 1884. The other rooms were added to the rear in 1930 and 1941.

{1} The original chapel, built 1723, was one of the oldest Nonconformist places of worship in England. The building is still in existence and is a two storey structure of plain architectural design. It is still in use by the Baptist Church. The Sunday School was established in 1816 to the east end of the town in Meeting Lane, possibly in the same building. Film 2, photo 18,19. 1930 report of opening of Baptist Church Hall and its rooms in Meeting Lane.

{2} The meeting house was built in 1713 for a society which was reorganized as a Strict Baptist church in 1770. Galleries were added to the building in 1794. Further rooms were built at one end, the front windows were altered and interior refitted c 1884 and other rooms were added at the back in 1930 and 1941. The wide front has two doorways alternating with three windows, all with late 19th-century stone lintels, and three upper windows, all with altered round-arched heads. The rear wall has two tall round-arched heads. The rear wall has two tall round-arched pulpit windows and smaller windows at the gallery ends. The interior (28.5ft by 37.5ft) has a gallery around three sides; the pulpit was replaced by a rostrum c 1884.
Monuments: in Chapel (1) Thomas Allen, pastor over 16 years, 1831, 'his mortal remains are deposited in the vestry'; (2) John Trimming, pastor 30 years, 1862

{4} Building recording survey of the building prior to and during renovation and conversion to residential use.

{6} Two undated photos;

<1> Ballinger J., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Industrial Period, (checked) (Digital archive). SNN4.

<2> The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1986, Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting-Houses: Northamptonshire & Oxfordshire, p. 141 (Report). SNN2902.

<3> Chambers, RF, 1963, The Strict Baptist Chapels of England: The Chapels of the Industrial Midlands, p. 91-2 (Book). SNN110921.

<4> Prentice, J and Soden, I, 2018, Level 2/3 Building recording and Analysis at the former Baptist Chapel, Meeting Lane, Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire (Report). SNN111222.

<5> Crank, N. (Editor), 2019, South Midlands Archaeology (49), p. 71 (Journal). SNN111755.

<6> Photographs of buildings in Irthlingborough (Photographs). SNN112812.

Record last edited

Oct 10 2022 2:28PM