Cranbrook Strict Baptist Chapel

The Cranbrook Strict Baptist Chapel, is a Strict Baptist place of worship in the town of Cranbrook in the English county of Kent. The chapel was built in 1787.[1]

Strict Baptist Chapel
The chapel
51.0953°N 0.5378°E / 51.0953; 0.5378
LocationCranbrook, Kent
CountryUnited Kingdom
DenominationBaptist
History
Statuschapel
Founded1787
Architecture
Heritage designationGrade II, ID 1068779
Completed1787

History

There had been a history of Baptists in Cranbrook when the first Baptists arrived from Biddenden in 1648.[2] The area had already been a hotbed for Nonconformists since the puritans during the English Civil War.[3] There had been a big meeting and public debate in Cranbrook that led to a formation of a large Baptist church in Spillshill near Staplehurst during the reign of King Charles I of England.[4]

The Cranbrook Strict Baptist Chapel came about following a split from the General Baptists in Bessels Green, Kent. The Cranbrook Strict Baptist Chapel was created in 1787 following the conversion of a pair of wood panelled cottages into a Strict Baptist chapel.[5] The chapel holds surviving baptismal records from 1682 for those in the Cranbrook area who had not baptised in the Church of England.[2] The chapel provided pastors to help found the local Providence Baptist Church in 1909.[6]

In 1967, the Cranbrook Strict Baptist Chapel was given grade II listed building status by English Heritage.[7] In 2002, the chapel made a submission to the House of Lords' Select Committee on Religious Offences, arguing for the blasphemy law in the United Kingdom to be retained.[8] The chapel was listed by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council among several notable local features, to be a contributory building to Cranbrook's status as a conservation area.[3] The pastor of the Cranbrook Strict Baptist Chapel also joins in the induction of new interdenominational Christian ministers in Cranbrook.[9]

See also

References
  1. Stuff, Good. "Strict Baptist Chapel, Cranbrook, Kent". www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk.
  2. "BAPTISMAL DELAY: SOME IMPLICATIONS FROM THE PARISH REGISTERS OF CRANBROOK AND SURROUNDING PARISHES IN THE KENTISH WEALD" (PDF). Local Population Studies. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  3. "Cranbrook Conservation Area Apprisal" (PDF). Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  4. "The Baptists of Smarden and the Weald of Kent". Strict Baptist History Society. 4 September 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  5. Stell, Christopher (2002). An Inventory of Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting-houses in Eastern England. English Heritage. p. 161. ISBN 1873592507.
  6. Burgess, James (2017). Continued Mercies. M Burgess. p. 15.
  7. "Strict Baptist Chapel, Cranbrook". Historic England. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  8. The Committee Office, House of Lords. "House of Lords - Religious Offences in England and Wales - Written Evidence: Submission from the Strict Baptist Chapel, Cranbrook, Kent". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  9. Smith, Alan (3 November 2014). "Wesley Sargent inducted as Cranbrook's new Pastor". Kent Messenger. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
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