The Church History
Part One
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Although we are celebrating 170 years of this building, the Church has been in existence for much longer. The first recorded meeting place for Protestant Dissenters was in 1690 --- over 300 years ago. From about 1820 the Church met in a cottage & then in a barn which used to stand very near our present building.
A Deed of Covenant dated 29th June 1836 shows that a piece of land together with all trees hedges ditches fences ...... was purchased from Thos Doggett for £22 by a body of Trustees for a congregation of Protestant Dissenters at Chipperfield. It was about 22 poles & was to be used for Divine worship & instruction. A pole, I was told, is five & a half yards long. ( I`m sure that the relevant measurement table was on the back of one of those exercise books that we had at school but that was a long time ago now & I can`t remember it! )
The present building was erected in 1837 but was considerably smaller than it is today. You can see this by looking at the brickwork outside. Some of the original bricks have names inscribed on them & the date 1837. Among the names are H. BIGGS, ( ) BAILEY & M. TAYLOR . In the old Church Meeting Minutes, a Henry Biggs, George Bailey & Richard Taylor are listed as Trustees appointed in 1836. Perhaps ( ) BAILEY stands for George or for his wife, Jane? Perhaps M. TAYLOR stands for Mary Taylor. Could she have been Richard`s wife? There`s a memorial tablet to him on the wall in the Chapel. His name crops up frequently in the Minutes which also bear his signature with that lovely old fashioned 'T' .
At a Church meeting in 1853 ' It was also agreed that brothers Taylor Barber Short & Ellis with the Pastor should ascertain the expence of making a Baptistry in the Chapel.' It was built in 1858 at the cost of about £15 & on July 25th of that year 'Believers Baptism was first administered in Chipperfield ...... The congregation which was such, as never had been before since the formation of a Church in this village.' Before this, baptisms took place at Chenies or Hemel Hempstead.
N.B. Expence is the obsolete spelling of expense.
Jacky Murduck 2007
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Part Two
GREAT UNDERTAKINGS!
As mentioned previously, a small Chapel was erected in the year of 1837 but by 1859 it was proving to be too small. Complaints had been made by various parties that if they came there was no room for them! To avoid this it was proposed that a gallery should be built. It was opened on Tuesday October 25th 1859 but because of ' the very unfavourable state of the weather ' the congregation was sparse. (The tower must have been built to provide access.)
In 1861 the interior of the Chapel was found to be in a such a dilapidated condition as to need entire renovation. Advice & financial help was cheerfully given by the Rev. Edward Steane D.D, who had come to live in the area. (There is a memorial tablet to him on the wall of the Chapel.) An appeal was sent out & a bazaar held on the common to raise funds for this great undertaking. Amongst other work, the Church was re-pewed, the baptistry fitted with white tiles & marble steps and our present porch constructed. The Chapel was re-opened in 1862, the Rev. Dr. Steane having composed a hymn for the occasion.
The congregation continued to grow in number & in 1866 it was proposed that for a sum of £500 ' we can make such an addition to the Chapel as will render it capable of seating from four to five hundred persons, & build School Rooms behind it.' This was when an entirely new gallery with an ornamental front was built. The Chapel was re-opened in May 1867, the Tea Meeting on the Good Friday having to be cancelled because of the unfinished state of the school room! Reference to these enlargements was made in a report in the Hemel Hempstead Gazette in 1869.
A snippet from the old Church Minutes, mentions two ladies who looked after the Chapel. On Monday evening September 30th 1867, ' it was decided that 25 shillings per quarter should be expended on the cleaning and lighting of the Chapel that Mrs Crawley should have 15 shillings and Mrs W. Ellis 10 Shillings per quarter.' It`s interesting to speculate on why one had more than the other! The Church would have been lit by oil lamps at this time. ( Several of the old pews did infact have a hole in the middle of the book rest for this purpose.)
Further alterations were made in the late 1800`s. In one case, it was recorded that ' The entire cost ' ' had been received & paid on completion of the work. Praise God! ' Indeed, although the costs incurred in 1862 were cleared immediately, in 1869 it was reported that there was ' an existing debt on that place.' Admittedly the outlay had been considerably greater.
During the early 1900's, the Church purchased the ground on which the present Manse stands. At the end of 1908 it was agreed to start a building fund and it was resolved to limit the cost of the house to £300 or thereabouts. Building commenced in May 1909 and was finished by August of that year. The pastor agreed to a rent of £20 per year. The Manse has provided a home for so many of our ministers and is now a home for our new pastor Jason, his wife Claire & their family.
Jacky Murduck 2007