Angmering Baptist Church
Encyclopedia
The present Angmering Baptist Church and its predecessor building, known as Church of Christ, are respectively the current and former Baptist places of worship in Angmering
, a village in the Arun
district of West Sussex
, England. Baptist worship in the area can be traced back to 1846, when the "strangely towered" Church of Christ was founded and built. After the Gothic-style chapel became unsuitable for modern requirements, the congregation acquired a nearby barn and converted it into a new church, after which the old building was sold for residential conversion. English Heritage
has listed the former chapel at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
. The Dukes of Norfolk
, owners of Arundel Castle
, also held Angmering Park—"a richly wooded demesne of great beauty". The parish had three medieval churches, but only St Margaret's Church (originally the church of West Angmering) survives; those at East Angmering and Barpham had fallen into dereliction by the 16th century. A railway station
served the village from 1846.
Protestant
Nonconformism
thrived in Sussex from the 17th century. Although denominations
and movements such as Strict Baptists
, General Baptists, Presbyterians
, Quakers
, Methodists
and the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion
were particularly successful in East Sussex, many congregations and chapels were also founded in the west of the county, which was also a stronghold of Roman Catholicism. In particular, the town of Worthing
, near Angmering, had several Nonconformist places of worship by the mid-19th century. George Robert Paul, a Worthing resident and the son of Sir John Dean Paul, 1st Baronet, founded a church with the name Church of Christ at the south end of Angmering village in 1846. Despite its name—suggestive of a link to the Restoration Movement—it was Baptist from the beginning. Paul was both its superintendent and its owner, and the chapel's first minister John Adams was also based in Worthing. The building was registered for public worship on 7 January 1847.
Paul still owned the chapel himself as a proprietary chapel
until 1906, when a group of 14 trustees bought it for £325. The alternative name Angmering Chapel was also used later. A connection with Worthing resumed in 1923, when the chapel began to be served as a "preaching station" by ministers from the Worthing's Christchurch Road Baptist Church, which opened in 1881 and helped to establish or administer several Baptist chapels in the area. This arrangement continued until 1966.
By the 1960s, the building was no longer suitable for the requirements of modern worship as access was poor and there were few facilities. In 1967, Sir Herbert Janes, an Angmering resident who had founded and headed a civil engineering
firm, helped find a site for a new church. A disused barn near the old chapel was available. Janes helped to pay for its purchase and conversion into a place of worship. Like the original chapel, this had a capacity of 150. The first service at the new Angmering Baptist Church was held on 4 July 1970. Its membership was recorded as 87 in 1985. Extensions were added in 1984 (a church hall), 1994 (to the church building itself) and 2005 (a new entrance). The former chapel was sold for restoration and conversion into two houses; the former graveyard forms the garden of one of them, and the headstones were moved to the new church.
Administratively, the present church is part of the West Sussex Network of the South Eastern Baptist Association. Other churches in this network are at Aldwick
, Arundel
, Bognor Regis
, Broadwater
, Chichester
, Durrington
, East Worthing, Ferring
, Findon Valley
, Goring-by-Sea, Littlehampton
, West Worthing and Worthing
.
Under the name The Former Baptist Church, the former Church of Christ building was listed at Grade II by English Heritage on 20 September 1984. This defines it as a "nationally important" building of "special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 913 Grade II listed buildings, and 960 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Arun.
building of flint with red-brick quoins
and window surrounds. Its most distinctive feature is the tall four-storey rectangular tower at the west end—an unusual architectural feature for a Baptist chapel. The tower has one pointed-arched lancet window
on each storey and a pyramid-shaped slate
spire. The rest of the roof is also laid with slate.
The body of the building is a single storey high. Its two casement window
s are set in brick-dressed pointed arches. The entrance is set in a gable
d porch. An extension built in the late 19th century stands on the northwest side. The chapel stands on high ground overlooking the adjacent road, and is only accessible by steps from the road.
Angmering
Angmering is a large village and civil parish between Littlehampton and Worthing in West Sussex, England. It is located approximately two miles north of the English Channel; Worthing and Littlehampton are about four miles to the east and west respectively.Angmering railway station is miles away...
, a village in the Arun
Arun
Arun is a local government district in West Sussex, England. It contains the towns of Arundel, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, and takes its name from the River Arun, which runs through the centre of the district.-History:...
district of West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, England. Baptist worship in the area can be traced back to 1846, when the "strangely towered" Church of Christ was founded and built. After the Gothic-style chapel became unsuitable for modern requirements, the congregation acquired a nearby barn and converted it into a new church, after which the old building was sold for residential conversion. English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
has listed the former chapel at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
History
The village of Angmering developed at the heart of a large inland parish near the ancient town of ArundelArundel
Arundel is a market town and civil parish in the South Downs of West Sussex in the south of England. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Worthing east southeast, Littlehampton to the south and Bognor Regis to...
. The Dukes of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk
The Duke of Norfolk is the premier duke in the peerage of England, and also, as Earl of Arundel, the premier earl. The Duke of Norfolk is, moreover, the Earl Marshal and hereditary Marshal of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the...
, owners of Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England is a restored medieval castle. It was founded by Roger de Montgomery on Christmas Day 1067. Roger became the first to hold the earldom of Arundel by the graces of William the Conqueror...
, also held Angmering Park—"a richly wooded demesne of great beauty". The parish had three medieval churches, but only St Margaret's Church (originally the church of West Angmering) survives; those at East Angmering and Barpham had fallen into dereliction by the 16th century. A railway station
Angmering railway station
Angmering is a railway station on the West Coastway Line, situated on the border of Angmering and East Preston in the district of Arun. It was opened in 1846. The station itself is situated about 3/4 of a mile away from the centre of Angmering village, and approx 150 metres south of the A259...
served the village from 1846.
Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
Nonconformism
Nonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
thrived in Sussex from the 17th century. Although denominations
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
and movements such as Strict Baptists
Strict Baptists
Strict Baptists, also known as Particular Baptists, are Baptists who believe in a Calvinist or Reformed interpretation of Christian soteriology. The Particular Baptists arose in England in the 17th century and took their namesake from the doctrine of particular redemption.-Further reading:*History...
, General Baptists, Presbyterians
English Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism in England is distinct from Continental and Scottish forms of Presbyterianism. Whereas in Scotland, church government is based on a meeting of delegates, in England the individual congregation is the primary body of government...
, Quakers
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
, Methodists
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
and the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion
Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion
The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is a small society of evangelical churches, founded in 1783 by Selina, Countess of Huntingdon as a result of the Evangelical Revival. For years it was strongly associated with the Calvinist Methodist movement of George Whitefield...
were particularly successful in East Sussex, many congregations and chapels were also founded in the west of the county, which was also a stronghold of Roman Catholicism. In particular, the town of Worthing
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
, near Angmering, had several Nonconformist places of worship by the mid-19th century. George Robert Paul, a Worthing resident and the son of Sir John Dean Paul, 1st Baronet, founded a church with the name Church of Christ at the south end of Angmering village in 1846. Despite its name—suggestive of a link to the Restoration Movement—it was Baptist from the beginning. Paul was both its superintendent and its owner, and the chapel's first minister John Adams was also based in Worthing. The building was registered for public worship on 7 January 1847.
Paul still owned the chapel himself as a proprietary chapel
Proprietary Chapel
A proprietary chapel is a chapel that originally belonged to a private person. In the 19th century Britain they were common, often being built to cope with urbanisation. Frequently they were set up by evangelical philanthropists with a vision of spreading Christianity in cities whose needs could no...
until 1906, when a group of 14 trustees bought it for £325. The alternative name Angmering Chapel was also used later. A connection with Worthing resumed in 1923, when the chapel began to be served as a "preaching station" by ministers from the Worthing's Christchurch Road Baptist Church, which opened in 1881 and helped to establish or administer several Baptist chapels in the area. This arrangement continued until 1966.
By the 1960s, the building was no longer suitable for the requirements of modern worship as access was poor and there were few facilities. In 1967, Sir Herbert Janes, an Angmering resident who had founded and headed a civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
firm, helped find a site for a new church. A disused barn near the old chapel was available. Janes helped to pay for its purchase and conversion into a place of worship. Like the original chapel, this had a capacity of 150. The first service at the new Angmering Baptist Church was held on 4 July 1970. Its membership was recorded as 87 in 1985. Extensions were added in 1984 (a church hall), 1994 (to the church building itself) and 2005 (a new entrance). The former chapel was sold for restoration and conversion into two houses; the former graveyard forms the garden of one of them, and the headstones were moved to the new church.
Administratively, the present church is part of the West Sussex Network of the South Eastern Baptist Association. Other churches in this network are at Aldwick
Aldwick
Aldwick is a civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, England, and is part of the built-up area around Bognor Regis, to the west of the town. The parish includes Rose Green and occupies an area of , and has a population of 10,884 persons.It became, briefly, the focus of the British Empire...
, Arundel
Arundel
Arundel is a market town and civil parish in the South Downs of West Sussex in the south of England. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Worthing east southeast, Littlehampton to the south and Bognor Regis to...
, Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis
Bognor Regis is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, on the south coast of England. It is south-south-west of London, west of Brighton, and south-east of the city of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Littlehampton east-north-east and Selsey to the...
, Broadwater
Broadwater, West Sussex
Broadwater is a neighbourhood of the Borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. Situated between the South Downs and the English Channel, Broadwater was once a parish in its own right and included Worthing when the latter was a small fishing hamlet. Before its incorporation into the Borough of...
, Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
, Durrington
Durrington, West Sussex
Durrington is a neighbourhood of the Borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. It is situated near the A27 road, northwest of the town centre.Durrington means 'Dēora's farmstead', Dēora presumably being the name of a Saxon settler...
, East Worthing, Ferring
Ferring
Ferring is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It is part of the built-up area of Worthing and is located on the A259 road west of the town. The parish has a land area of 430.6 hectares...
, Findon Valley
Findon Valley
Findon Valley is a neighbourhood of the Borough of Worthing in West Sussex, England. It lies on the A24 road 2.9 miles north of the town centre....
, Goring-by-Sea, Littlehampton
Littlehampton
Littlehampton is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England, on the east bank at the mouth of the River Arun. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton and east of the county town of Chichester....
, West Worthing and Worthing
Worthing
Worthing is a large seaside town with borough status in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, forming part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. It is situated at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester...
.
Under the name The Former Baptist Church, the former Church of Christ building was listed at Grade II by English Heritage on 20 September 1984. This defines it as a "nationally important" building of "special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 913 Grade II listed buildings, and 960 listed buildings of all grades, in the district of Arun.
Architecture
The old chapel is a "strangely towered" Gothic RevivalGothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
building of flint with red-brick quoins
Quoin (architecture)
Quoins are the cornerstones of brick or stone walls. Quoins may be either structural or decorative. Architects and builders use quoins to give the impression of strength and firmness to the outline of a building...
and window surrounds. Its most distinctive feature is the tall four-storey rectangular tower at the west end—an unusual architectural feature for a Baptist chapel. The tower has one pointed-arched lancet window
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
on each storey and a pyramid-shaped slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
spire. The rest of the roof is also laid with slate.
The body of the building is a single storey high. Its two casement window
Casement window
A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges. Casement windows are hinged at the side. A casement window (or casement) is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges. Casement windows are hinged at the side. A casement window (or casement) is a...
s are set in brick-dressed pointed arches. The entrance is set in a gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d porch. An extension built in the late 19th century stands on the northwest side. The chapel stands on high ground overlooking the adjacent road, and is only accessible by steps from the road.