Godalming Congregational Church facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Godalming Congregational Church |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_(1).JPG)
The former chapel and schoolroom in 2015 after conversion into a restaurant
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Specifications | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Materials | Bargate stone, ashlar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The building once known as Godalming Congregational Church was a Congregational chapel. It served the old town of Godalming, in Surrey, England, from 1868 to 1977. This church replaced an older building, which later became Godalming's Salvation Army hall. The church community started way back in the early 1700s.
This impressive group of buildings, located on a main corner near the Town Bridge over the River Wey, included a schoolroom and a house for the minister (which is now gone). The chapel also had a tall, noticeable spire until just before it closed in 1977. At that time, the church members moved to the nearby Methodist chapel. This new church became a joint Methodist and United Reformed church, called Godalming United Church. After the Congregational chapel closed, it was used as a place for selling furniture, then it became a restaurant. In 2018, the building was rented by The Cotswold Company to become a furniture and home accessories store. In 1991, the former chapel was made a Grade II listed building. This means it is protected because of its important history and architecture.
Contents
History of the Church
Godalming is an old industrial town. In the 1600s, Protestant groups who did not follow the main Church of England were very strong here. These groups were called Nonconformists. Even though it was difficult, hundreds of people met regularly from the mid-1650s. These meetings were called Conventicles. Over time, these groups became more organized, following specific church types. Chapels and meeting houses were built around the town for them.
Starting the Congregational Church
A group that followed Congregational rules bought land in 1729. They built a chapel called Ebenezer on Hart's Lane (now Mint Street). As more people joined, the chapel was made bigger in 1821 and rebuilt in 1830. The church continued to grow throughout the 1800s. This was thanks to the Surrey Congregational Mission and ministers like John Nelson Goulty.
By 1867, the Ebenezer Chapel was too small, even though it had been recently updated. The church decided to build a new, bigger building in a better location. The minister, Thomas Davies, started collecting money in January 1867. A man named Mr. Thomas Simpson gave £600 to help. The church bought land next to the Town Bridge on Bridge Street for £633. They also received £450 from Methodists who bought the old Ebenezer Chapel.
Building the New Chapel
The first stone of the new church was laid on May 27, 1868. This was done by Mr. T. Barnes. The building, which could hold 450 people, was finished just five months later. The first church service was held on October 28, 1868. The building cost about £3,600.
In 1879, more land was bought behind the church. The church spent £2,500 to build a two-story schoolroom with a hall inside. This new building was finished in 1883 and opened on March 27, 1884. Old photos show a wooden balcony on the upper floor and rows of wooden seats. A house next to the church was also bought and became a manse, a home for the minister.
_(4).JPG)
Churches in Nearby Villages
The Godalming church helped start or manage several other Congregational chapels in nearby villages.
- Elstead: A church was started here in October 1834. Congregational services had been held informally since 1821. A new chapel was built in 1845. Godalming took charge again from 1890. It is still used today as a United Reformed church.
- Wormley: In 1870, Godalming Congregational Church took over the chapel at Wormley. The first chapel was built in 1836. A new chapel was built in 1868 for £250. It closed in the 1900s and is now part of King Edward's School.
- Milford: A Congregational church in Milford started with meetings in houses in 1856. They moved to a wooden chapel in 1860, then to a secondhand tin tabernacle in 1872. Godalming Congregational Church then took it over. A "handsome chapel of Bargate stone" was built in 1902. This church closed in the late 1900s and was sold to a Baptist group. It is now called Milford Baptist Church.
- Eashing: At Eashing, west of Godalming, a wooden chapel was built in 1858. Godalming served it from 1866. This small building also had a Sunday school. It was later taken apart and rebuilt at the Rural Life Living Museum in Tilford.
- Bowlhead Green: There was also a Congregational chapel at Bowlhead Green near Thursley. Godalming ran it in the late 1800s. However, it had to close in 1906. This happened because the building was left to a family member instead of to the Godalming church.
Changes and Closure
The church went through "a century of varying fortunes" until it closed in 1977. During World War II, the iron railings around the church were taken for the war effort. The minister's house was sold and became a doctor's office. Later, it was torn down to make way for Godalming's public library, which opened in 1965.
The tall spire on the corner tower became unsafe. It had to be removed around 1969. In 1977, the church decided to join with Godalming Methodist Church. The Methodist chapel, across Bridge Street, had opened in 1903. The two groups formed Godalming United Church. This was a joint Methodist and United Reformed church. (The Congregational Church had joined other groups in 1972 to form the United Reformed Church.) They then moved their services to the 1903 Methodist chapel.
The last service at the Congregational chapel was on December 25, 1977. The building was sold soon after. It became a furniture auction house. In the early 2000s, it was renovated and turned into a restaurant. It was part of the Bel and the Dragon restaurant chain. In September 2018, The Cotswold Company bought the building. They are turning it into a showroom for furniture and home accessories.
The building, including the former schoolroom, was listed as Grade II on February 1, 1991. This means it is "nationally important and of special interest." In February 2001, it was one of 1,548 Grade II listed buildings in the Borough of Waverley. Godalming is in this area. Several other churches in Godalming are also listed. These include St Edmund's Roman Catholic Church, Meadrow Unitarian Chapel, the Quaker meeting house, and the original Congregational chapel (now the Salvation Army Hall). St Peter and St Paul's parish church has the highest status, Grade I.
Architecture and Design
_(2).JPG)
The church was designed by William F. Poulton. He was from the firm Poulton and Woodman in Reading. Poulton was a popular designer of Congregational churches. His firm was one of the "uniquely qualified specialists" often used by Nonconformist churches in the Victorian era. They would build or update their chapels. The Sunday school and mission room at the back were designed by Welman and Street.
The buildings are in the Gothic Revival style. They are built from yellowish Bargate stone with smooth ashlar stone details. The roofs are covered with slate tiles. The tall, narrow windows, called lancet windows, have fancy stone patterns known as Decorated Gothic-style tracery.
The front of the church on Bridge Street has a steep gable. A tall window with four sections is in the middle. On each side of this window are two stone porches that stick out. They have pointed doorways with decorative arches above them. Strong buttresses (supports) go up the side of this window. There are two small, round windows shaped like quatrefoils (four-leaf clovers) above the porch gables. Another larger quatrefoil window is higher up, between the top of the main window and the chapel's upper gable.
To the right of the main front is a Gothic-style tower with two parts. The top part is a bit narrower and has buttresses that go almost to its top. There are small lancet windows in the lower part and a much taller, narrow lancet window above. The spire used to sit on top of this tower until it was removed.
Schoolroom and Mission Room
Behind the church is the mission room and schoolroom complex, built in 1883–84. These parts are connected by a flat-roofed section with three bays. Each bay is separated by a buttress. The windows in each bay are flat-arched and have horizontal bars called transoms. The leftmost bay has a pointed-arch entrance. The top edge of the wall, called a parapet, has a decorative dentil cornice.
The main part of the mission room next to this section has two stories and two bays. You enter it through a portico with three pointed-arch openings. Another section, with its gable end facing The Burys street, has stepped lancet windows on its side. It also has paired lancet windows on both floors. Attached to the back of this is a two-story section with many sides, called polygonal. It has buttresses at each corner and triple lancet windows on each story.
See also
