The town of Tewkesbury is famous for several things. In 1471 it was the site of a battle in the Wars of the Roses at which the Yorkists decisively defeated the Lancastrians. It is home to a Norman abbey that is one of the most beautiful churches in England. And it has a virtually perfect medieval street plan, with numerous timber-framed houses and many narrow alleys giving access to the areas behind the main streets.
But right now, in July 2007, Tewkesbury is famous for being cut off by the devastating floods caused when record rainfall made the rivers Severn and Avon burst their banks. As a small tribute to Tewkesbury, this week’s blog looks at one of the less well known buildings in the town.
The Old Baptist Chapel is up one of the alleys that leads off Tewkesbury’s Church Street. It’s a timber-framed ‘black-and-white’ building that began life as a house and was converted for use as a chapel in the late-17th century, soon after the 1689 Act of Toleration made it legal for nonconformists to set up their own places of worship. Apart from the sign, only the large windows (probably installed in the 18th century) make it at all obvious that this most unassuming of English buildings is a chapel. Many features of the galleried interior – from the plastered ceiling to the baptistry sunk into the floor – are probably 18th-century too.
Further up the alley is the Baptists’ burial ground, a tiny walled enclave with early gravestones and chest-tombs. A small plaque proudly announces ‘BAPTIST BURIAL GROUND 1655’, so people were being interred here before the Act of Toleration and this fact raises the likelihood that Baptists were worshipping up this quiet alley too, perhaps in the house that they converted into a proper chapel when the law permitted it. And with the river a stone’s throw from the back of the burial ground, it’s also likely that they baptized their new converts in its waters. In part at least, this charming and evocative old building owes its use to the presence of the water that has dominated Tewkesbury’s history, and still dominates the life of the town today.
Baptist Burial grounds can be lively (or should that be deadly) places. All my mother's pets were buried in the one at the back of the Baptist Tabernacle in Wellingborough, where her father was pastor.She would perform the funerary ceremonies whilst wearing his black top hat.
ReplyDeleteMy husbands ancestor is buried here William Spurrier along with his daughter. A later Spurrier became a Baptist Minister in Colchester (Edward Spurrier)
ReplyDeleteMy husbands ancestor William Spurrier is buried here along with his daughter. Edward Spurrier a later relation became a baptist minister in Colchester
ReplyDeleteMy husbands ancestor William Spurrier is buried here along with his daughter. Edward Spurrier a later relation became a baptist minister in Colchester
ReplyDeleteThe chapel is kept locked, but a key can be obtained from the Tourist Information Office, who also have a small pamphlet about the chapel.
ReplyDeleteJean: Thank you for this information. When I wrote this post in 2007 the Chapel was not kept locked, but these things change and I'm grateful for the update.
ReplyDeleteJust to let you know just recently the John Moore Museum in Tewkesbury (Church Street) has taken over the access and tourism of the Old Baptist Chapel. It is still kept locked but the staff at the Museum will be those holding the key.
ReplyDeleteDark Lords Mommy: Thanks for letting me know about that. The John Moore Museum is quite near the chapel, so the new arrangement should work well.
ReplyDeleteFascinating building but it was a shame that the burial ground was overgrown & didn't appear to be looked after at all.
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