Wraysbury Baptist Chapel
Encyclopedia
Wraysbury
Wraysbury, traditionally spelt Wyrardisbury, is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is located in the very east of the county, in the part that was in Buckinghamshire until 1974...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The present day building was opened in 1862, but the chapel was first established in 1827.
History
The current chapel was opened in 1862. The BaptistBaptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
mission in Wraysbury can be traced back over thirty years earlier to the sole efforts of the chapel's first Pastor, William Thomas Buckland
William Thomas Buckland
William Thomas Buckland was born on 5 September 1798 in Wraysbury now in Berkshire, England, in the house on Longbridge Farm where he later lived, and where he died on 1 November 1870. He became an innovative surveyor and auctioneer, as well as establishing the Baptist Chapel in Wraysbury. He was...
. Born and raised in Wraysbury, Buckland lived for several years in Holborn Bridge
Holborn
Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...
and Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, where he first joined the Baptist Church. On his return to Wraysbury in 1826, he found the moral and spiritual condition of the villagers to be in a deplorable state. The only place of worship was the parish church, the vicar of which resided at a distance.
Extracts from Buckland's diary, reproduced in The Baptist Magazine, detail how he first rented a house for meetings, and invited local ministers, Mr Hall from Poyle and Mr Hawson from Staines
Staines
Staines is a Thames-side town in the Spelthorne borough of Surrey and Greater London Urban Area, as well as the London Commuter Belt of South East England. It is a suburban development within the western bounds of the M25 motorway and located 17 miles west south-west of Charing Cross in...
, to preach on alternate Sundays. The first meeting was held on 20 May 1827 and in March, William opened the Sunday school to teach the local children. With ever increasing numbers, a new chapel was built and opening on 23 September 1830.
The Baptist mission continued to flourish, and 'wishing to provide more comodious and beautiful accommodation', the old chapel was knocked down and a new one erected with a convenient schoolroom attached. The work cost £800 and was covered by donations within the year.
Previously, Wraysbury had been regarded as an offshoot from Staines, but in December 1868, it decided that it was to become a station in its own right. Buckland was unanimously chosen to be its first pastor, a role he retained until his death in 1870. Others who became pastors included Arthur Shorrock, who married a relative of William Buckland.