Chipping Sodbury Baptist Church

A Brief history

During the mid 1600s our nation was divided by civil war. This created a period of upheaval, which effected the whole of the country, including the Church. Following the restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 under Charles II, religious persecution intensified with the enforcement of the Act of Uniformity.

It is unfortunate that the earliest documents of our Church have been lost. However with evidence gathered in later years, we can piece together the most likely path of events in Chipping Sodbury.

The first known-recorded mention is from the Somerset Profession of Faith 1656, which was signed by Mr James Nobbs Minister of the Particular Baptist Church meeting at Sodbury.

Our Fellowship must therefore had been well established prior to this date, and would have been operating as an “underground Church”

Later the Act of Tolerance gave the dissenting churches more freedom of worship and the opportunity to erect Meeting Houses. In 1708 the Fellowship acquired land in Hounds Road and used it for burials.

Around 1725 adjoining land was donated to the Church and a Meeting House was erected. Prior to 1795 a larger building was built on part of the original burial ground and joined to the original building.

From this period expansion has been the theme, with a large private school commencing in 1807 and pressing for space. This was solved by the purchase of land fronting the High Street in 1885. In August of 1886 the present Church Hall was opened to accommodate the school activities, the originator of the scheme being the Rev’d A.K. Davidson. Meanwhile the Church services continued in the two original Hounds Road buildings.

The Burial Grounds were also extended in 1860 and again in 1928 and have remained in use up to the present time. During the 1900s the Church through its outreach, established smaller churches in Old and Little Sodbury, North Road and Yate Rocks.

In 1965 the Church decided to use the High Street building for worship services, which lasted for 25 years. Meanwhile the Junior Church activities were transferred back to the Hounds Road buildings.

A major renovation of the two Hounds Road buildings, created a Church Centre in 1971. Further work in 1982/3 added a new kitchen and improved toilet facilities.

The continuing expansion of Church activities during the early 1990s, led the Church to erect a new building on land behind the Church Hall. This has produced a large modern Church which was opened in February 1991.

In 1977 a leaflet was produced with a detailed history up to that date. We are working on this and hope to publish a copy of this leaflet on this website soon.