Talk:Wraysbury Baptist Chapel

Here is the text taken from the defunct article: Wraysbury Baptist Church - in case any of it needs merging into the current article. Ian Cairns (talk) 18:12, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Wraysbury Baptist Chapel is situated in the village of Wraysbury, Berkshire.

The current chapel was opened in 1862, but the Baptist mission in Wraysbury can be traced back to the sole efforts of the chapel's first Pastor, William Thomas Buckland.

History
Born and raised in Wraysbury, William Buckland lived for several years in Holborn Bridge and Hammersmith, 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 William'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, 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 and very little space, a new chapel was built; opening on 23 September 1830.