Baptists in Houghton Regis

In 1643, Oliver Cromwell appointed Edward Harrison, one of the regular preachers at the open-air meetings, as "lecturer" at St Mary's, Kensworth.  Kensworth became the central point for local Nonconformist worship.  Houghton folk, Baptists among them, would regularly make the long journey there to hear Nonconformist preachers. The Restoration of Charles II, in 1661, resulted in only ordained priests being able to officiate at churches. The "Kensworth" Baptists, including those from Houghton Regis, continued to meet in the open air, or secretly in private houses. Increasingly the Baptists met within their own localities.  In 1694 William Brittan, of Houghton, was appointed as Elder. Brother Marsom of Luton decided to donate a piece of ground in Park Street, Luton, built a chapel on it, and appointed a pastor of his own choice.  A small group of Houghton & Dunstable Baptists joined him, and they attended meetings in Luton for many years. The new "Houghton" site was decided to be in Thorn, near the village green, on land owned by Thomas Bunker.  A meeting house was erected on this site in 1738 and used for worship for half a century. In 1751, the Thorn Church became autonomous from Park Street. In 1775 William Buttfield took on the oversight of the fellowship at Thorn. Mr Robert Fawkner, during his time as pastor (1787 - 1797), began holding additional services in his own home in Houghton Regis.  This was the beginning of the Houghton Regis fellowship as an entity in its own right. Thorn and Houghton Regis remained a joint cause until the beginning of the nineteenth century. 

On 16th April 1790 a new Baptist Chapel opened in Houghton village centre. It was converted from two cottages in Houghton High Street, as Thorn was too far to travel especially in cold weather. In 1803 a Baptist Chapel is built on the south side of High Street at its western end, to replace the smaller one of 1790, it opens in 1804.The members of Houghton and Thorn demolished the original Thorn church and transported the bricks to Houghton Regis enlarging and rebuilding it to accommodate the growing congregation.

In 1863 funds were raised to build an imposing new building on the High Street, in front of the 1803 building. The foundation stone for a new Houghton Regis Baptist Church was laid by Rev. J Russell on 16th July 1863, and the building opens in April 1864; the builder being Mr Joseph Tofield of Houghton Regis. This Church lasted long enough to celebrate its centenary in 1964, and continued to be used until the 1970's.

The original building, at the rear, was made into Sunday school rooms.  The "Sunday School" rooms were used extensively for village purposes.  During the first world war, these rooms were used as a hospital unit for the troops who were billeted in the village. The premises were also used as school rooms.  A children's clinic utilised the rooms for many years during the 1950's.  In 1959 the membership roll was at 34, the lowest in the church's history, and it was agreed to share the pastorate with Toddington Baptist. Council pressure on the Houghton Regis fellowship to vacate their building to make way for "modernising" the High Street, resulted in the building falling into disrepair.  Some years of haggling with the council eventually resulted in the provision of the current building on Parkside Estate. Between the actual demise of the 1864 building, and the completion of the new building in 1975, the fellowship became quite nomadic. In 1981 the joint pastorate, with Toddington, was dissolved. 

Ecclesiastical Census

On Sunday 30th March 1851 a census of all churches, chapels and preaching-houses of every denomination was undertaken in England and Wales. The local results were published by Bedfordshire Historical Records Society in 1975 as Volume 54, edited by D. W. Bushby. The return for Houghton Regis Baptist church noted the following pieces of information:

• The church had 504 sittings (309 free, 195 other).
• The general congregation had been 183 in the morning, 181 in the afternoon, 392 in the evening.

Sunday scholars had been 137 in the morning and 120 in the afternoon

Sources at Bedfordshire Archives: 

• X373/608: Houghton Regis: Cemetery of Baptist Chapel at Thorne 
• Z50/63/17-23: Photographs of Baptist Church before demolition, 1972
• Z676/1: Houghton Regis Baptist Chapel, High Street marriage registers