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The brief summary given below relies heavily
on a paper written by Edgar W. Pitcher on 'The Thornbury Congregational Church'
in 1926.
Amongst the documents in the
possession of the Thornbury Congregationalists are two old deeds, each being a
conveyance of a 'ruinated Barns, toft, or tenement in a street called Nelme
Street'. It is thought that this property was located further down Rock
Street behind the library building. One of the deeds is dated 15th May 1718 and the other 30th
August 1718. There is nothing in the deeds to indicate for what purpose
the barn was bought, but the fact that the purchasers were a group of dissenting
ministers makes it clear that the ultimate objective was the erection of a
Meeting House. Where the money came from to build the Chapel is not known,
but it was built between 1718 and 1733 at which time a deed stated that the barn had been
pulled down and an edifice erected for a Meeting of an Assembly of Protestant
Dissenters, commonly called Presbyterians, to hear God's Word.
In 1825 a new site was
acquired nearby for a new building. The land was bought for £145 from one of the Church's
Deacons, Daniel Pitcher, a Thornbury saddler. The new building costing £727 was completed by September 1826 when a
certificate of Registration of the Chapel for Worship was granted.
In 1861 George Elliott got
leave to place an organ in the Chapel 'at his own expense'. The bellows of
this organ blew up one Sunday following a faulty board.
Until 1876, Sunday School
classes were held in the Chapel and Vestry. Then a new schoolroom with
classrooms was built behind the Chapel at a cost of £65.
In 1899, the Church Meeting
agreed to install a new organ at a cost of £213. The organ was situated
behind the rostrum, but was later moved to its present position on a side wall.
It is not known when this move took place.
For a long time the lack of a
residence for the Minister was felt to be a drawback when inviting a Pastor, but
this was remedied in 1927 when a house in Pullins Green (now known as number 3
Pullins Green) was bought for £750.
Click here to read information about the various ministers who were mentioned by
Edgar Pitcher in his writings
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