The Baptist Church

The non-comformist believers in Bourne during the early 19th century were represented mainly by the Baptist denomination with a modest meeting hall in West Street but expansion and modernisation was needed and the present chapel was erected in 1835 at a cost of £1,700.

It has an attractive frontage with a low slate roof set behind a modish parapet and the foundation stone was laid by one of the deacons, Mr E Wherry, an appropriate choice, for members of his family served in the Baptist congregation as deacons for over a hundred years.

Extra galleries were erected in 1868 and seven years afterwards a new organ and organ gallery were added. The former meeting house was converted for use as a school but was eventually pulled down in 1892 to make way for the present Sunday school premises.

The Baptists also established regular worship at Dyke during this period and although a small chapel existed there in 1861, the present chapel was erected in 1878 with seating for 120 people and has since remained the largest place of non-conformist worship in the village.

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