Bratton Baptist Chapel - Carpenters Lane

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Bratton Baptist Chapel - Carpenters Lane

Whilst the origins of what is now Bratton Baptist Chapel are found in Erlestoke in the 1660s, the first records of meetings in Bratton date to the 1730s with a service of public worship each Sunday at 3.00 p.m. meeting in Jeffery Whitaker’s schoolroom. This congregation soon grew such that a larger building was needed. The new meeting house was completed in 1734, funded by a range of individuals both from Bratton and further afield. The internal dimensions were 30 feet by 20 feet, and 18 feet from the floor to the ceiling. It was recorded that the building was “for the use of the Baptist congregation, a branch of the Baptized Church meeting at Earl Stoke.” In the 1770s the numbers attending worship at the meeting house increased significantly meaning that it needed to be extended. Land was given by the Marquis of Bath and the cost of the work, £177 4s. 3d, being donated by the congregation. This added 12 feet to the north side and was completed in 1786.
Other work included the addition of the vestry in 1784, extension of the yard in 1790 and the building of a manse in 1802. In May 1807, the front gallery was erected, windows on the east and west sides fitted, new doors added, and the whole building painted and repaired. The school rooms at the west end of the building were added in 1818 and in 1822 more land was purchased for use as a burial ground. Further significant refurbishment work, internal and external, was carried out in 1858.
Then in the 1980's the manse was sold to enable further refurbishment work to be carried out allowing the work of the Chapel to continue and thrive to the present day.

'A History of Nonconformist Religion in Bratton' by Kathleen White

'History of Bratton Baptist Church from 1662' by Rev. Graham Warmington

Historic England listing for chapel

Historic England listing for gate piers and gates

Historic England listing for The Manse

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