Chartridge Chapel, near Chesham, is marking its 140th anniversary, although its history goes back much further.
This is the story:
Chartridge
For centuries Chesham has been famous for its Baptists, who started missions in surrounding villages. In 1830, a Sunday School was started at Chartridge by the Lower (now Trinity) Baptist church. Then in 1833, Rev John Hall from the Congregational (now URC) Church and Edward Sexton from the General (now Broadway) Baptist church jointly started Christian services in a room at the Portobello Arms pub in Chartridge. People would walk up from Chesham to preach about Jesus and instruct the children.
Original Baptist Chapel
By an indenture dated February 1, 1844, land at the end of an orchard was sold for £30 by Joseph William Geary, who kept the George Inn in Chesham High Street. The plot was sold to a group of ten men acting as Trustees for the General (now Broadway) Baptist church in Chesham, and the land was to be used to build a chapel.
Chapel Opening 1844
The chapel measuring 25 by 18 feet was opened on July 30, 1844. William Andrews was a land surveyor and a deacon at Chesham General Baptist church, and helped to run their village churches at Chartridge, Hawridge and Ashley Green. He oversaw the building of the chapel at his own expense, and had a stone set into the wall which reads “W A 1844”.
In 1851 it was recorded that Chartridge had a congregation of sixty. The Sunday School was started up again in 1870. By the 1880s the chapel was considered unsafe and in 1885, a committee decided to pull it down and build a new bigger and better one on the same site. Mr. F. Darvell, drew up the plans and specifications.
Foundation Stone for new chapel
A foundation stone was laid for the new chapel on August 17, 1885. Dignitaries arrived in a horse-drawn wagonette from Chesham. Master William Hirons Andrews, grandson of William Andrews, ceremonially laid the foundation stone. The inscription on the stone reads “This stone was laid by William Hirons Andrews, August 17, 1885”, but is now under the external rendering. The new chapel was built by Abel Mead, of Chesham. The original stone reading “W A 1844” was salvaged and set into the wall above the pulpit. The build cost was £110. It was heated by a coal stove and had seats with reversible backs for used by the Sunday School.
Opening Ceremony
The current chapel was first used on Sunday October 25, 1885. An official opening ceremony took place the following day, with the Baptist choir from Chesham, their organist and about 120 people who were from Chartridge, and Baptists and Congregationalists from Chesham who supported the work. The total cost all fitted out was £145. 17s. 5p. By the 1890s, the church was run by Mrs Hunt and Mrs Payne, and a choir run by Mrs Albin Hunt.
War Memorial
In 1920, three memorial plaques were commissioned by Chartridge Parish Council to commemorate local men who died in the Great War. In 1921, these were put up at the Baptist chapel in Hyde Heath, the Anglican Mission (now St John’s) Church at Bellingdon, and at Chartridge Chapel.
The Chartridge memorial was unveiled on Tuesday, March 8, 1921, with a special service. It commemorates four local men. Frederick R. A.N. Knollys, of Wallingford House, Little Pednor, was in the City of London Yeomanry, and died on September 24, 1915, aged 30. Harry Hearn of Rose Cottage, Chartridge was a gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery and died on June 14, 1916, aged 23. William Higgs, whose family ran the Portobello Arms in Chartridge was in the London Regiment and died on September 2, 1918, aged 26. Edward James Rodwell of Lime Tree Farm, Chartridge was a Royal Field Artillery driver and died on March 15, 1917, aged 19.
Between the wars
Between the wars the church was run by volunteers from Chesham who came on a rota to preach and run the Sunday School. Electric lighting was installed in September 1929 ready for the Harvest Festival. Just before WW2, attendance at the church was as low as three people and one was Sheila Talmer (who married Alex Andrew in 1945) who was the organist for over sixty years. Broadway Baptist Church considered closing the chapel but Hume Webb campaigned that it should be preserved and a group of four men from Broadway Baptist church transferred to help the cause at Chartridge.
Wartime and after
During the Second World War the church was sometimes visited by the American Gospel Team from Bovingdon Airfield, who were booked to preach in local Baptist churches by Mr Hume Webb of Stanley Avenue, deacon at Broadway Baptist church. At the end of the war, Elsie Webb restarted the Sunday School. Hume Webb collected some of his old Sunday School boys who had returned from the forces, to help him. From 1946 to 1956, they formed the “Chartridge Gospel Team”, who made this chapel their base but also took services in different churches in the area.
Modernising the chapel
After Hume Webb died in 1958, Henry Pitkin and Doug Potter ran the church. In the 1960s and 1970s Keith Slatter updated the chapel with modern electrics and heating, adding a rear extension, creating the car park behind, and put in modern seats. In 1984, when Chartridge was put on the mains, water was laid to the chapel for a flush toilet, and a kitchen was installed. Keith Slatter and Henry Pitkin taught the boys and Mrs Sheila Andrew taught the girls in the Sunday School, which ran until 1994.
140th Anniversary
Today the church welcomes people to the chapel at 377 Chartridge Lane, every Sunday at 6pm, to worship God and hear the Bible explained. The church also has a worldwide congregation thanks to its YouTube and social media presence. A special 140th anniversary service will be held on Sunday October 26, 2025, at 6pm. See their website https://www.chartridge.uk
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