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, 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 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 use 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 and 17 shillings and 5 pence. By the 1890s, the church was run by Mrs

Hunt and Mrs Payne, 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, in 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. Electrical lighting was installed in

September 1929, ready for the Harvest Festival. Just before the war, the church got

down to 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 putting 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 6 pm, 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 was held on Sunday, October 26, 2025, at 6 pm. See their

website https://www.chartridge.uk

Written by Neil Rees and published in the Bucks Free Press, Friday, 24th October 2025, page 38.