HISTORY

“One of the oldest nonconformist chapels in England”
Walpole Old Chapel was adapted into a meeting house by the local Independent (or Congregational) movement in 1689.

Walpole Old Chapel, as it is now known, is one of the oldest Nonconformist chapels in England, recently described by Historic England as a “historic gem”. It has a fascinating history, which often reflects major changes or events in broader society. From here you can access this history in three different ways, by clicking on the links below.

The Written Record

David Holmes, a local resident, created an excellent ‘brief history’ based on known material in books and journals, and suggesting further reading. We still use his essay as our visitor guide today. You can read and download it by clicking the link below.

A brief history - An essay by David Holmes

The Discovery Project

In 2020 we started a community history ‘Discovery’ project – to find out if there was more history to be unearthed, and to look for the human stories behind the facts. Find out more about this great project, and see some of our emerging findings, by clicking on the links below.

The Friends of Walpole Old Chapel are grateful to the British Broadcasting Corporation for allowing us to use the following archive clip, filmed at the chapel - Discovering English Churches, 1979  If you have any concerns or complaints about how we are using any of this material, please contact the Secretary on info@walpoleoldchapel.org

Walpole Old Chapel Deed 1711 -Transcribed by Philip Gorrod and Catherine Draper 2024

Walpole & The Puritan Revolution - a talk by Dr Joel Halcomb

Alma Gould Dale 1854 – 1930 by Judith Condon

Survey of the Graveyard by Vic Gray and Alison Peet

Walpole Old Chapel Baptisms 1706 to 1837

The Story of James Baldry Saunders: a Conscientious Objector – Christina Van Melzen

Walpole Old Chapel Deed – 1689

Will of Edward Hodierne 1637 – transcript

Methusalah Spalding – From the Chapel to the Noose: A Tragic Tale - by George Howard

The Interactive Timeline

We plan to bring together key events and stories from the written record and the Discovery Project to create an interactive Chapel timeline, which also sits in the context of national events and trends. The static timeline below serves as a placeholder.

 


Walpole Old Chapel
Halesworth Road
Walpole
Halesworth 
Suffolk IP19 9AZ

Registered Charity 1198030
This website has been supported through a grant from Councillors Locality Funding, Suffolk County Council
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