Bethel Chapel Guildford

About

Bethel Chapel, The Bars, Guildford, is an independent reformed Baptist church located in the heart of the historic town of Guildford. The Church was established in 1879 and the present building opened in 1910. The congregation started in 1878 when a few people left the Old Baptist Chapel in Castle Street, dissatisfied with the liturgy there.

They hired the basement hall in the Ward Street Halls to hold services in, and on 14 April 1879, a Church was formed on the basis of the Gospel Standard Articles of Faith. A few months later the Church obtained a piece of land in nearby Martyr Road where they erected a temporary chapel built of corrugated iron and known as 'the Tin Chapel'. The name 'Bethel' was given to the building.

Although several men who preached at the Tin Chapel were asked to become pastor, none of them accepted the call and the ministry was carried on by visiting preachers. By the early years of the 20th century the church felt the need for a more permanent building. Land was purchased in The Bars, the next road north, where a new chapel was built in red brick with round-headed windows outlined in grey brick.

The new Bethel was opened in June 1910, Mr. J.K. Popham of Brighton...