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The Angus Library and Archive is the leading collection of Baptist history and heritage worldwide.

Important places in Baptist history

Around the UK there are a number of important places in the formation of the Baptist denomination.

There have been a few discussions about whether Baptists can have places of pilgrimage. Regardless of the answer there are places that have played a key part in the development of the Baptist denomination.

Here are a couple, what other places do you think should be added?

Contact us with your suggestions either by tweeting @RPCAngus, leaving a message on our Facebook page or emailing us on angus.library@regents.ox.ac.uk

I look forward to your suggestions

A special thank you to Faith Bowers, Baptist Historical Society, for her insightful information on Baptist sites (some of which are listed below).

Objects

Rev. William Knibb (1803-1845)

William Knibb was a key figure in the Abolition of Slavery, and came from Kettering. Kettering is also important as the place where the inaugral meeting of the BMS World Mission was held

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The Pilgrim’s Progress (1684), John Bunyan Ninth edition, published in London

Bedfordshire is Bunyan country. John Bunyan was the author of the famous work ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ published in the 17th Century. A statue of Bunyan was donated by the Duke of Bedford in 1874 and stands in St Peters, Bedford.

Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, 1780, Published by Anne Steele (1717-1778) under the pseudonym ‘Theodosia’

Anne Steele is recognised as the most significant female hymn writer of the 18th Century. Her church in Broughton was founded in 1655. The chapel was built in 1816 but is no longer in use by the Baptist church.

Record book of the Abingdon Association from the 17th century

Abingdon Baptist Church was at the centre of a 17th Century Particular Baptist Association. The church was founded in 1649 with John Pendarves as the first minister. The present building was erected in 1841. The Abingdon library is now housed in The Angus Library and Archive.

Collected letters of Charles Haddon Spurgeon to his parents, 1850-1884

Kelvedon, Essex, a few miles south-west of Colchester was the birthplace of Charles Haddon Spurgeon in 1834. He was a prolific preacher and founder of Spurgeon’s College in London.

Pamphlet by Vassor Powell

Vassor Powell, John Bunyan, Hansard Knollys, William Kiffin, John Brine, John Gill, Andrew Gifford, Samual Stennett, Dan Taylor, William Button, Joseph Hughes, Joseph Ivimey, James Upton, John Rippon. All these prominent dissenters are buried in Bunhill Fields Burial Ground in London. It lies between City Road and Bunhill Row, close to Wesley’s Chapel.

Letter of proposal from Benjamin Beddome (1717-1795) to Anne Steele (1717-1778), 23 December 1742

Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire was an influential centre during the ministry of Benjamin Beddome who maintained an evangelical ministry throughout the century. Beddome was a prominent hymn writer and proposed marriage to Anne Steele in 1742, but was unsuccessful.

Piece of wooden signboard from the Hackleton shoe shop of William Carey (1761-1834) Displayed in a glazed frame, circa late 18th century

Hackleton and Moulton, near Northampton, are both prominent areas in the life of William Carey. The Carey Baptist Church in Moulton was the church where Carey was minister before moving to Leicester and then India. There is now a Carey museum displaying some of his cobbler’s tools and leather map of the world. The wooden sign for his cobbler’s shop in Hackleton is stored in The Angus.