Chapel Next the Green (the history of Twickenham Congregational Church) index page
“There are no Dissenting .. houses … in this Parish” wrote Ironside in 1797 in his ‘History and Antiquities of Twickenham‘. However at the end of that year a house in the occupation of Samuel Cape and Daniel White was registered for Methodist worship; three years later they were back to register the “chapel now building in Back Lane” (now Holly Road). Under the Toleration Acts buildings could not be used for dissenting public worship unless they had been first been registered with the Bishop – who however had no power to refuse registration.
In September 1812 the first Independent meeting was registered, worshipping at the house of Jonathan Giddens in Twickenham Common , the latter term indicating the area to the west of the town. One of the signatures on the certificate is that of ‘William Waring (Minister)’ but his name does not appear in Congregational records. Two further Independent meetings followed shortly afterwards. In 1818 a club room adjoining the ‘Royal Oak‘ was registered and in 1822 an undisclosed building in the occupation of Charles Rigg.”
Pigot’s Directories between 1824 and 1828 record the details of the Parish Church (mistakenly ascribing it to St Lawrence), adding ‘There are also a chapel of ease (i.e. Montpelier Chapel) and two meeting houses, one for the Wesleyan Methodists, and the other for the Unitarians“. Between 1832 and 1840 the wording reads: “one each for the Methodists and Independents”. Nothing is known of a Unitarian Church in Twickenham; however if one existed it could quite possibly have later changed its affiliation.
To date there appears to be no evidence to link any of the above meetings with the origin of the Congregational Church. One last registration certificate (above, transcript below) dated December 1835 registers Lady Shaw’s School Room for public worship. The building referred to is the present church hall. Its foundation stone read ‘Infant School first stone’, but with no readable date. It is known that an infant School was formed in Twickenham in 1830 but its location is not known. So in the absence of any further evidence we can date the church back to 1835.
TRANSCRIPT OF CHAPEL REGISTRATION
GUILDHALL MANUSCRIPT 9580/7 p.192
Twickenham
Lady Shaws School Room
To the Right Reverend Father in
God by divine permission Bishop of London
I, Hull Terrell of number 30 Basinghall Street in the city of London Solicitor do hereby certify that a certain building situate in the parish of Twickenhz-m1 in the county of Middlesex in the diocese of London in the occupation of Mary Clift called Lady Shaws School Room is intended to be used as a chapel for religious worship by protestant Dissenters from the Church of England of the denomination of Independents under and by virtue of the statute of the first of King William and Queen Mary intituled:
“An act for excepting their Majesty’s Protestant subjects dissenting from the Clurch of England from the penalty of certain laws”
and also by virtue of the statute of the 52nd year of King George intituled:
“An act to repeal certain acts and amend other acts relating to religious worship and Assemblies and persons teaching or preaching therein”
— And I request this certificate may be registered in the Commissary Court of your lordship. Dated the 11th day of Dec. 1835
Hull Terrell
Reg’d 28th Dec. 1835
(Reproduced by permission of Guildhall Library EC2 and the Diocese of London)