Steep Lane Baptist Church
The Church at Steep Lane was an offshoot of the move towards independence from the Church of England in the early to mid 1600s, culminating in the Church developing its “in house” Congregational section, that is a portion of the congregation that held slightly different principles had separate meetings, mainly in the mother Church and later in other nearby buildings leading eventually to a breakaway movement.
In 1673 a license was secured for a Presbyterian meeting house which had been erected by Joshua Horton at Quarry hill, (the position of this house is not known but is unlikely to be the Quaker house due to a conflict of dates) here weekly services were conducted until the licence was withdrawn in 1675.
For the following 44 years, weekly meetings were alternated between Northowram and Sowerby under the guidance of Oliver Heywood, until in 1719 the trustees bought a piece of land on which to build a “Meeting House”. This was the first Congregational Chapel that opened in 1720. The first settled Minister was a Mr Dodge who was the Minister for 22 years, until his death in 1743. The second minister was a Mr Thorburn who was succeeded by a Mr Andrews. It was during the latter minister’s incumbency that some of the members of the church became so dissatisfied with the doctrine that he was preaching (He held strict *Arian Views) that they left and went to worship at Steep lane.
*Arianism: n, the doctrine of Arius, denying that Jesus was of the same substance as God and instead that he was only the highest of created beings.
The first chapel at Steep Lane, built in 1751 was an Independent Church (the school is also dated 1751) continuing as such until 1779 when it became affiliated to the Baptist Faith after the Pastor, the Rev John Dracup, adopted Baptist principles. It is recorded that the Rev J. Dracup baptised Eli Hitchen in the River Hebden at Hebden Bridge in 1790. He was a member for 50 years and a deacon for 31 of those years. In April 1803 a group of nine members were directed to set up a new church at Rishworth, due to the long distances that members had to travel to worship at Steep lane.
A new chapel at Steep lane was built in 1820 at a cost of £700 during the incumbency of the Rev T Milnes and a plaque was erected reading:
1820
Peace be within this sacred place
And joy a constant guest
With holy gifts and heavenly grace
Be here attendance blest.
This gave the Chapel the name HEPZIBAH Baptist Church.
In 1851 Mr W.E. Goodman took up the calling and during his pastorate, a new school was erected with vestries above, at a cost of upwards of £200. After five years Mr Goodman left the living to take up a post at Keighley.
The Rev. Mr W. Haigh at the tender age of 23 then took up the pastorate and was ordained on Good Friday 1865 which was to last for a total of 46 years. When he settled in as minister there was a debt on the old Chapel and Minister’s house of £240 and by 1866 this was paid off.
Soon afterwards various improvements and repairs were needed in the old Chapel and school which cost, including a new harmonium, £100.
In 1869, 1000 square yards of land were purchased at a cost of £120, this ground was bought to enlarge the graveyard and for building purposes.
In 1871 the Church resolved to “arise” and build a new school and Chapel, so in November of the same year, at a church meeting, a committee was formed to decide upon plans for the proposed new buildings. In April 1872 the plans were accepted at a Church meeting and the following August the foundations for the new school were laid, which was opened in April 1874. In the autumn of the same year the foundation stone of the new Chapel was laid and in August 1875 the new Chapel was opened.
The inscription over the entrance reads:
Steep Lane
Particular
Baptist Chapel
On the Lord’s Day, April 6th 1869, the centennial of the Church was celebrated. At 7 o’clock in the morning a prayer meeting was held, conducted by the pastor, and an address was given by the Rev M. Perry, the Congregational minister of Sowerby. There was a large number at the meeting, despite the early hour at which it was held. At 10.30 am the pastor preached to an almost full chapel. On the same day, at 2.30 pm, the pastor again preached to a large congregation.
The event to record now is the liquidation of the Chapel debt; the new Chapel was opened in 1875. When the opening services were over there was announced that there was a debt left of about £1,200 – a rather large sum to grapple with. In 1876 the debt was reduced to £720. In 1883 it was again reduced to about £200 and in 1885 it was all paid off.
An excerpt from the Church book of 1885:
“On August 2nd 1871, the Chapel passed a resolution, to the effect that a new chapel and school be built. They have been built at a cost of nearly £3000; in February 1885 they are free from debt. It has been a work of 14 years and hard work too. But we have had many friends, who have helped us well, and we thank for the aid they have rendered us. We are thankful to God that we have been able to finish this great undertaking: to him be all the praise and may he continue to bless and prosper his work in this place.”
The first baptismal service in the new building was on 5th September 1875 when seven females and five men were baptized.
Up to 1893, the singing had been accompanied by a harmonium played by Mr V.H. Broadbent and Mr G.A. Haigh. It was necessary to replace this instrument and members were in favour of Having a Pipe organ and one was found at Hanover Methodist Church in Halifax. It was bought, renovated, altered, installed and commissioned by 11th August 1893, the cost of the organ and Chapel cleaning came to £300. The redundant harmonium was removed into the schoolroom where it was used until December 1916, after which it was replaced by a new piano. A new Church organ was purchased in 1909 at a cost for installation and renovation of £1,080 19s 4d.
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On Saturday and Sunday, the 24th & 25th November 1951 the Church celebrated two hundred years of witness at Steep Lane. The centenary of the new church was celebrated 13 years later during 1964.
Steep Lane faced a serious setback when in 1986 the deacons were informed that the Chapel was no longer safe for occupation. It was reported that there was a significant movement of the roof trusses, which was shown by vertical cracks in the stonework on the gable end of the building nearest the roadside. The stonework had moved inwards taking the large coping stones on top with it. In addition to this, the chimney at the opposite end of the building was inclined towards the Sunday school. A further inspection revealed that the roof trusses had moved one foot out of vertical and that some of the joints had actually fractured.
During the three weeks that it took to make the Sunday school safe for use by demolishing the chimney stack and bracing the wall, the Church gratefully accepted the use of St Peter’s church to use their building on Sunday afternoons for worship.
After due consideration, it was decided that reducing the size of the building was the realistic option. After having problems with the local authority about demolishing a listed building, it was discovered that their approval was not required as the building was to remain in ecclesiastical use, and only partial demolition was proposed.
The large cost of demolishing and rebuilding was largely met from available resources. There was however a significant deficit between that and the total cost. A letter was circulated to all members and sympathetic friends, and the cost was met by people making a commitment, giving generously and sacrificially to the special projects fund. The money so raised was sufficient to meet the total cost.
The pews and most of the woodwork in the refurbished building was retained, renovated, and re-installed after completion of the building work. Parts of the organ’s solid oak casing have been used in the renovation, most notably the making of a cross for the front wall of the Church. The circular window, decorative stonework and the words “Particular Baptist Church” have been retained and rebuilt above the entrance door as having the torch and flame, symbols of light and truth from one era to another.
Pastors at the Church have included
- Matthew Scott [1751]
- Rev John Dracup [1761]
- James Bartle [1779]
- Rev John Dracup [1784]
- William Wrathall [1796]
- John Moss [1800]
- Rev Isaac Mann [1807]
- Rev Thomas Milnes [1811]
- Laurence Shaw [1824]
- Joseph Shaw [1829]
- (there was no Pastor for 15 years)
- Rev W. E. Goodman [1851]
- William Nicholson [1857]
- Rev William Haigh [1864]
- Rev E. Porter [1910]
- Rev A. Windsor [1927]
- Rev O. Bussey [1941]
- Rev Jane Powell [1988]
By John Kerridge