Claygate Evangelical Baptist Church

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Historical Notes

In 1930 Emmanuel Hall in Common Road was erected on land purchased from Thomas Welch, leaseholder of the nearby brickfield. It was built to accommodate the small Christian community that the evangelistic work of Philip and Eleanor Elliott, then of Common Road, had begun in 1927. The main hall was built by John Laing and Son Ltd as a cost of £512 and was opened in January 1933 free of debt.

The church was established on non-denominational basis, with the widest possible interdenominational fellowship. As such it was not affiliated to any denomination, but is associated with the Evangelical Alliance. It had no ordained ministers, and was cared for by lay-elders, with the ministry being provided by its own members, supplemented by visiting preachers. The latter have included ordained clergy and ministers from the Anglican, Methodist, Baptist and Congregational Churches over the years, as well as lay-people.

A building fund was started in 1930 as the church had no recourse to any denominational fund. The necessary monies for the land and building were met by offerings from the church members and friends. These included one substantial, unsolicited gift from Frederick Napper, a member of Holy Trinity, who had a bakery (which became the Studio Cake Shop) and a corn and coal merchant business in Claygate and in Esher at that time. Throughout the years the church always enjoyed the most cordial relations with its near neighbour, Holy Trinity.

In 1939 a classroom, kitchen and toilets were added at the rear of the hall, and a baptistry built in the hall itself, by Lyon and Stone who built a number of houses in the village. In 1952 a small hall was erected at the rear of the main hall. This was financed from a legacy left to the church by Rosina Welch, widow of Thomas. Ownership of the property was vested in trustees under a deed of 1934.

In 1933 the church was known simply as Emmanuel Hall—Undenominational, later as Emmanuel Evangelical Fellowship, and from 1976 as Claygate Evangelical Baptist Church. The latter change of name, as already indicated, was a consequence of joining with the Ebenezer Baptist Church to form one united church. As a registered place of worship the hall was exempt from rates. It was also registered for the solemnisation of marriages in the presence of a registrar.

References

• Peebles, Malcolm (1983). The Claygate Book. (Millennium edition). Stockbridge: by BAS Printers Ltd. ISBN 0-9508978-0-9.

  

• Many thanks also for the photos, many supplied by Terry Gale, from the Claygate Local History Facebook group.