Baptist Church, Downton

When the General Baptists of Gravel Close changed to Unitarianism in 1734 a group left the congregation to form a Particular Baptist meeting. They were meeting in South Lane around 1738 with a regular minister and were in a flourishing state. In 1791 they built a chapel on the site of the present one and in 1801 appointed a permanent minister. On Census Sunday in 1851 their three services each had congregations of over 100. The chapel was proving to be too small and in 1857 a new one, with accommodation for 350, was built on the same site. At the same time the manse, the minister's house, was extended. The Particular Baptists reunited with the General Baptists in 1894 although the latter continued to use their own chapel in Gravel Close until about 1939 when it closed. Both congregations then worshipped at the Particular Baptist chapel in South Lane, now known as Downton Baptist Church.