Baptist Chapel, Yarnbrook, North Bradley

A meeting house certificate had been issued for the house of Arnold Joyce in November 1845. Around 1850 a group of young men from North Bradley held prayer meetings in the cottage of James Culverhouse for a period of two years. They then moved to the house of James Bath for three to four years before Charles Dunning fitted up a room in his house at his own expense. Preachers came from Emmanuel Baptist Chapel in Trowbridge and in 1874 a chapel was built as a village station of Emmanuel. It was designed and built by Noah Hobbs, a member of the original group, in the Gothic style with 120 seats. The lower end was used for a Sunday School and both chapel and school opened in September 1874. Preachers were supplied from Emmanuel and Mr Hobbs also took services. The chapel also covered the West Ashton, Heywood and Hawkeridge rural areas and by 1980 there were 20 members and 20 Sunday School pupils. Falling numbers caused the chapel to close and it was sold in 1957, after which it became an Independent Baptist chapel.