Zion Baptist Chapel, Shrewton

There were dissenters in the parish from the mid 17th century and in 1694 the house of Nicholas Coker was certified for worship. It is likely that there was a strong Baptist influence from the congregation at Porton at this time and in 1697 the house of Robert Manfield was licensed for Baptist worship. Non-conformity had died out in the village by 1783 but in the 1790s Baptists from Imber were preaching here. In 1795 the house and premises of William Hewett were licensed and a meeting established. In 1796-7 they built a small, mud-walled house, as a chapel, in a cottage garden. This was replaced by the brick Zion Baptist chapel in 1816. The chapel was built at the junction of Lower Backway with Salisbury Road.

The congregation prospered, with members in Shrewton, Maddington, and Rollestone, and on Census Sunday in 1851 the attendances numbered, 300 in the morning, 250 in the afternoon , and 350 in the evening. By 1861 there was a schism and some members left to become Wesleyan Methodists. In 1909 a manse was built on the Salisbury Road. The chapel continued through the 20th century, but with a dwindling congregation in the second half, but closed in the 1990s.