Our History page 1
At the beginning of the 19th century there was a tremendous growth in the non-conformist This is the story of one such church, in the town of Swaffham in Norfolk, known as a Baptist Church. Briefly, Baptists adhere to the New Testament truths of “Believers Baptism” (as opposed to the baptism of infants) and congregational church government (as opposed to a hierarchy of government from above.) Each church or chapel aspires to be self- supporting financially although from the early days there has been help and friendship between fellowships through associations. In 1821 a labourer of Swaffham, William Jackman, “had it laid upon him” to start a Baptist Church. He persuaded a group of friends that this was right, and they hired a barn and borrowed chairs and forms from nearby cottages and invited speakers from other newly established Baptist fellowships to come and lead worship and preach. One of the first to do so was John Hewett, a member at Wymondham, who walked 23 miles there and back there regularly. Having proved his belief in the fledging church, the following year he became the first pastor and served it faithfully for the next 30 years. The church prospered and was able to build a small meeting room or chapel in August 1823, with a burial ground at the corner of Whitecross Road/ London Road. It had a powerful influence in Swaffham despite suffering opposition and occasionally intolerance. All non - conformists had to apply for a licence for each service, obtained from the Bishop’s registrar and costing 6p - non compliance was punished by a hefty fine on all those attending, and most were poor farm labourers who could ill afford it.
|
|
![]() |