Other churches

THERE ARE several other churches in Bourne used by those who chose a different method of Christian worship and known as non-conformists. These are actually chapels and those who belong dislike the doctrine and usage of the established church but are no less fervent in their beliefs.

The first of these to be built in the town was the Methodist Church in Abbey Road, which was founded in 1800 although the present building was erected in 1841 and has been considerably improved over the years. The Baptist Church in West Street was opened in 1835 and the United Reformed Church in Eastgate dates from 1846 although it was then known as the Congregational Church.

A Calvinist Baptist Chapel was opened in North Street in 1868 but the congregation was dogged by debts and forced to close in 1890 and later became the Vestry Hall. There was also an Eastgate Mission Church built in Willoughby Road in 1857 and used until 1903 when it was converted for use as a school for the next fifty years until demolished in 1960.

There is a Roman Catholic Church in St Gilbert’s Road, a building of circular shape dedicated in 1976 and a hall for the evangelical Salvation Army in Manning Road that was opened in 1990 and the most recent addition to our religious life is the Kingdom Hall in Victor Way that was built in 2004 by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a sect which originated in the United States.

Another very small church or chapel can be found in Burghley Street, often passed by unnoticed, a converted lorry garage but now home to a small group known as The Believers, a non-conformist breakaway sect from the Plymouth Brethren and equally devout because the notice outside proclaims that “the word of God is preached here each Lord’s day at 6.30 pm”.

The Believers' Hall in Burghley Street