The Baptist Chapel at Haconby

Apart from the parish church, there is another religious building in the village, albeit far more modest. The Baptist Chapel was built in 1867 and is the smallest galleried chapel of worship in England, being only 24 ft long and a mere 13 ft 6 in wide. It was originally intended to seat only 100 people on the ground floor but it was clearly too small because it was finished 18 inches shorter in width than was originally planned.

The builder admitted that he was at fault and when told that he must remedy the error, he made up for the lost seating room by adding two galleries facing each other. They were so close together that worshippers could actually shake hands with each other if they so wished. The tiny chapel of red brick and blue slate was built in the main street on a piece of land owned by Mr W Brown, Senior, the site being in the far corner of the grounds of the house where he lived and a brown plaque with white lettering over the door records his philanthropy.

It was originally used by the United Baptists and the Primitive Methodists, both non-conformist religious groups with a strong working class bias, but after thirty years, around 1899, the Baptists took it over completely. A peppercorn rent of £1 a year was paid to Mr Brown and later to his son, but when he died on 21st July 1932, his estate, including the chapel, was put up for sale.

The solicitors handling his affairs did not agree with the view that the chapel had been intended as a gift to the village and the auction sale of the property, held at the Angel Hotel in Bourne, was held up for fifteen minutes by discussion and argument over the issue. In the end, the chapel was withdrawn from sale on the condition that £50 was paid to secure the building for permanent ownership. The people of Haconby managed to raise the money and the chapel has been in public use ever since. 

Unfortunately, housing development has been allowed on land to the rear of the chapel without regard to its historical value. The wall on the right has also been partly demolished to make way for a drive to one of the properties and overall, the result is not pleasing and the visual impact has been destroyed.
 

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