A Comprehensive History of Norwich

by A. D. Bayne

The vacant office was next filled by the Rev. J. H. Godwin, who was ordained to it on December 6th, 1837. After fulfilling the pastoral duties for two years, he became resident tutor of Highbury College. The Rev. A. Reed was then invited to fill the office, and became pastor over a church of 190 members. He continued till 1855, and then removed to a wider sphere of labour. The Rev. John Hallett was invited in the following year, and is now the esteemed minister of the church. Mr. Hallett, in a recent contribution to the pages of the Evangelical Magazine on the history of the Old Meeting House, says:—

“The Rev. A. Reed, B.A., now of St. Leonard’s, was Mr. Godwin’s successor till 1855. Under his superintendence, bicentenary services, commemorating the foundation of the church, were held, which, judging from published and oral reports, must have been of a stirring and deeply interesting character. Spacious school-rooms were erected, and large day-schools established. Many still live in our midst who gratefully attest the faithfulness and success of Mr. Reed’s pastorate.

“In April, 1856, the writer was, he believes, divinely led to occupy the vacant post. For obvious reasons, the history of the last twelve years must remain untold. It may, however, be stated that the present pastor, like his predecessor, has had the privilege of celebrating a bicentenary. For reasons before assigned, it will probably be conceded that nowhere was it more proper that a bicentenary commemoration of the ejectment of 1662 should be held than in this Old Meeting House, and that a more fitting way of commemorating it could not be devised than that of enfranchising the building in which some of them laboured, and the ‘yard’ in which they sleep. This was accordingly done. The premises, which were leasehold, and the lease of which was nearly expired, were purchased and repaired at a large outlay, and then put in trust for the denomination. ‘Thus, for nearly two centuries, has the Lord preserved to Himself a worshipping people in this place. Thousands have found this ancient sanctuary the very ‘House of God,’ and, literally, ‘the gate of Heaven,’ and are now enjoying the full glory they anticipated here. And,’ adds my predecessor, with a thankfulness and faith in which I fully share, ‘still the waters flow strong and deep, and the banks are green with promise, and through future ages the brook shall not be dried up, but with purer, wider, stronger, and more fertilizing current, shall form one of those millennial streams wherewith the whole earth shall be watered as a fruitful garden of the Lord.’”

The Baptists.

Mr. Martin Hood Wilkin, in his life of Joseph Kinghorn, gives the following account of the origin of the Baptist denomination. A General (Arminian) Baptist Church was formed in Norwich in 1686 by the learned and zealous Thomas Grantham. They purchased a part of the White Friars’ Priory in St. James’s, on the site of which they built the Meeting House now known as the Priory Yard Chapel. From this Church several members separated at a very early period and formed the Particular (Calvinistic) Baptist Church, over which Mr. Kinghorn afterwards presided. Of its history he has left a somewhat elaborate sketch in the notes of the last sermon he preached in the Meeting House, in St. Mary’s, before it was taken down in 1811. He says,

“Of the origin of this Church I find no record. The first date in our old Church book is 1691. In 1693, we find an account of admonition given to a brother who had, ‘for several years past,’ withdrawn himself from the Communion of the Church. * * * I find a statement of the sentiments of the Church in that time, entitled, ‘The several articles of our faith, in which with one accord we agree.’ Of the state of the Church I can say but little. A list of 55 members follows, which appears to have been the number at that time. Of their minister I can say still less, except that the second and third articles in the book are drawn up with that precision which marks the junction of talent and education, especially at a time when few had any claim to the advantages of a classical education. One of these is signed ‘Edward Williams, pastor.’ * * * * At this time our ancestors met for the worship of God in the ‘Granary,’ in St. Michael’s Coslany. Their baptisms were performed in the river. At one period, a friend had premises convenient, and in the memory of some now alive, they were used for that purpose; but such is the effect of habit, that the prejudice in favour of a mode so primitive continued some time after better conveniences were obtained. From this period nothing of importance is to be discovered till 1745. Then the premises which stood on this spot were purchased and the Meeting (house) was erected, which was nearly two-thirds the size of the present building. When it was finished I do not find, but from a private record I am informed, that Mr. Lindoe, who for many years was an honourable and valued deacon, was the first person baptised in this house, and this was on March 15th, 1746. From this period, for some time, the Church seems to have worn a flourishing appearance on the whole. They had a minister, Mr. John Stearne, who was evidently a superior man. He died in July, 1755. Rev. George Simson, M.A., from Cambridge, accepted a call from Mr. Stearne’s Church, went to Norwich, in 1758, continued there two or three years, and then removed to Warwick, where he had formerly been pastor, and where, weighed down by age and infirmities, he died suddenly in 1763. After this period there was an evident decline for some years, though to what extent I am not able to say. Afterwards there was an appearance of prosperity. In 1766 I find a list of members again, amounting to 59, the largest number hitherto met with, but alas! after that period, there was much to be lamented. There was the evil conduct of some, and a spirit of division in others, which all tended to mischief. * * * * But we are now approaching a period within the remembrance of many of you, in which it will be useless to attempt to trace the history of events which you know. Suffice it then, to say that causes already mentioned brought the Church and congregation down to a very low ebb, when Mr. David, whose name I have heard so many of you repeat with esteem and affection, first came here. On his ordination, the list of members that appeared in the Church book, and which included all the members as they stood at that time, was only 31; and now events took a turn. The short period of his life was distinguished by its utility. The Meeting House became too small for the congregation, and in 1783, it was enlarged to its present size.”

Such is Mr. Kinghorn’s account (condensed) of the early Baptist Churches. After a visit to the North, he returned to Norwich in July, 1789, and then commenced the long career of his ministry at St. Mary’s Chapel, though the invitation to the pastoral office was not received till some months afterwards. He rigidly adhered to what is called “strict communion” in his Church, admitting only those who had been immersed to the Lord’s supper; and on this point he maintained a long controversy with Mr. Robert Hall, of Bristol, who advocated “free communion” with all believers in a Work published in 1815. The Rev. J. Kinghorn was much esteemed by his numerous friends, including Mrs. Opie, J. J. Gurney, Esq., Rev. J. Alexander, Bishop Bathurst, Mr. W. Wilkin, Mr. W. Taylor, and others, of Norwich, and many more men of learning all over the country. He took rank among the Nonconformists with Mr. R. Hall of Bristol, Mr. Foster, the author of Essays on Decision of Character, Mr. Innes, and Mr. James A. Haldane, of Edinburgh.

The following Tributary Lines are by Mrs. Opie, on hearing it said that J. Kinghorn “was fit to die.”

“Hail! words of truth, that Christian comfort give!
But then the ‘fit to die,’ how fit to live!
To live a bright example to mankind,
‘Feet to the lame and eyesight to the blind!’
To lift the lamp, the word of God, on high;
To point to Calvary’s mount the sinner’s eye;
To tread the path the first Apostles trod,
And earn that precious name, ‘a man of God.’
He lived whom Christian hearts deplore,
And hence the grief—he lives for us no more.
But faith exulting joins the general cry,
He, fit to live, was greatly fit to die!”

Mr. Kinghorn was succeeded by the Rev. W. Brock, who was the esteemed pastor for many years, and is now the minister of Bloomsbury Chapel, London. He was followed by the present minister, the Rev. G. Gould.

The Calvinistic Methodists in Norwich seem to have been originated by Mr. James Wheatley, who came to the city about 1750, and preached at first in the open-air, on Tombland and the Castle Hill. Great excitement was produced, and a temporary building was soon erected, and called the Tabernacle. The site has been changed, but the name is still retained. The present Tabernacle was built in 1784.