Calne, Wiltshire, Baptists

Calne, Wiltshire, Baptists – Isaac Taylor was the first resident minister of the Baptist church at Calne, preaching there from 1776 until 1810. Jonathan Watts, originally from Broadmead in Bristol, had previously served as lay pastor from 1754 to 1774. Taylor was the first to commence a church book.  The church was originally formed prior to the Restoration, sometime in the 1650s. The chapel that was built in 1817 remains to this day, with modifications. Taylor was a student at Bristol Academy, and came to Calne when he was 21, commencing his ministry on 1 June 1776 (his birthday), baptizing his new members in the stream that ran nearby his house at Ratford Bridge (10).  The meeting of the Western Association was held at Calne in 1784, with Taylor writing the pastoral letter. John Davis was the leading deacon during much of Taylor’s ministry. Taylor began a Sunday School in Calne in 1804 at the request of the Marquis of Landsdown, a large property owner there. The Church Book notes, “Whereas the children of the poor in the Parish of Calne are very numerous, ignorant and profligate: and whereas a Sunday School might be a means of their moral, civil and religious improvement, our Pastor Isaac Taylor, of late proposed an institution of the kind to our congregation, which being approved, a Sunday School in our Meeting House commenced on this day” (10). Joseph Stennett, son of Dr. Samuel Stennett, replaced Taylor upon his death in 1810, but his ministry was not well received. In 1817 the church split and a ‘Strict Baptist’ section broke away. In 1824 Stennett’s health failed and he removed to Bristol, where he died in 1825. James Deane pastored from 1825-27, and Joseph Deane from 1827-29. In 1831 William Lush arrived, and the church began to flourish once again. Lush remained until 1846, when he was succeeded by Thomas Middleditch of Ipswich, who remained until 1859 (11). References above are from George W. Dixon, The History of the Calne Baptist Church (Calne: Calne Baptist Church, 1995).