A Pictorial Survey of Baptist Churches in London, c. 1800-1830,

based upon Richard Horwood's 1819 Map of Regency London

• The three large images below are a composite of Horwood's map (minus the two furthest sections to the east of London). Pages numbers are fixed to the various sections of the map.

• The next four row of smaller images are expanded versions of the interior portions of the large images.

• The final set of images are expanded versions of portions not included of East and West London in the second section but present in the large images below.

• Included in the images below are markers noting the locations of all the Baptist Meetinghouses in London c. 1800-25. 

Zoom in on the images below to see the streets of London c. 1820 in close detail, with many Dissenting meetinghouses marked by an "M." An alphabetical list of the Baptist congregations (excluding Independent, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Calvinistic Methodist chapels) is provided at the end of this page (not every image has a meetinghouse).

59 Baptist Congregations Meeting in London, c. 1800-1830

• Alfred Place was formed in 1820 from a group previously affiliated with East Street who left after the church’s dispute with Joseph Jenkins.  William Young (1791-1867) led the congregation from 1821 to 1866.

• Alie [Alyliffe] Street, Great, adjacent to Goodman’s Fields, was also known at this time as the Zoar Chapel. It was an old chapel (used by Presbyterians in the early 1700s). It became home to a small Particular Baptist group in 1807 led by John Bailey (1778-1830), who remained there until 1824.

• Alyliffe Street, Little, just to the east of Goodman’s Fields, was led by William Shenstone (1774-1833), from 1798 until his death in 1833.

• Blandford Street, near Manchester Square, Marylebone, was formed c. 1793, with Joseph Jenkins (1743-1819) becoming the first stated minister in 1795. Upon his removal to East Street, Jenkins was succeeded by John Keeble (1760-1824) in 1798, who remained until his death in 1824. He was succeeded by Jabez Dawson (1826-34).

• Brewer Street was formed was led from 1810 to 1821 by Andrew Smith (1778-1859), but they were gone by 1823. Previously, a group led by Richard Burnham (1749-1810) had met in Brewer Street, having previously met in Soho in Edward Street and in Grafton Street after John Martin (1741-1820) moved his congregation to Keppel Street in 1795.  After Burnham’s death in 1810, John Stevens (1776-1847) became the pastor, moving a group to York Street in 1813 and then to his massive chapel in Meard’s Court, off Wardour Street, in 1824.

• Burton Street, St. Pancras, 1817-22. In 1817 William Belsher [Belcher] (1765-1849) organized a congregation in Burton Street Buildings. In 1822 he took his congregation to nearby Henrietta Street. At that time a new group formed in Burton Street led by John Edwards, who had formerly been at Little Wild Street. He left in 1826 for Watford and was succeeded in 1827 by Thomas Blundell Jr. (1786-1861). He left in 1828 to become a chaplain at the Mill Hill School, which resulted in the Burton Street congregation disbanding.

• Camberwell, Peckham, Rye Lane, was formed in 1818 and led by Thomas Powell, Jr. (d. 1846), from 1819 to 1846, but not recognized as a Particular Baptist congregation.

• Camberwell Street, Denmark Place, South London, was formed in 1823 and led by Edward Steane (1798-1882) until 1862; the congregation moved to Coldharbour Lane in 1825 where Jonathan Carr had erected a Baptist chapel c. 1805.

• Carter Lane, near Tooley Street in Southwark, was one of London’s oldest congregations, achieving considerable stature during the ministries of Benjamin Keach (1640-1704), Benjamin Stinton (1676-1719), and John Gill (1697-1771) (Gill moved the congregation to Carter Lane from the Goat Yard, Horsleydown, Southwark, in 1757). John Rippon (1751-1836) succeeded Gill in 1774 and continued as minister of the congregation until his death in 1836. In 1833 Rippon moved the congregation to New Park Street, near Elephant and Castle, which would be the location upon which C. H. Spurgeon (1834-92) would build his great Metropolitan Tabernacle 1861, the same location the congregation resides at today.

• Cateaton Street (modern day Gresham Street just to the north of Cheapside at King Street) was the site of a 7th day Baptist meeting led in 1823 by Samuel Stennett (1780-1841) (and William Jones) prior to his short-lived stay at Parliament Court in 1824-25. This congregation moved around considerably between the late 1780s and the 1840s. Other figures involved include J. Winning, Hunter, and Joseph Rothery (1795-1876).

• Chelsea, North Street, was formed around 1800. The congregation was served by Charles Collins in 1811 and James Middleton from 1812 to 1827. The congregation settled in the old Independent chapel in North Street, Knightsbridge, in 1816. The church appears to have disbanded by 1831.

• Chelsea, Lower Sloane Street and Paradise Row, was formed in 1817. Its first minister was Owen Clarke (1817-22), who was succeeded by William Hutchings (the son of Thomas Hutchings) from 1824 to 1830, and then by Joseph Belcher (1794-1859) from 1831 to 1834.

• Cotton Street, Poplar, was formed in 1805. Its primary ministers include John Coles (1781-1842) from 1813 to 1819; Josiah Denham from 1820 to 1821; and James Upton Jr. (1788-1867), son of James Upton at Church Street, Southwark, from 1821-43.  

• Church Street, Surrey Road, Southwark, was originally founded by James Upton (1760-1834) in Green Walk, Southwark, in 1785. In 1801 the congregation moved to Church Street. Upton remained as minister until his death in 1834, when he was succeeded by his assistant, Joseph Davis (1807-81).

• Clement’s Lane, Strand, Enon Chapel, led by William House, Sr. (d. c. 1835/36) from 1822-35, and then by his son, William House, Jr. (1808-83) from 1837 to 1850.

• Cripplegate, Curriers’ Hall, was an early and prominent Particular Baptist congregation. Formed from the congregation originally formed by Hanserd Knollys (1599-1691), the congregation began meeting in Curriers’ Hall around 1705. Robert Skepp (1675-1721) was the minister from 1714-1721, followed by Humphrey Barrow from 1722 to 1727, John Morton in 1728, and John Brine (1703-65) from 1730 to 1765. He was succeeded by John Reynolds (1730-92), who served as minister from 1766 to 1792; Reynolds was succeeded by John Wilson, who served from 1798 to 1807, moving the congregation to Red Cross Street after the chapel’s lease expired in 1799.  Daniel Whitaker moved the congregation to Aldersgate Street around 1854. A group of 7th Day Baptists met at Curriers’ Hall in the 1790s, led by Robert Burnside (d. 1826), who took his group to Red Cross Street in 1799 (upon the destruction of Pinners’ Hall) and to Devonshire Square in 1812. He was succeeded by J. B. Shenston in 1826, with only five members left of the 7th Day congregation. The last member died in 1863.

• Cumberland Street, Shoreditch, was a leading Scotch Baptist congregation in London for many years (an earlier group had met at Meetinghouse Alley from 1797 to 1810). The congregation was led by Joseph Rothery (1795-1876) from 1821 to 1857 (J. Freer was also ministering there in 1821); his co-pastor (from 1830 onward) was J. Winning. Rothery moved congregation moved to Gee Street, Goswell Road, in 1831, and to Hoxton in 1835.

• Dean Street, Southwark, was formed in 1774 as a split from Carter Lane at the time of the calling of John Rippon as pastor. William Button (1754-1821) became the first minister of the congregation, remaining in the capacity through 1815, when he resigned due to poor health. He was succeeded by John Mockett Cramp in 1818; he was succeeded by Benjamin Lewis in 1827, who remained until 1852. The church disbanded in the 1890s.

• Devonshire Square became the location of a Baptist congregation in the 1680s during the ministry of William Kiffin. 1727 the congregation was reconstituted and led by Sayer Rudd, who was succeeded by George Braithwaite, John Stevens, Walter Richards, and John MacGowan though 1780. In 1781, Timothy Thomas, from Bristol Baptist College, began his ministry at Devonshire Square, remaining until his death in 1827. He was succeeded by Thomas Price (1802-67), from 1827 to 1837; J. H. Hinton (1791-1873) from 1837 to 1863; and W. T. Henderson (1825-1911) from 1864 to 1884.

• Dockhead became the location of a Baptist meeting c. 1821. William Dovey came from Short’s Gardens near Covent Garden in 1827 and remained as minister until 1846.

• Eagle Street was formed in 1735 under the leadership of Andrew Gifford (1700-84). After his death, he was succeeded by Thomas Hopkins (1759-87), from 1785 to 1787; William Smith (1748-1821) from 1789 to 1801; and Joseph Ivimey (1773-1834) from 1805 to 1834.

• East Street, Walworth, formed in 1791; John Swain (1761-96) was the first stated minister, followed by Joseph Jenkins (1747-1819) from 1798 to 1819. Upon the death of Jenkins in 1819, a splinter group formed a meeting in Alfred Place, Southwark. East Street continued under the leadership of Richard Davis (1768-1832), who served from 1820 to 1832, followed by Joseph Hamblin (1796-1867) from 1834-41.

• Eldon Street, Moorfields, was formed as a Welsh Baptist congregation in 1823, with J. T. Rowlands (d. 1842) serving as minister from 1826 to 1832, succeeded by Daniel Rees.   

• Ewer Street, Southwark, a mixed congregation, was led by William Crawford from 1777 to sometime around 1811.

• Fetter Lane, Elim Chapel (originally General Baptist), was led by the Particular Baptists Abraham Austin (1749-1816) from 1786 to 1816, and James Elvey (1780-1842) from 1817 to 1835. The chapel burned in 1788 but was rebuilt in 1790.

• Gainsford Street, Blackfields, Southwark, was organized by John Dolman c. 1754 as a Particular Baptist congregation. John Langford (d. 1790) led the congregation from 1766 to 1777 (he removed to Rose Lane, Ratcliff), followed by Michael Brown from 1778 to 1820, who led the congregation into Unitarianism.

• Gower Street was opened in September 1820 by William Gadsby, after which the congregation was led by Henry Fowler (b. 1779) until 1838.

• Grafton Street, Soho, had a long history. John Martin ministered there from 1774 to 1795 before moving his congregation to a new chapel in Keppel Street. Grafton Street chapel was not located near Fitzroy Square to the north near Marylebone but rather just to the west of Seven Dials in Soho, crossing Litchfield Street from Moor Street on the north to Gerrard Street to the south. Upon the departure of Martin’s congregation, a group led by Richard Burnham (1749-1810), who had previously met in Brewer Street and Edward Street (near Golden Square between Wardour and Berwick Streets at Broad Street), assumed the premises of the Grafton Street chapel. After Burnham’s death in 1810, John Stevens (1776-1847) became the pastor, but in 1813 moved his followers to York Street and then to his massive chapel in Meard’s Court, off Wardour Street, in 1824.  After Stevens’ departure from Grafton Street, William Williams (1773-1847) brought a small group to the chapel there and continued there until his death in 1847.

• Gray’s Walk, Princes Street, Lambeth, was formed in 1821 and led by Robert Upton from 1822 to 1824. He was followed by John T. Jeffery in 1824 and Eleil Davis in 1834.

• Great Alie [Alyliffe] Street, Goodman’s Fields, was also known at this time as the Zoar Chapel; it was an old chapel (used by Presbyterians in the early 1700s), but became home to a small Particular Baptist group in 1807 led by John Bailey (1778-1830), who remained there until 1824.

• Henrietta Street, Brunswick Square, was formed in 1822 by William Belsher [Belcher] (1765-1849) and his group from Burton Street.  In 1827 he accepted the pastorate at London Street in Greenwich; his successor was Thomas Thomas (1805-81), who had just finished his studies at Stepney College. Thomas remained at Henrietta Street until 1836, when he removed to Pontypool. He is not to be confused with the Thomas Thomas (1759-1819) who ministered for many years at Mill Yard in London.

• Homerton Row, Homerton, was formed in 1817 and led by Thomas Eason (1782-1851) from 1817 to 1835.

• John Street Chapel was formed in 1818 under the leadership of James Harington Evans (1785-1849), who had formerly been an Anglican but had recently adopted Baptist principles. His movement away from Trinitarianism in 1819 led to his disassociation by the other London Baptist churches until 1826, when, after formally recanting his earlier position, his congregation came into full fellowship with the Particular Baptist churches in London. His successor was Baptist Noel (1798-1873), 1849-68, after he also had succeeded from the Anglican communion in 1848.

• Keppel Street became the location in 1795 of John Martin’s congregation that had been meeting in Grafton Street. Martin continued as minister until 1814, when he was succeeded by George Pritchard (1773-1852), who remained there until 1837.

• Lion Street, Walworth, formed in 1805 as a spilt from East Street, led at that time by Joseph Jenkins (1743-1819). The first minister at Lion Street was John Chin (1773-1839), who served from 1807 to his death in 1839.

• Lisle Street was formed in in 1822 by a group who did not move to Meard’s Court under John Stevens. The first minister at Lisle Street was George Comb (1782-1841); in 1825 he moved the congregation to the Soho Chapel at 406 Oxford Street, where he remained as minister until his death in 1841. The chapel continued in that location until 1885. They joined the Strict and Particular Baptist Association in 1871.

• Little Wild Street was one of London’s older congregations, led for a time by Joseph Stennett II (1737-58) and his successor, Samuel Stennett (1758-95). Benjamin Coxhead (1772-1851) and Thomas Waters (1786-1838) led the congregation in the first decade of the 19th century, followed by John Edwards in 1816 and James Hargreaves (1768-1845) from 1822 to 1829, after which the church was closed for a few years.

• Little Prescott Street, Goodman’s Fields, was one of London’s leading Baptist congregations, formed in the 1630s.  It moved to Rosemary Branch off Prescott Street bounding Goodman’s Fields in 1726 during the ministry of Samuel Wilson (1703-1750). Abraham Booth (1734-1806) arrived in 1769 and remained until his death in 1806, after which he was succeeded by William Stephens (1765-1839) (1807-10), Thomas Griffin (1812-31), and Charles Stovel (1799-1883) (1832-83). The congregation moved to Commercial Street in 1855.

• Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, was led by William Dovey, who also met with this group at Short’s Gardens, Drury Lane, 1821 to 1827.

• Maze Pond, Southwark, just south of Tooley Street, was the home of a Particular Baptist congregation beginning in 1725. In 1741 Benjamin Wallin (1711-82) became the minister, remaining in the capacity until 1781; he was succeeded by James Dore (1764-1825) in 1784, who served as minister until 1815. He was followed by James Hoby (1788-1871) until 1826 and by Isaac Mann (1785-1831) from 1826 to his death in 1831.

• Meard’s Court was a new chapel built for the ministry of John Stevens (1776-1847), formerly at Grafton Street and York Street; he preached at Meard’s Court from 1824 until his death in 1847.

• Mill Yard was one of London’s oldest locations for the Seventh-day Baptists, with groups meeting there from the early 1690s. In the 1730s, the congregation had diminished considerably; as a result, they began letting out the meetinghouse to other Baptist congregations besides those who were Seventh-day Baptists. Among its ministers were John Savage and John Maulden from 1711 to 1720; Robert Cornthwaite (1696-1755) from 1726 to 1752, Daniel Noble (1729-83) from 1755 to 1783, and Thomas Thomas (1759-1819) from 1788 to 1790, when the chapel burned. By the late 1790s the congregation largely consisted of a small group of female members.

• Mitchell Street, Finsbury, was led by Thomas Powell (1749-1829), 1783-1829; his successor was John Andrews Jones (1779-1868), 1831-66.

• Paddington, near the Gravel pits in Kensington, a group began meeting c. 1823, with W. Southwood arriving in 1825 as the first stated minister of the congregation. In 1852 the congregation moved to Westbourne Grove, Bayswater.

• Parliament Court, near Artillery Lane, was a congregation established in 1824 by Samuel Stennett (1780-1841) (the son of the 7th day Baptist minister, Benjamin Stennett), and J. Winning, who was the 7th day Baptist minister at Cumberland Street, Shoreditch (later at Gee Street, Goswell Road), 1824-31. Stennett had previously been at Cateaton Street in 1823; he left Parliament Court in 1825. It was mainly a Scotch Baptist [Sandemanian] church, near Artillery Street, possibly meeting in the old Huguenot Chapel there.

• Prince’s Road, Gray’s Walk, Lambeth, was formed in 1821 and led by Robert Upton from 1822 to 1824. He was followed by John T. Jeffery in 1824 and Eleil Davis in 1834.  

• Red Cross Street had a Baptist congregation meeting there in the 1760s and ’70s, led first by Thomas Craner (1716-73) and, between 1773 and 1780, by William Augustus Clarke, after which the congregation disbanded and joined with other Baptist congregations. In 1799 Red Cross Street became home to a Particular Baptist group from Curriers’ Hall, Cripplegate (the lease had run out at that location), led by John Wilson, and a 7th day Baptist congregation, also from Curriers’ Hall, led by Robert Burnside, the latter group leaving in 1812 for Devonshire Square. Jonathan Franklin succeeded Wilson, remaining until c. 1827, when he removed to Chapel Street in Mile End.    

• Romney Street, Westminster, was formed in 1807, meeting first in Panton Street then Lewisham Street under the ministry of Henry Paice, formally being recognized by the Particular Baptists in 1817. Paice left in 1823 and was succeeded by Christopher Woollacott (1789-1879), who moved the congregation that year to Romney Street in 1828. Woollacott continued there until 1835, when he became minister at Little Wild Street. The congregation in Romney Street continued to meet well into the 20th century.

• Shouldham Street, Marylebone, was organized by Thomas Oughton in 1809. He was succeeded in 1816 John C. George (1769-1846), who remained as minister until 1846.

• Soho Chapel, 406 Oxford Street, was led by Evan Herbert for most of 1822 and 1823, before he removed to Eden Street, Hampstead Road. Herbert had formerly attended in Edward Street during the ministry of Thomas Simmonds from 1811 to 1818, when that group first moved to Oxford Street. When Herbert arrived at Soho in 1822, he also had a group who had formerly been members of John Steven’s congregation in York Street prior to his move to Meard’s Court.

• Spencer Place, Goswell Street Road, was formed around 1815; its first minister was John Bolton (1783-1821), who was followed in 1821 by John Peacock (1779-1864), who remained until 1851.

• Titchfield Street, Oxford Street, was formed under John Buck in 1819.

• Unicorn Yard, just off Tooley Street, Southwark, was formed as a Baptist congregation in 1720 in a split from the congregation in Goat Yard, formerly led by Benjamin Keach (1640-1704) and then his son-in-law, Benjamin Stinton (1676-1719). William Arnold (1692-1734) was the first minister at the new meeting in Unicorn Yard, followed by Thomas Flower (1706-67) from 1736 to 1744; Josiah Thompson (1724-1806) from 1746 to 1761 (assisted by Caleb Evans); William Nash Clarke (1732-95) from 1762 to 1785; Daniel Williams (1759-1841) from 1787 to 1795; Thomas Hutchings (1768-1827) from 1795 to 1828, succeeded by George Gibbs till 1834.

• Upper Fountain Place (later called Nelson Place), just south of City Road, was home to what became known as Mount Zion Chapel; it was led by James Newborn (1783-1869), from 1820 to sometime in the early 1830s.

• Waterloo Road, Lambeth, was formed in 1822 and led by a Mr. Haslem, who was followed by Arthur Triggs from 1841 to 1847.

• West Lane, Rotherhithe, later called Jamaica Row, was formed in 1760 by Richard Hutchings (d. 1804). In 1772 he removed to London Street in Greenwich. Samuel Rowles (1743-1820) ministered there from 1776 to 1783; John Dunkin (1753-1827), a lay preacher, formerly a deacon at Gainsford Street, was there c. 1792-1804, followed by George Phillips (1751-1833). W. Norris led the congregation from 1823 to 1827. William Dovey moved his congregation from Dockhead to West Lane in 1831 and united with the former congregation.

• Willsted Street, Somerstown, St. Pancras, known as the “Beulah” congregation, was located near the present day British Library and St. Pancras station. The group was led by William Jarman (1764-1842) from 1797-1824; his successor was Charles Carpenter, 1826-41.

• Wood Street (1822) was formed as a Welsh Baptist congregation in February 1822, led by Evan Evans.

• York Street, St. James’s Square, was formed with a group led by John Stevens from his congregation that met in Grafton Street c. 1810-1813; they met in York Street from 1813 to 1824, when Stevens moved his congregation to a new chapel in Meard’s Court.

A primary source for early Baptist congregations in London is still (though not a perfect source by any means) W. T. Whitley's The Baptists of London 1612-1928 (London: Kingsgate Press, [1928]).