1688 is when it all started for Lymington Baptist Church.   Prior to that, Baptist Christians were persecuted and had to meet in secret for being ‘non-conformist’ - in other words, not part of the Church of England. So, there was no church building then - they simply met secretly in each others houses.  When it came to baptism, Lymington Baptists had to go to Hatchett Pond, near Beaulieu.  Presumably they avoided baptism in the winter!

In 1688, they were able to start a church openly, and met in a house in Captain's Row.   By 1769, they wanted to set up a proper church building so the minister at that time, the Rev Joshua Thomas, travelled to London to see if he could get a loan.  The poor man, he stayed the night in a damp bed in Portsmouth on his way back and died! He was buried after a funeral in the newly completed church in New Street.

In 1834, the church building was demolished, and a new much bigger one was built on the site.  It cost £1,625 - that's the equivalent to £1.2 million today. This building included a day school in the rooms below the main church which could hold 140 children although the school later transferred to the new National School opposite (now the museum).

In 1866, and new 'classical' front was added to the building. Next to the church some 150 souls were buried in a graveyard but it was then closed in 1859 and by 1976 it had become the church car park. The picture below shows the church building as it was in 2009. We'd already improved and modernised our church building inside and now in 2010 it is getting a whole new outside make-over. It no longer looks like the photo underneth the scaffolding! You can also see part of Lillington House next door, which LBC also owns and uses.

(Brian J Down private collection)

Over the last 300 years, through the ministry of some 25 different pastors, a lot has changed.   No longer do we fear informers and persecutors and no longer do people walk across vast stretches of the New Forest to get to Sunday Services.

However, some things remain the same: we’re just as committed as we ever were to telling people about the Good News of Jesus in a way that makes sense and is relevant to today's world.  The packaging may have changed but the message certainly hasn’t - just like our Baptist ancestors, we believe in believer's baptism, the priesthood of all believers, congregational government and, above all, the authority of the Bible, although don't expect any 'thee's or 'thou's' any more!