The Hampshire Family Historian | Vol.49 No.3 | December 2022

Member’s Article

This small pamphlet gives the history of the Baptist congregation, which I won’t go into here, but was incredibly informative. The chapel was built after the congregation grew too large to meet in a cottage. A licence for marriages was obtained in 1832.

Fig 3 Wall of gravestones

After building out the descendants of Dr Mark Rogers and his wife Sarah, Angela and I have agreed that Moses Rogers, who married Ann HATCHER in Sherfield English in 1791, is likely our 4th great grandfather. This would seem to be confirmed by the names of the two eldest children, Ann bc1792 and Moses bc1794. The day I spent with Mr and Mrs Hurst was very interesting. They were well acquainted with the old chapel and had attended outdoor events in the field after the building was demolished. I looked at and photographed a few of the minute books and established that my 4th great grandfather, Moses Rogers, was a Deacon, signing the minutes along with his brother-in-law James PRITCHARD , who had married Moses’ sister Sarah. We believe that Moses and his wife Ann are buried in the field although none of the stones are theirs. It is hard to believe that so many people attended the chapel in such a remote part of the county, but it was located at the intersection of several footpaths and apparently people walked over the fields for the services. A letter in the box of documents reveals that 400 people attended a Baptist tea on Good Friday 1860.

The Chapel

It was a very popular place of worship and I am glad to have been able to visit the site.

Margaret Bradford HGS Member # 14882

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