Home  RHBC History
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RHBC History Red Hill Baptist Church - a short history of the first 100 years 1866 - 1966, written by Rob Giles, May 2007. If you would prefer to download the whole history it is also available as a PDF file by clicking here (or right click the link and choose "Save as" if you would like to save it to your computer). You can also view a short video of our history, and a three part video interview with our oldest church member about her experiences at Red Hill since 1915, on our Youtube page by clicking here .
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When we start to look at the early history of Red Hill Baptist Church, we must of necessity begin at the Kempsey branch of Worcester Baptist Church. For it was there in 1862 where the small wooden hut was erected which was to provide the first church building in the Red Hill area of Worcester four years later. It was erected at Kempsey at a cost of £28-16s-0d but the painting, varnishing, spouting, felting etc brought it up to £39-4s-11d – and another £11 for seats, desks and other fittings made a grand total of over £50. |
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Early in 1879 the time came to move on. Mr Green’s lease had expired and the farm had changed hands. This meant that the site had to be given up. All that time Mr Green had generously allowed the use of the land free of charge. |
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As time went on congregations and SS scholars increased while at the same time as these went up the condition of the building went steadily down. After all, the wooden hut had given splendid service for nearly 30 years first at Kempsey, then at Swinesherd and latterly at Red Hill. It was no surprise, then, to find that something had to be done regarding a new and more permanent structure.
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The name of Captain Alexander Locke should be familiar to all of us as it’s his name that appears on the front wall of the chapel. It was he who laid the foundation stone on 26 February 1891 before a large gathering and addresses, presumably in the open air, were given by three people – Mr J.S. Hanson, Mr E.P. Evans J.P. and Capt Locke himself. By way of interest there is an account of this seemingly very colourful character in the November 1895 Banner (the magazine of Worcester Baptist Church). He was born in 1802 and died 23 September 1895 aged 75, so he was 71 when he performed this ceremony. |
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Let’s go on now to mention the various groups within the church together with points of interest generally as the years go by. First of all, the Young Men’s Bible Class. This was started in August 1893 with six members and the meeting was held in the kitchen underground (the lower part of the cellar, which also contained the boiler used to heat the premises). This was the only available space in the already crowded building but apparently it was made more homely by hanging some curtains. It was obviously a great success because the numbers grew so much that its leader, Miss James, proposed that £100 be raised in order to build a larger classroom on to the back of the chapel. At first the members thought this a quite impossible task, with the result that Miss James, clearly a very determined lady, worked all alone to raise the first £40. At that point, realising perhaps that it wasn’t quite so impossible after all, they all set to work in earnest and £95 was in the kitty by January 1896. What a testimony to the example of Miss James. At the time the group had 42 members but only room to seat 24! Anyway, thanks to this effort, the new classroom, known for many years, fittingly, as Miss James’ room but more familiar to succeeding generations simply as ‘the back room’, was opened on 13 October 1896. |
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What about the Sunday School – quite remarkable in terms of numbers. Let’s look at this branch of the work over a period. Remember that in the early days there was both morning and afternoon school plus of course the main evening service (morning worship didn’t start until Red Hill became an independent church in 1983 – up until then those who wanted a morning service were encouraged to attend at Sansome Walk). In passing we are told in Mr Mayglothling’s 1903 Souvenir that among the pioneer workers of the Swinesherd school were George Farrant, John Middleton, Henry Viles, John Lane, Thomas Smith and Thomas Longmore. The author goes on to say that in the later Red Hill days James Jones, George Matlock and Charles Burden deserve honourable mention as SS Superintendents and Josiah Everitt as Secretary for 12 years. ‘Mrs Baldwyn (nee Hughes), Miss James and Mr F.G. Viles also rendered conspicuous service and the present Superintendent [1903] was Mr C.H. Stevenson with G.W. Foss as assistant and T.J. Griffiths as secretary’.
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So much for the early days of the Sunday School. Let’s go back now to other aspects of church life. The annual Year Books printed in those days are quite helpful here as each one gives a brief account of the work at the Mission.
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Like most churches Red Hill had a regular choir, which lasted right up to the 1970s. Indeed Red Hill was always known for its singing. The choir was almost an organisation in itself, always doing things and going off here, there and everywhere (geographically and no doubt sometimes musically as well). Take 1899 for example. The choir had their annual outing on Saturday, 12 August when they drove in a couple of brakes [open horse drawn carriages with four wheels] although we’re not told where to – probably one of the mystery trips popular for very many years until car ownership became widespread.
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1902 saw the formation of a Young People’s Christian Endeavour meeting with Mr C. Burden as President, Miss Ellison as Vice-President, Mr L.W. Westall as Secretary and Miss J. Wood as Treasurer. The membership numbered 25 but there is no record of the society after 1903, so perhaps it only ran for a couple of years. Earlier in November 1899 the annual social of the Young Men’s Bible Class was conducted (of course) by Miss James and the class presented ‘a handsome writing desk and pair of brass candlesticks’ to its secretary, Mr Frank Wheeler. |
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1905 was an important year. The church had requested Sansome Walk to grant it the privilege of partial self-government similar to that given earlier to Kempsey. This meant in practice the setting up of a management committee responsible for the day-to-day running of the fellowship – previously everything had been run from Sansome Walk. The request was granted and the first committee comprised Messrs E.T. French as Superintendent, R.T. Blake, F. Wheeler and G.W. Foss. The name of Edward Thomas French was of course recorded for posterity when a plaque ‘sacred to his memory’ was placed on the chapel wall following his death in 1912 and is still there today. Over the years up to independency there was always representation from the deacons of the ‘mother’ church on the management committee, the first being Sam Rogers and James Hawkins.
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1905 also saw the beginning of several years of intense spiritual activity and it seems there was a very definite period of revival and spiritual awakening in the fellowship (interestingly around the same time as the Welsh Revival not too far away). Take, for example, the April 1905 Banner which reported times of prayer and revival, including Teachers Sunday morning prayer meetings (to which scholars were admitted at their own request), prayer meetings after the evening service and a series of prayer and revival meetings, the first of which was attended by 80 people. |
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The name of Sam Rogers, one of the Sansome Walk deacons, has already been mentioned. Evidently he was quite a character – he rode a three wheeler bike and was also something of a wit. On 15 February 1909 he wrote a long poem entitled Uncle Sam’s Report of the Dicky Birds’ Concert in which he likens each mission to a bird in order to report on the work there. The rhyming may be a bit corny but it no doubt added to whatever occasion at which it was first aired.
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In succeeding years the work continued, although in a rather more steady than spectacular way. Let’s pick out some points of interest. |
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From that time up to the early 1960s recorded information about the activities and organisations of the church is patchy, to say the least. The Second World War and its after effects took their toll on the band of workers, many young men in particular not returning to the chapel after the horrors of war. In August 1943, for example, morning Sunday School was discontinued ‘owing to a lack of response’.
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Things began to change in the early 1960s. In 1961 a Women’s Fellowship started under the leadership of Mrs Pike. Later this role was taken over by Mrs Phyllis Hill who led faithfully for many years. At that stage there were still no midweek activities for children or young people but in 1962 a Young People’s Christian Endeavour group started on a Friday evening with several of the older SS youngsters under the leadership of Rob Giles. This group grew and developed over the years and made a real impact on the life of the church. A year or two later a Junior Club commenced which developed into an activity of a more devotional nature called Adventurers. Numbers in the SS remained quite low but with a slight increase. However, evening congregations improved a lot in the few years leading up to 1966, including a growing number of young people. Average numbers were in the region of 35-45, occasionally higher. Finally in 1966 Stan Giles took over as Superintendent, a position he held for ten years. |
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So, there we are – 100 years of faithful work and witness. A firm foundation laid down on which to build over the subsequent years. As we look back we have much to be thankful to God about, especially as we consider the lives of men and women who so faithfully gave of their time and talents to serve God in and through Red Hill. People like Miss James, Edward French, Frank Wheeler, Henry and Alice Dolloway, George Collins, Stan Giles, Phyllis Hill. They and many others kept the work going in the good years and the more difficult times. Their faithfulness, dedication and perseverance are an example and inspiration to those of us who follow on. They are surely now rejoicing with us as they see the way the church has grown and developed since their day - more especially as we enter into this exciting and challenging new phase of our life together as Red Hill becomes St Peter’s Baptist Church.
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Superintendents and Secretaries over the years up to Red Hill becoming an independent Baptist Church in 1983
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Extract from the Worcester Herald – Saturday, 28 February 1891 |
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An even shorter history of Red Hill from 1936 – 2000 written for inclusion in ‘The Worcestershire Baptist Association Remembered’ at the time the Association was amalgamated into the new Heart of England Baptist Association. |
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