BLISWORTH BAPTISTS CHAPEL ENLARGEMENT
and OTHER WORKS, 1865 - 1871

Introduction:  In 1865 the Baptists carried out various building works including the building of a manse.  They celebrated the laying of a foundation stone on 18th May, 1865 at the corner of that manse and gave an account of the project to the press.  The second part of this article is that account whilst the first part is composed of selected extracts from the specification to the architects for the building project. (courtesy of Mr. & Mrs. P. Penn).  In 1871 another building phase saw the enlargement of the chapel to its present size and the construction of the new school room - according to the Baptists' church book.

Part I:  Specification of Works    Specification of sundry work to be done and conditions to be observed in the enlargement of the Baptist Chapel Blisworth and the erection of a New School-room adjoining and also a New Cottage on land adjacent according to the accompanying Drawings numbered 1 to 9.
T. Heygate Vernon Architect, 12 Denbigh Place, Pimlico. 

[The cottage referred to is The Manse at 13 Chapel lane.  None of the drawings have survived]
[Clearly, both phases of the building works in 1865 and 1871 were anticipated in this original specification]

Generally
The contractor is to take down the cottage, outbuildings and boundary walls now occupying the site, to clean and stack the stone, bricks, and other materials which if sound and suitable may be used again.  Grub up any old foundations and fill in solid any old cesspools that may be found.
Take up, clean and stack the brick paving now laid in Yard and in front of the Chapel and relay the same at completion of work.  The school room is to be erected and finished sufficient for occupation before the Chapel is disturbed.  The seats are then to be arranged in the school room which is to be kept in order and for each Sabbath made available for services.  A clear footway is to be provided at the end of each week.

The new front and sides of the Chapel are to be carried up to the level of the present eaves before the old roof is disturbed - it is then to be carefully stripped, rafters and purlins removed, ceiling and cornices cut away.  Brickwork shall be carried up to the new roof height and the main trusses placed in their right positions.  The present gallery is to be taken down and the iron columns refixed where shown for the replacement gallery.  The seats in the gallery to be removed to the school room.  The pulpit is in like manner to be removed to the school room and there altered to be placed upon a new platform.
The windows now opening from the present School room and Vestry to Yard to be taken out and reused in the Cottage and the apertures properly bricked up.  The upper windows in front of the Chapel to be also reused in the Cottage.

[The photo here shows the south side of the Chapel (with brick colour differences deliberately and heavily exaggerated) to indicate the original size of the building.  The original roof would have looked the same as the present roof, except it was about 4 foot lower down.  There is no record of the original appearance of the front of the chapel as all drawings have been lost]

Alterations to existing Buildings
The present School room is to be divided by a lath and plaster partition formed with 4x3 sill and head and posts and 4x2 studs with doorway formed in same.  The door to be 2"4 [sic] panel moulded both sides hung to 1'/4 rebated linings with 3½ butts and provided with 7" two bolt mortice lock with brass furniture.
A platform is to be constructed in the Classroom with 4½x2 ground joists and 4½x3 sleepers covered with 1¼ floor boards with rounded nosings and 1" riser.
The present Girl's W.Cs are to be removed and refixed where shown - the partition enclosing same removed and the floor and all works disturbed made good - the seats pews doors &c. may be reused again if in good condition.
Cut out for and form two window openings in the side walls of the Chapel and increase the height of two others and finish as shewn on the Drawings with brickwork in cement.  Fill up the front windows openings in the present School with brickwork in mortar.
The present School room on the ground floor and upstairs also the classroom staircase &c. which have been previously colored [sic] to be twice colored an approved color and the ceilings washed, stopped and whitened.
The woodwork and ironwork which have been previously painted to have two good oils internally and three externally and be in finished approved tints.  Do any repairs that may be necessary to existing buildings - clean gutters - look to roof and replace defective slating and leaving all in a sound and prefect condition.

[there followed detailed work-practice notes for excavators,  bricklayers, mason, slater, carpenter, joiner and ironmonger, founder and smith, plasterer and finally painter.  The notes are very detailed and often deal with how individual components of the build should be made or installed.  The document then stipulates what is expected of the contractor should he encounter any problems especially a work force not available or having striked and that an independent surveyor should be called to mediate in an intractable disagreement between architect and contractor]

Part II: The account of the Ceremony from the press (May 1865)

LAYING A MEMORIAL STONE AT BLISWORTH

A memorial stone, to commemorate the erection of a vestry, schoolrooms, minister's residence, enlargement of the burial ground, and other extensions of the Baptist Chapel property in this village, was laid on Thursday last, by the. Rev. J. T. Brown, in the presence of a goodly number of' spectators. The memorial stone is at the right hand corner in front of the house which is to be erected for the esteemed pastor of the chapel, the Rev. G. Bailey, and underneath the stone was placed a bottle, which contained, amongst other things, a statement as to the alterations and improvements which had been effected, and a description of the buildings about to be erected. A copy of this statement will be found below, and, therefore, we need not now allude to what has been done, and what still remains to do. We might remark that the cost of the buildings and enlargements is estimated at £800. Towards this sum, before the laying of the stone there was in the treasurer's hands £172, and there were promises of donations which would bring the total amount to £500. The proceedings were commenced shortly before three o'clock in the afternoon by a hymn being sung, after which the Rev. J. P. Haddy read the 32nd Psalm, and then the Rev. T. Marriott offered an appropriate prayer. The Psalm "Lift up your heads, Oh ye gates" was afterwards sung, and then the Rev. G. Bailey read a copy of the statement which had been put in the bottle. Some mortar was now spread beneath the stone by the Rev. J. T. Brown, and the stone having been placed in its proper position, the rev. gentleman gave it a few taps with a mallet, and then said, "' I. pronounce this stone as surely and well laid as any amateur mason could lay it."

[The stone can not be seen these days because of garden and outbuilding changes]

The following is a copy of the statement which was put into the bottle, and which was read by the pastor of the Chapel:

"This statement is written to inform those who are yet unborn, who may be our successors in furtherance of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, in connexion with this Baptist Church, and sheweth that Edward Campion, William Woodhouse, Joseph Marriott, Joseph Westley, John Tite Cave, John Campion, William Lepper, Robert Campion Westley, and George Griggs Bailey were chosen in public meeting convened in the Baptist Chapel, to be and act in committee, with authority to purchase a portion of the garden adjoining the chapel and burial ground so generously offered by, the aforesaid Edward Campion, and therewith to enlarge the burial ground, and to build thereon a vestry, schoolroom, and minister's residence, with convenient offices attached, according to the plans and drawings exhibited and approved by the said meeting. Also, to repair and re-seat the chapel, enclose the property entire, and put the whole in trust by a new deed as soon as it is possible.
"Accordingly, the said committee commenced the work assigned them in the first week in January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, by removing the offensive offices in front of the chapel, and re-building them behind the three adjacent cottages, one to each separate occupier. They enlarged the burial-ground from the brook below northward up to the vestry and schoolroom, by taking in from the garden an average breadth of fifteen feet throughout the whole length. From the hill facing the highroad they carted nearly two thousand tons of earth down to the lowest and farthest end of the present enlarged burial ground, and raised it from ten to twelve feet, and enclosed it all round with strong, substantial walls of stone and brick. They enclosed the ground in front of the chapel with side walls of brickwork, and erected a strong and handsome iron fence in front, supported at each end with stone piers. They laid a central path of bricks from the gates to the chapel doors, laid the sides with grassplats and planted on them memorial trees, the walls of the vestry and schoolroom being built up as high as the ceiling, thirty poles of garden ground being newly appropriated to the chapel property, and the foundation of the house for the use of the minister being laid.
"Now, on this 18th day of May, in the year 1865, about three o'clock in the afternoon, we lay this bottle in the foundation at the right hand corner in front of the minister's residence. It contains a copy of the Freeman newspaper of this date, a handbill calling this meeting, and, by request, the pastor's manuscript; a sample of wheat of Mr. John Tite Cave; a sample of kidney beans and cucumber seeds, by Joseph Westley; a sample of field beans by John Campion; a piece of a ox's hoof, a heirloom of 60 years, by Mr William Lepper; and in honour of our beloved Queen Victoria, the widow's two half-farthings and two new farthings by Edward Campion, and a silver shilling by Joseph Westley.
"The cost of these buildings and enlargements is estimated at £800 when completed.  The amount in the treasurer's hands towards removal of that debt is £472, with promises, sure and good, reaching £500.  Now the bottle is deposited, the Rev. J. T. Brown, the beloved pastor of the Baptist Church in College Street (Northampton), will lay the memorial corner stone in the front of the house, on the right hand corner, and when laid, and the house built thereon, may the hand of violence never disturb it and may the house be occupied godly pastors through many generations."
Signed by the committee - George G. Bailey, chairman; Joseph Westley, superintendent of the works, John Tite Cave, treasurer, John Campion, secretary, William Lepper, Joseph Marriott, Edward Campion, and William Woodhouse.

The stone having been laid, the Rev. J. T. Brown commenced an address by remarking that they must all feel that the present was a most interesting occasion, and one by no means of an ordinary character.  It was full of interest, not only to the friends at Blisworth, but to those who lived round about them, and who were sympathetic with them for the great objects for which they were living.  Having perhaps wept with them in days gone by when they wept, they had come there that afternoon to rejoice with them in their joy.  He supposed there was not any one present, certainly not any one of  ... and reflective mind, but must feel that this was a very pleasant occasion, not only on account of the nature of the occasion when viewed by itself, but likewise what it reminded them of.  It brought back the past; it told them of the work that had been done in the ages that were gone, and of which their present exertions were only the manifestation and the fruit.  [rather recursive sermon not given here in full . . . ] There were not wanting clouds on the horizon, there were not wanting signs that the times of trial are coming. The old hostility which tried to put down Nonconformity at first is not dead. It tried to destroy the young child's life; and now, with unwise but with cruel hand, it would attempt to destroy the man's life. It would not succeed, although the effort may cost Nonconformists much. The friends in the villages know what he meant—(hear, hear)—they knew the kind of thing that was rising against them, and should prepare themselves, if needs be for the day of trial. Those who sat in the chapels which their fathers built should be like their fathers in their steadfast manliness and patient courage. What did it matter—a Dissenter, despised and looked down upon, having a few evils to hear? He would soon lie down in the grave, over which the grass and the daisies will grow, and the lark will sing her song. It would be nothing to him then, any more than the wind of yesterday, that men despised him for his fidelity, but it would be of infinite consequence that he was true to truth, true to himself, and true to the Lord. Angels shall sing over the grave of such a man, and shall say "Faithful unto death; blessed are the dead so faithful.''  The rev. gentleman concluded by expressing the pleasure which it had given him to take part in the proceedings, and he trusted that the work which they had commenced would result in blessings to their children and their children's children. A plate was then placed on the memorial stone, and as those present passed by they placed in it their donations, and by this means £4 were raised. A public tea afterwards took place in the chapel, the trays being given by the ladies of the congregation, and the tea was partaken of by about 300 persons. The evening meeting took place in the Chapel at six o'clock, the chair being occupied by the Rev. J. T. Brown. There was a very large attendance. Amongst the ministers who were present at the meeting or at the laying of the stone were the Rev. J. Nickalls and the Rev. Joseph Brown, Northampton; the Rev. Thomas Harriott, Milton; the Rev. J. Lea, Moulton; the Rev. T. Chamberlain, Pattishall; the Rev. Amos Smith, Harpole; the Rev. J. C. Robinson, Brington; the Rev. G. Bailey, Blisworth; the Rev. H. Hardin, Towcester; the Rev. J. P. Haddv, Ravensthorpe; Rev. H. Capern, Bugbrooke, &c. The meeting was opened with a prayer by the Rev. H. Capern, after which Mr. Joseph Westley, of Blisworth, alluded to the fact that the work which they had now in hand had been in contemplation for some years, and that it was entirely owing to the kindness of Mr. Edward Campion that they had been enabled to do what they had, as he had placed the land which they required at their disposal, desiring that it should be valued by Mr. Bearn when their alterations were completed; and his son, Mr. John Campion, has kindly offered to pay for the land. The other speakers were the Rev. Thomas Marriott, the Rev. Thomas Chamberlain, the Rev. T. Lea, Mr. Bearn of Finedon ; the Rev. J. P. Haddy, the Rev. Joseph Brown, the Rev. J. Nickalls, the Rev. Amos Smith, and the Rev. H. Hardin. The amount collected during the day was £33 5s 0d.
In consequence of the late period of the week at which the meeting was held we have been necessarily obliged to curtail our report. Another tea meeting was held yesterday afternoon, when it was expected that the collection would amount to £50.