History
According to the first Church Book, “on the 4th day of November 1818, 8 persons were baptised at Over Court along with 2 persons from Cottenham and 1 from Swavesey. On the evening of the same day the church was organised on a Gospel plan. The first church meeting was held on November 5th and it was agreed that the Lord’s Supper should be attended to on the following Lord’s Day.”
These are not the first references to Protestant dissent in the village however. In December 1798 there was a reference to “The dwelling house of… Watson of the Parish of Oakington… licensed… as a place wherein to hold meetings for religious worship by a congregation of Protestant Dissenters from the Church of England”. A second licence was granted in July 1815 by the chancellor of the Diocese of Ely, allowing Protestant Dissenters to worship in ‘A certain outhouse or building belonging to me… John Stittle’. The graves of Holcroft, Oddy and Osland, separate from the churchyard because of their non-conformity, date from 1692, and in 1685 the Episcopal Visitation stated of Oakington “This is ye most scandalous Parish and worst in ye diocese (of Ely) and ye people are most vile”, and another visitation stated “there were more Dissenters in ye Parish than in any other in the Diocese except March”. Whether they were vile just because they were Dissenters we must leave!
In 1829 some ground was bought, the debt of £122 being eventually paid off, and in 1832 a Sunday school was founded by Thomas Coulson. In 1841 a new vestry was built with shutters opening into the Meeting House. In 1842 Mr Nottage became pastor, and in 1849 the children of the Sunday School “received their annual treat of tea and plum cake” where “500-600 friends took tea”. On the 27th June 1854 13 people were baptised at Holywell Ferry. Mr Nottage died in 1857.
In 1865 Mr Parish became pastor, but only five months later a boy named Albert Doggett was playing with matches near the chapel and set light to some straw, the fire spreading to the chapel which was burnt down on the 20th May 1865! The corner stone of the new chapel (the current building) was laid on July 19th 1865 – incredibly, only 2 months after the fire – and the new chapel was opened on the 31st of October 1865. The total cost was £394 0s 9d, part of which was funded by a loan from Fosters Bank of Cambridge which was cleared in 1878.
In 1877 the Chapel was lengthened and a vestry and Sunday School built onto the side. The names of the Trustees involved were engraved on bricks, now in the side wall of the main entrance. In 1929 a larger schoolroom was added to the back of the Chapel.
The entire premises lacked effective damp-proofing and eventually began to deteriorate. In 2011, a structural survey took place. Further investigations reported cracks in the Chapel walls, unsafe brickwork and falling plaster. There were many areas of wet rot, all wood was infected with woodworm including roof timbers and pews, and dry rot was found under the floorboards. Unless extensive restoration was carried out, the building would be lost.
Between 2017 and 2021, major renovations took place. The unsafe gallery was removed. The Chapel was reduced to a brick shell without roof, floor or windows, then reinstated. The rear schoolroom was demolished and rebuilt. Damp proofing was incorporated throughout. The Chapel seating was turned through 180 degrees enabling the old side entrance to become a spacious new main entrance. On special occasions, the extra seating capacity formerly provided by the old gallery is now achieved by opening the folding screen between the Chapel and new schoolroom.
The renovations were funded by independent donations and by the Gospel Standard Trust.
We are an independent chapel affiliated to the ‘Gospel Standard’ group of churches, and we subscribe to the Gospel Standard articles of faith.