See also: Nonconformist Churches
The Baptists are a Protestant denomination, founded in Amsterdam in 1609. They are opposed to traditional infant baptism, and believe in baptism by total immersion for adult believers only.
Cambridgeshire Archives
Cambridgeshire Archives holds records of the following Baptist churches, chapels and organisations: Cambridgeshire Baptist Association; Cambridgeshire Baptist Ministers Fellowship; Cambridgeshire Sunday School Union; Barton Baptist Church; Bottisham Lode Strict Baptist Chapel; Cambridge, Eden Baptist Church, Cambridge; St Andrews Street, Cambridge; Zion Baptist Church Chatteris; West Park Baptist Church; Comberton Baptist Church; Comberton/West Group Of Churches (Barton, Comberton, Coton and Grantchester); Cottenham Baptist Old Meeting; Grantchester Baptist Church; Harston Baptist Church; Landbeach Baptist Church; Milton Baptist Church; Great Shelford Baptist Church; Soham Baptist Church; Stapleford Particular Baptist Church; Teversham Baptist Chapel; Thetford Baptist Church and Willingham Tabernacle Baptist Church.
Huntingdonshire Archives
The Baptist Church has always had a strong presence in Huntingdonshire, with two chapels (at Fenstanton and Warboys) being established as early as 1644. The Baptists benefitted from the evangelical revival of the 18th century and a number of huge chapels were built - Bluntisham for instance could seat 700 people.
Huntingdonshire Archives holds original records of the following Baptist churches and chapels: Bluntisham Baptist Meeting House; Broughton Baptist Church; Ellington Baptist Church; Great Gidding Particular Baptist Church; Godmanchester Strict Baptist Church; Great Gransden Baptist Church; Hartford Baptist Church; Huntingdon Trinity Church; Kimbolton Independent Baptist Church; Offord Darcy Baptist Church; Perry Baptist Church; St Neots Strict Baptist Church; Somersham Baptist Church; Spaldwick; Great Staughton Baptist Chapel; Little Stukeley Baptist Church; Hail Weston Baptist Church; Winwick Union Chapel; Woodhurst Chapel; Woodston Oundle Road Baptist Church.
The records of Peterborough Park Road Baptist Church were transferred to Peterborough Local Studies and Archives in 2009.
We also hold some records of the Huntingdonshire Association of Baptist and Congregational Churches, and microfilm copies of some church records held elsewhere. Please note that some churches have set closure periods on their records.
Catalogues of Huntingdonshire Baptist Church records are available on our CALM database. Please follow the link in the righthand column, and type the name of the chapel you are searching for in the "AnyText" or "Title" fields.