NONCONFORMITY

In 1681 thirtythree people attended an illegal religious meeting. (fn. 41)

Mount Bures Strict Baptist church (fn. 42) originated when Charles Cock from Uptree (presumably Tiptree), a farmer's son, preached three times on Sundays in a cottage in Mount Bures in the 1830s. He attracted farm workers and tradesmen from a wide area, and in 1839 a small rectangular brick chapel was erected in Chappel Road by voluntary subscription. After c. 12 years Cock was succeeded by John Hazelton from London. (fn. 43) On census Sunday 1851 there were attendances of 80 in the morning and 110 in the afternoon. (fn. 44) The annual anniversary celebration in 1881 with five visiting preachers attracted 140 people from many parts of Essex and Suffolk, and in 1897 'for life and spirituality Mount Bures [was] considered one of the best Baptist causes in Essex'. (fn. 45) Further pastors served until Joseph Quinney who resigned in 1911; thereafter services were held by visiting preachers. Numbers declined in the 20th century to an average attendance of c. 11 in 1996. There was a closed communion, and articles of faith included belief in predestination. The church apparently joined the Essex Association of Strict Baptist Churches in 1880, and was admitted to the Gospel Standard Society of Strict Baptist Churches in 1937. There was an attached burial ground by 1890, (fn. 46) which was used until 1983.

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