PROTESTANT NONCONFORMITY.
John
James, a Presbyterian ejected from his living in 1622,
had settled in Staines by 1669, and was licensed to
preach there in 1672. He also preached in other
places nearby, but had left Staines by 1690. (fn. 32) A
meeting-house in Staines, which may have been
Presbyterian, was registered in 1690. (fn. 33) Robert
Chantrye, the son of another ejected Presbyterian, was
minister at Staines from 1712 to 1734, (fn. 34) and there was
a Presbyterian meeting-house by the market-house
in 1716. (fn. 35) The Presbyterians were said to have a
meeting-house in 1778, but they are not referred to
after this. (fn. 36)
By 1676 there were Quakers in Staines who met
every fortnight in the house of one of their number.
A meeting-house was built in 1712 in the lane
behind the market-house (fn. 37) (later Quaker's Lane or
Blackboy Lane). (fn. 38) In 1765 the meeting also acquired a
burial ground behind Church Street. (fn. 39) Between 1775
and 1818 from seven to sixteen Quakers owed tithes
in various years: (fn. 40) they included members of the
local banking and brewing Ashby family, who
remained strong supporters of the meeting until the
20th century. In 1810 meetings were held at Staines,
Uxbridge, and Isleworth in rotation, but by 1820
they were held every week in Staines. (fn. 41) In 1844 a
new meeting-house was built to the south of the
High Street, nearly on the site of the present one. (fn. 42)
It was a classical building designed by Samuel
Danvers (see plate facing p. 30). (fn. 43) The old meetinghouse was later used as a school and was demolished
when the area was cleared for the Town Hall, or
shortly before. (fn. 44) During the later 19th century the
number of members reached a peak of about 50:
in 1868 34 of the members were Ashbys. (fn. 45) At the
same time and earlier the Friends supplied the chief
support of the several undenominational schools in
the town. (fn. 46) A mission meeting was established at
Stanwell for a few years in the early 20th century, (fn. 47)
but later the Staines meeting declined in numbers
and activity: this was perhaps partly the result of a
decline in the size and influence of the Ashby family.
The meeting-house, with part of the appurtenant
land, was sold in 1936 and was demolished. A cottage and the adjoining burial ground were retained
and a wooden meeting-house was erected there in
1937. The membership rose again from about 20 in
1930 to 32 in 1956. (fn. 48)
John Wesley visited Staines in 1771 and preached
in a house which had just been fitted up for the
purpose. (fn. 49) He recorded an enthusiastic reception and
according to the Anglican authorities the number of
Methodists increased between 1778 and 1810. (fn. 50)
There does not seem to have been a proper chapel
before about 1845, (fn. 51) but the Wesleyan minister from
Windsor registered a dwelling-house in Staines for
religious worship in 1825. (fn. 52) By 1865, and probably
twenty years before, the Wesleyan chapel stood on
the site of the present Salvation Army fortress in the
Kingston Road. (fn. 53) This chapel was replaced in 1890
by the present building in the Gothic style on the
other side of the road. (fn. 54) It is built in red brick with
stone dressings and has a south-west spire. In 1957
the church had about 160 members. (fn. 55) A Primitive
Methodist chapel was built in Richmond Road in
1878. (fn. 56) It was closed in the 1890's, after the opening
of the new Wesleyan church and of a Primitive
Methodist church in Egham. (fn. 57) The building is still
in existence and is used as a factory.
There was said to be a Baptist meeting-house in
1778 and 1810. (fn. 58) Three successive pastors served it
before the congregation declined and it was closed.
It was reopened in 1824 and the church was formed
and a resident pastor was appointed in the following
year. This meeting-house stood in or near Church
Street and was replaced in 1837 by the present
building in Bridge Street. The church had some 60
members in 1860, c. 1873, and 1957. (fn. 59) Another
Baptist church, the Bethel Chapel in Church Street,
was in existence in 1853. It had been closed by
1866. (fn. 60)
A congregation of 28 Independents was formed in
1789 and a minister was appointed at the same time. (fn. 61)
A meeting-house was built in Tilley's Lane in 1802, (fn. 62)
which was demolished when another was erected
in its stead in Thames Street. This second chapel
was designed by W. Higgins and opened in 1837. It
was brick, with a stucco main front and an Ionic
portico looking towards the High Street. (fn. 63) New
schoolrooms were added behind in 1867 and used
for some years as day schools. In 1956 this church was
demolished for road-widening and a new one,
designed by J. P. Blake, was opened. It is built in
red brick, and the low tower, at the west end, has
a pyramidal roof behind a parapet and glass bricks
set in the form of a cross on three sides. In 1861 the
church had over 70 members; the highest number
was apparently 147 in 1934. (fn. 64) In 1956 there were
109. (fn. 65)
The Hale Street Room was opened about 1880 as
a place of worship of the Brethren. (fn. 66) The centre
portion of the building had formerly been a school,
probably the boy's British school. The corrugated
iron part behind was added in the late 19th century,
and the brick part in front in 1954. In 1957 there
were some 60 members. (fn. 67)
The Salvation Army bought the former Wesleyan
chapel in Kingston Road in 1891, and used it until
1952, when it was replaced by a new building on the
same site. (fn. 68)
The Blue Ribbon Gospel Army met in rooms in
Mill Mead for some years around 1882. (fn. 69)
Some Christian Scientists who had been meeting
in a private house in Ashford since 1938 began to
hold their services in the girl guides' hut in Station
Path, Staines, in 1947. The group became recognized
as a full branch of the church in 1949, and was still
occupying the hut in 1956. (fn. 70)
The Kingdom Hall, in Chestnut Grove, was
opened by Jehovah's Witnesses in or shortly before
1951, in place of a hall in Woodthorpe Road,
Ashford. (fn. 71)
The Staines and District Council of Churches,
which embraced the Anglican and nonconformist
churches, had been in existence for over fifteen years
by 1957. (fn. 72)