PROTESTANT NONCONFORMITY.
By 1669
the Society of Friends held meetings in a private
room at Longford. In 1673 the meeting bought
a plot of land, and a meeting-house was built in
1676. (fn. 46) In that year there were said to be 48 nonconformists in Harmondsworth parish, although the
sect or sects to which they belonged are not stated. (fn. 47)
The earlier 18th century saw a decline in the Quaker
congregation, but during the later half of the century
numbers increased as Quaker families settled in
Uxbridge and Staines. The 19th century, however,
saw a steady decline, and the Longford meeting was
amalgamated with Westminster in 1864. In its early
days the meeting appointed its own overseers of the
poor, but between 1690 and 1717 a few Quakers
were supported by the parish. (fn. 48) In 1778 there were
said to be Anabaptists in the parish, with a meetinghouse at Longford, (fn. 49) but these may have been
Quakers. The meeting-house is mentioned in 1792
and 1793, (fn. 50) and in 1839 the meeting owned a cottage
and garden in Longford. (fn. 51)
In 1810 there were about 98 dissenters in Harmondsworth parish, the majority described as Anabaptists and the rest as Independents. Their numbers were said to be decreasing steadily. (fn. 52) In 1820
a house in Longford was registered for worship by
the Independents, (fn. 53) but in 1835 there were said to be
no chapels of any sort in the parish. (fn. 54) The Baptists
built the Zoar Baptist Chapel in Longford in 1859. (fn. 55)
It consisted of a small annexe to a private house, the
name of the chapel being later altered to Zion
Chapel. (fn. 56) The chapel fell into disuse in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries (fn. 57) and, although the building
was still standing in 1960, it was not used for religious purposes.
There were Baptists in Harmondsworth village
itself in 1833, by which time they had established
a Sunday school attended by 54 boys. (fn. 58) By 1846
Harlington Baptist Chapel had a branch at Harmondsworth, which probably consisted of a Sunday school,
and before 1855 there was a chapel in the village
under the control of the Harlington chapel. The Harmondsworth chapel had belonged to John Hunt,
who sold it to Harlington in 1855 on leaving for
Australia. (fn. 59) This chapel, probably in a private house,
evidently declined, and in 1880 a mission room was
built (fn. 60) and registered for non-denominational worship. (fn. 61) The building was enlarged in 1884, (fn. 62) still as
an unsectarian mission room. Its registration was
cancelled in 1891. (fn. 63) The Harmondsworth Baptist
Chapel was formed in 1896; (fn. 64) at first it may have
occupied the mission building, before a new site was
found on the corner of Moor Lane and Hatch Lane. (fn. 65)
In 1936 the Baptists registered an old chapel at the
back of Blacksmith's Row, (fn. 66) but in 1959 the chapel
on the corner of Moor Lane and Hatch Lane was the
only Baptist meeting-house in Harmondsworth. (fn. 67)
There are traces of nonconformity in Sipson by
1708, when dissenters met in William Wild's house. (fn. 68)
In 1886 the Y.M.C.A. registered a mission room in
Sipson, (fn. 69) and in 1887 a packing shed belonging to
Thomas Wild was registered for the use both of the
Y.M.C.A. and the Salvation Army. (fn. 70) Both registrations were cancelled in 1896. A Salvation Army hall,
registered from 1891 to 1901, (fn. 71) stood at the corner of
Sipson Lane and Sipson Road. (fn. 72) The building, of
yellow and red brick, was erected in 1891 and
enlarged in 1900. (fn. 73) In 1907 Sipson Baptist Chapel
was formed; (fn. 74) this most probably occupied the same
corner site as the Salvation Army hall. (fn. 75)
In Heathrow nonconformity appeared with the
Primitive Methodists in 1870, and by July 1871
a chapel had been built and registered. (fn. 76) Its site is
not certain, as in 1888 it was said to be some distance away from Heathrow, where the Methodists
had erected a new chapel which was more convenient. (fn. 77) Late-19th-century maps show a disused
Methodist chapel in Cain's Lane. (fn. 78) The only registration of a Primitive Methodist chapel in Heathrow
was in 1890, and this registration was cancelled six
years later. (fn. 79) A Salvation Army barracks at Heathrow
was registered between 1899 and 1903, (fn. 80) and in the
early 20th century there was a mission room, also in
Cain's Lane opposite the old Methodist chapel. (fn. 81)
This was said to have been erected for the Sipson
Baptists in 1901. (fn. 82) All of these buildings were
destroyed during the construction of Heathrow
Airport.