Chesham - Religion

Religion

The oldest church building in Chesham is St. Mary's Church which dates from at least the 12th century. Chesham has a long history of religious dissent, such as the persecuted Lollards, followers of the John Wycliffe tradition. One of them Thomas Harding was martyred on White Hill, near Dungrove Farm, in 1532. There is a memorial to local Lollards in Amersham, and memorials to Thomas Harding in the churchyard and on White Hill. The 17th, 18th and 19th centuries saw the rapid growth of non-conformism especially Baptists. During the civil war there were groups of Quakers, Baptists and Presbyterians. Broadway Baptist Church dates back to at least 1706 and had its 300th anniversary celebrations in Chesham in 2006. Its roots are in the Chesham and Berkhamsted Baptist Church which dates back to 1640.

In the present day, Chesham has four Baptist churches (Broadway Baptist, Trinity Baptist, Newtown Baptist and Hivings Free Church) and three Anglican churches (St Mary's, Christ Church in Waterside and Emmanuel in Newtown).

There is a United Reformed Church, formerly called the Congregational Church, in The Broadway, there was a Gospel Hall in Station Road (which closed at the end of 2008), a Roman Catholic church (St Columba's) in Berkhampstead Road (built in 1960), a Methodist chapel in Bellingdon Road, a Salvation Army Citadel in Broad St, Hiving's Free Church in Upper Belmont Road, an historic Quaker Friends Meeting House in Bellingdon Road, The King's Church charismatic fellowship which meets at Chesham Park Community College. Most of the churches of Chesham work collectively as part of the Churches Together for Chesham (CTfC) group. Other religious groups include Chesham Spiritualist Church in Higham Road, and the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses off Bellingdon Road.

During the Second World War the first recorded Jewish congregation was founded on families evacuated from London who used to meet at the cricket pavilion. After the war they combined with the Jewish community in Amersham which met at the synagogue in Amersham-on-the-Hill until 1968. This was succeeded by a Liberal Judaism community formed in 1990 which now meets at Chesham Grammar School.

During the second half of the 20th century a Muslim community became established in the town. Chesham Mosque the first purpose-built mosque was completed in 2005 and is located in Bellingdon Road.