History
Our First Church
There has been a Congregational Church in Kentish Town since 1807. Our first building, pictured above was opened on June 26th, 1807 and stood on Kentish Town Road. A Congre- gational church was formed on May 28th, 1810, when ten people covenanted together to be a church. The first minister was the Rev. John Haslock who was ordained to the church in September, 1810.
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John Haslock John Haslock ministered in Kentish Town until 1844, and during his ministry the church increased in strength. Kentish Town grew rapidly and by the 1840s the old chapel was full to overflowing. The foundation stone of a new building on our present site in Kelly Street, was laid in November 1847 by Thomas Spalding and an address was delivered to the crowds by the Rev. John Burnett of Camberwell. The new chapel was opened on August 15th 1848. The first chapel was converted into a day school and Sunday School.
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Our Second Chapel
During the 1870s under the ministry of Dr.James Flemming, congregations numbered over a thousand on Sundays, whilst there were two day schools and many societies connected to the church. In 1918, the Congregational Church in Hawley Road, Kentish Town united with the church in Kelly Street.In 1927, the first chapel was sold and new halls were built at the rear of the second chapel. During the early years of this century, the church declined and by the 1950s the average attendance at communion was just twenty one people. The old chapel had fallen into disrepair during the war and had been damaged by a bomb. In 1955 the chapel was demolished, and services were held in the church hall. In 1960 a prefabricated was erected on the site of the old chapel, and services were held in this new building until 1990.
Our Third Chapel
In 1979 the five remaining church members decided to close down the church. The Rev. Elsie Chamberlain, then minister at Hutton in Essex, came to Kentish Town and persuaded the members of the church to allow her to bring some of the people from her church to try and revive the work at Kentish Town. There was little growth, but the church remained open. Irene Blayney, a member at Hutton, became the minister at Kentish Town and maintained the work of the church under increasingly difficult circumstances. The buildings were semi derelict, and were continually vandalized by local youths..
