Danbury United Reformed Church

Church History
 

Roll of Ministers

There is evidence that during the 19^th century people were making the long trek (2 to 3 miles) to the Congregational Church at Little Baddow from as far away as the Old Bakery, below the Cricketer’s Inn.  By early in the 20^th century 17 Danbury people were worshipping at Little Baddow regularly, and a bus was provided at the expense of the church at the cost of £1 a quarter.  By 1935 Danbury Congregationalists felt the need for a church in their own village, and Little Baddow gave its blessing to the infant daughter church.  The land in Little Baddow Road was duly purchased from Mr Baxter, a local builder.  On the 18^th May 1936 Danbury Congregational Church was formally constituted at a service in the garden room at Winchmore, the home of Mr & Mrs Chandler.  Regular services were held there, led by ministers, theological students and laymen, until the opening of the present building.  The original membership of 17 rose to 24 and the average attendance was about 30.

Architect Frederic Lawrence F.R.I.B.A. of Bournemouth drew up plans for the new church, which he based on his previous work for Oxted Congregational Church in Surrey.  Mr Harry Potter of Chelmsford erected the new church, which was opened under the ministry of Rev. Vaughan-Pryce on 21^st July 1937.  In spite of being scaled down from Oxted’s much larger version of the design, the building in Danbury is beautifully proportioned and is said to have the best acoustics of any chapel in Essex.  Loans had been raised to pay for the building, but the ladies of the new congregation had formed the Women’s Fellowship in 1935, and the new church was clear of debts in 18 months, thanks largely to their fund raising efforts.

The garden room at Winchmore continued to be used for the Women’s Fellowship meetings and for a Youth fellowship, which met on Sunday afternoons.  In order to launch the Youth Fellowship church ladies walked round the village and invited boys and girls to meet for tea and biscuits.  Their efforts were so successful that the Fellowship grew until there was a membership of over 30 young people.  During the 1940’s and 50’s it was very active in the village, meeting on Tuesday and Sunday nights – Tuesdays being devoted to recreational activities.  Sadly, as with Sunday School, membership declined until the Fellowship was no longer viable.  The Women’s Fellowship, however, continues to thrive, meeting twice or three times a month on the 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th Tuesday afternoons.  They no longer restrict their activities to fund raising, although they support charities both locally and around the world.

It soon became obvious that the meetings in the Winchmore garden room would outstay their welcome, so it was decided to purchase a hut to house the extra activities.  The purchase was made in 1939 – at which point the 2^nd World War started.  The hut was taken over by the authorities and used as a N.A.A.F.I. canteen.  Volunteers from the church helped to staff it.  The hut was replaced by the present larger building in the late 1970’s, when the Manse was built.

The Danbury church continued as a Congregational church under the wing of the mother church at Little Baddow, until the amalgamation of non-conformist churches took place in 1972 – when the participant churches became the United Reformed Church.  Danbury broke from Little Baddow and joined a new group with Howe Green (Sandon) and Great Baddow – an alliance that is still in place, and has recently been joined by the new Church of Our Saviour in Chelmer Village.  A larger Chelmsford group has also been formed, where the four aforementioned churches are also joined by Trent Road, North Avenue and Writtle URC’s.