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Old Baptist Church
"Top Meeting" |
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In 1992 a survey was begun to record the monumental inscriptions in Rushden Cemetery and some stones mention persons interred at the Old Meeting burial ground. This prompted a survey in 1994 at the Old Meeting Baptist Church, which was then a leisure centre, to record the gravestones and monumental inscriptions. The original graves were under what is now a forecourt and covered by tarmac but the gravestones that survived had been placed by the boundary walls. Some of the stones were partly buried and as it was likely the inscription would have been eroded, no attempt was made to excavate. The memorials inside the building were originally on the outside and were enclosed and painted when the building was extended. The building behind the church, used in 1994 as a decorator's warehouse, had been known as the Assembly Room and was used as a Sunday School by the Baptists. On enquiring, we were told there were no memorials inside the building. The stone recorded is high up on the wall and in poor condition now. The plan shows the positions of the surviving stones in 2010 and is not to scale. The four stones behind what was then the caretaker's house, were behind some fence panels. Five stones had been removed to Park Road Baptist Church when the grave yard was closed and have been added to this list, numbered 40-44.
A book called "These years have told", by George Bayes details the recent history of the Baptist Church in Rushden and has some old pictures of the burial ground as it was before deconsecration. The Evening Telegraph newspaper carried the second picture above on March 8th 1990. The earlier history is covered in books by Rev. W. F. Harris in “Romance of a Northamptonshire Baptist Church” & by Herbert Lack in “Rushden Park Road Baptist Sunday School”.
Mr Eric Fowell, local historian and collector of many photographs of Rushden, offered us copies of photos of several old gravestones taken when the burial ground was about to be cleared. The age of the stones and working from photographs means much of the information is lost, but most names were readable when checked with the original photographs using a magnifying glass. These are numbered 45-64 and added to the records from the earlier survey. Number 65 is names of a family tomb mentioned by George Bayes in his book, and number 66 from another photograph. More found in 2012 - MIs numbered 67 - 82 are from notes made by Clive Wood of stones that could not be photographed when the burial ground was cleared (notes found June 2012) All names in the inscriptions are included in the index. |
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