Congregationalist Church

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This was originally one of the tanning barns of the hide business (see record 0486 for more detail). In the early 1840s, William Waine who had been a tanner and hide dealer, sold the bark barn to the Congregationalists, who founded their church here in 1843, after Wheatley people had worshipped since 1794 in rooms owned by Samuel Standley and Sarah Allen and others elsewhere.

The pre-1897 photo shows the chapel and the cottage(s). Plans now went ahead for a new Schoolroom and a few alterations in the Chapel. Two anonymous friends offered £100 each if Mr. Harris, the Treasurer, could match the sum from other sources. Col. and Mrs. Miller of Shotover Park donated £25. The property site was given by Mr. Iliffe Pike and his sister. The construction was by Mr. C.C. Robinson of Wolvercote, and the designs were drawn up by Mr. Mardon Mowbray of Oxford. The new building was finished in decorated Gothic style, and the foundation stone laid in September,1898 by Mr. Hugh Ball, B.A., Mr. Edward Beaumont, and Mr. R.R. Alden, all of Oxford. Members of the Church taking part were Mr. Joshua Harris (S.S.Supt. and. Church Treasurer), Mr. Iliffe Pike (Church Secretary), and Mr. Cecil Shepherd (Rep. of the Guild). See record 1628 for full history of this church.Mr East, known as Bumper East as he had a wooden leg, is standing in the foreground. Lamp on corner of the cottage was lit manually for a few hours every evening by a member of the Shepherd family.

The United Reformed Church resulted from the 1972 union of the Presbyterian and the Congregational churches.

A list of pastors from 1794-1997 is included.

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