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HISTORY OF EAST GRINSTEAD. |
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occasion of an immense gathering. A Mr. Veal, of Forest Row, read the burial service.
MOAT CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
According to the Trust Deeds of this church it is to be used " for the public worship of God, and other religious and philanthropic purposes, according to the principles and usages of Protestant Dissenters of the Congregational Denomination, called Independents, being Paedo-Baptists," i.e., those who believe in infant baptism. The Congregational Connexion first established itself in East Grinstead about 1866, beginning with Sunday services in the old Town Hall, conducted by an p]vangelist named Parry, of the Nottingham Institute. The Rev. Benjamin Slight had given up his work at Tunbridge Wells, and at his instigation it was decided to erect a church and mainly by his instrumentality the necessary funds were raised, but of the thousand pounds collected only £5 was subscribed by persons residing in the town, so small was the Nonconformist interest. On October 1st, 1868, Mr. Joshua Wilson, who was Treasurer to the Home Missionary Society, and Mr. John Finch, both of Tunbridge Wells, acting as Trustees, purchased from the late Mr. Edward Steer, for £191. 2s., the plot of land at the corner of London and Moat Roads, with a frontage of 91 feet to the former and 102 feet to the latter. On December 7th, 1870, they purchased for £115 an adjoining plot with a frontage of 79 feet to Moat Road. On December 13th following, Messrs. Wilson and Finch conveyed their interests in the first plot to the Church Trustees, namely: Rev. B. Slight, of Ashurst Wood; Rev. J. Radford Thomson, of Tunbridge Wells; Messrs. W. H. Steer and Win. Clark, of East Grinstead; E. Steer, of Turners Hill; James Waters, of Forest Row; and J. Towlson, W. Brackett, J. Whittem Hawkins and E. H. Strange, of Tunbridge Wells. The second plot was handed over to the survivors of these Trustees on March 5th, 1874.
The title deeds to the property contain what is rarely found in such documents, namely, a schedule specifying |
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