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Providence Congregational Church was formed in Uxbridge about 1777. Meetings were held in the 'George' until 1795 when the first meeting-house was built near the Lynch Green, in the garden of J. A. Glover, a wealthy merchant who largely financed the project. The land around the building was consecrated as a burial ground. The meeting-house was renovated about 1890 and again in 1902. By 1926 the congregation had increased to 319 members. After 1933, however, membership declined rapidly.

A mission organized by Providence Church was established in a community room in Peachey Lane, Cowley, in 1955 to serve the new council estate at Cowley Peachey. The adult work, however, was not a success, and no evening services were held after 1960. A Sunday school continued to meet in the community room until 1963 when all work in the building ceased. The children of Cowley nonconformists subsequently attended Sunday school in Uxbridge.

From the late 1950s discussion centred on plans for the amalgamation of the two Congregational churches in Uxbridge. They were finally united in 1962 as Uxbridge Congregational Church, which thenceforth worshipped in the former Old Meeting premises. In 1963 services were still occasionally held in Providence Church but soon afterwards the building became derelict and was demolished in 1969. It had a tall two-storied cement-rendered front with round-headed windows, pilasters, and a central pediment flanked by scrolls above the parapet.

From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 91-95.

The New Cross Congregational Church was founded in 1894.

The Paddington Chapel was a Congregational Chapel built in 1813. The building of the church was funded by businessman Thomas Wilson, who supported the building of several churches across the United Kingdom. The church was situated in Saint Marylebone. In 1815 a Sunday School was opened. The Sunday School began to include Writing Classes which developed into a full time Day School, which was open between 1828 and 1874. An attempt was made in 1919 to change the name of the church to "Saint Marylebone Congregational Church" to clear up misunderstandings that it was situated in Paddington, but the decision was made to retain the old name. In 1941 the church was hit by an incendiary bomb but it sustained little damage. The church was closed in the late 1970s and the building was demolished in 1981.

In 1880 the church opened the Earl Street Mission in Lission Grove. By 1907 the Mission was so successful that another hall was purchased in Carlisle Street, although this had to be demolished in 1920. The Mission ran various evangelical and social welfare activities including a Sunday School, Mother's Meetings, Burial Club, Men's Meeting, club for the unemployed and Youth Centre. The Hall was destroyed in an air raid in 1940 and subsequently closed in 1953.

Plumstead Congregational Church was originally built as an iron and wood church in 1899 on freehold land at Viewland Road, Plumstead.

The Vine Congregational church, formerly known as Ilford High Road church, was founded in 1892 by the Metropolitan District Committee of the London Congregational Union. Services were held in the Thompson Rooms and later in a house in Oakfield Road. Edward T. Egg, a veteran minister, became temporary leader at Ilford, and in 1894 opened an iron church in High Road. In 1895 a large hall was opened, with A. G. Spears as minister. He was succeeded in 1897 by Charles H. Vine, who remained until his death in 1930.

Under Vine's leadership High Road became one of the strongest churches in Essex. Soon after his arrival the hall was enlarged, and in 1901 a new church was opened, with seats for 1,400. In 1910 an adjoining site was purchased and additional buildings erected. One of Vine's most important enterprises was the Men's Meeting, founded in 1901 and rising to a membership of 2,000. This organization undertook social work of many kinds. As early as 1904 it had a labour exchange for its members, and it also ran a sick benefit society, a holiday savings club, a hospital savings group, a horticultural society, a benevolent fund, and clubs for swimming and tennis.

From the first Vine was active in fostering new churches in the Ilford area. After his death the High Road church incorporated his name in its title, being known as the Vine Memorial church and later as the Vine church. During his ministry church membership rose from 110 in 1897 to a peak of 979 in 1927. During and after the Second World War membership declined.

In 1960 the High Road part of the site, including the church of 1901, was sold for redevelopment. A new, smaller church in a simple mid-20th-century style was built in 1961, facing Richmond Road, and the church hall, facing Grosvenor Road, was renovated.

The church is now part of the Vine United Reformed Church on Riches Road.

From: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 5 (1966), pp. 249-266.

Boscombe Congregational Church, Bournemouth, Dorset, was founded in 1887. It was part of the Western District of the Hampshire Congregational Union.

Chelsea Congregational Church, Markham Square, was registered for Congregationalists in 1860 in succession to Radnor Congregational chapel, Radnor Street. There were 890 evening worshippers in 1886, but later the church was burdened with debt from building costs; there were reports of dissension in 1916 and of members joining the Methodist church in 1923. Attendance in 1903 was 307 in the morning and 501 in the evening, the largest attendance at any protestant nonconformist chapel except Chelsea Baptist Chapel. The Church was demolished for housing in 1953. The name of Chelsea Congregational Church was adopted by the Edith Grove Church in 1960.

From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 12: Chelsea (2004), pp. 263-272.

Harley Street Congregational Chapel, Bow, was founded in 1836. In 1903 it had 363 members and 450 students in the Sunday School. The chapel was closed in 1927 and converted into the Mile End and Bow Great Synagogue.

Saint George's in the East Congregational Church, Cannon Street Road, Stepney was founded in 1785. It was part of the East London Congregational Mission.

The Brunswick Congregational Chapel, Whitechapel Road, Stepney was founded in 1640. In 1894 it merged with the Sion Congregational Chapel, also situated on Whitechapel Road.

Bedford Park Congregational Church was situated in Streatham. It was founded in 1885.

The Craven Chapel was opened in 1822 on part of the site of the former Carnaby Market. The project was financed by Thomas Wilson, a retired merchant who from 1799 onwards had devoted himself to the building and repair of Congregational chapels. Wilson particularly wished to open a chapel in the Westminster area, and in 1821 he obtained a site from Lord Craven. The foundation stone of the chapel was laid in March 1822 and the building was opened for worship on 11 December 1822.

A Congregational church was formed on 25 April 1823, but no permanent minister was called and for the next eight years the congregation was served by visiting preachers. In May 1831 the Reverend John Leifchild was appointed as minister of the chapel. During his ministry the Craven Chapel attracted a large congregation, many of the members living 'scattered over half London'. Leifchild retired in 1854, but the congregation appears to have remained fairly numerous under his immediate successors, for early in 1874 a lecture hall and schools were opened on the north side of Foubert's Place. These were planned to replace the basement school-rooms which were part of the original chapel plan. Work was begun in the spring of 1873.

By 1894, however, the congregation seems to have felt that it could no longer continue in the area and the leases of both the Craven Chapel and Craven Hall were assigned to the West London Mission of the Methodist Church. Four years later the lease of the chapel expired, and the building was converted into a stable for the Lion brewery in Broad(wick) Street. In 1907 the West London Mission sold the lease of the hall to Messrs. Liberty. The hall is now used as a warehouse, and the chapel for industrial purposes.

From: 'Marshall Street Area', Survey of London: volumes 31 and 32: St James Westminster, Part 2 (1963), pp. 196-208.

Orange Street Congregational Chapel was bought from French Protestants by Thomas Hawkes in 1787 and converted into a Congregational chapel. The first minister was John Townsend, founder of the London Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. A Sunday school at 36 St Martin's Street was registered in 1816. The Chapel was re-registered again by Congregationalists in 1861; and was still in use in 2009.

Source: Protestant Nonconformity: City of Westminster, A History of the County of Middlesex.

The New Broad Street Congregational Meeting House was founded in 1727. New Broad Street is situated in the City of London, near Finsbury Circus.

From 1693 to 1783 the Presbyterians had a chapel on a leasehold site off Ferry Lane, Old Brentford. In 1783 they built a new chapel on a freehold site in Brentford Butts (Boston Road). The attendance dwindling greatly, the Trustees of the Presbyterian Church in 1840 invited the Church and Congregation of Albany Congregational Chapel to enter into it [nowhere is there any statement of the precise legal nature of this entering]. Although the Church and Congregation of Albany Chapel, having moved to Boston Road, wished to sell their former chapel, the Trustees were unwilling. Attempts were made to create another Church at the Albany Chapel, which succeeded in January 1854. By 1875, however, this Church was becoming very weak, and in October 1875 it resolved to amalgamate with Boston Road.

Southwark Park Congregational Church was founded in 1863. It was situated on the junction of Lower Road and Hawkstone Road, Rotherhithe.

Dulwich Grove Congregational Church was founded in 1879. It belonged to the London Congregational Union South East District. In 1972, when the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches merged, it became Dulwich Grove United Reformed Church.

Maze Hill Congregational Church, Greenwich, was founded in 1786. In 1903 it came under the Kent Association and County Missionary Society Metropolitan District and had 100 members. By 1957 membership had fallen to 15 and the church was sharing a minister with Rothbury Hall Church. By 1971 Maze Hill had united with the local Methodist Church.

The Lewisham High Street Congregational Church was founded in 1797. It ran two mission stations, at Hither Green, founded in 1871, and Ladywell, founded in 1874. In 1972 it became Lewisham High Street United Reformed Church.

The Eltham Congregational Church was founded in 1846. It belonged to the Metropolitan Kent District. In 1972 it joined the United Reformed Church.

Willesden Green Congregational Church first met at the house of Oliver Nodes in 1817. A small, plain chapel was built in 1820 at the junction of High Road and Dudden Hill Lane. Attendance in 1851 was 20 for morning services and 30 for evening services. A larger chapel was built in 1878 to the west, at the junction of High Road and Pound Lane. Attendance in 1903 was 108 for morning service and 131 in the evening. The original building was used for Sunday school until it was closed in 1907.

From: 'Willesden: Protestant nonconformity', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 242-246.

The Beckenham Congregational Church was founded in 1878. It was situated on Crescent Road. In 1903 it was part of the Kent Association and County Missionary Society Metropolitan District, and had 206 members. In 1972, when the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches merged, it became Beckenham United Reformed Church.

Edmonton and Tottenham or Snells Park Congregational chapel derived from an Independent chapel which was opened on the east side of Fore Street, near the Tottenham boundary, in 1788. The building was enlarged in 1803 and in 1820 consisted of a chapel and vestry within a burial-ground. A schoolroom was added in 1838. When John Snell's estate was sold in 1848, the Independents purchased a plot on the site of his mansion, between Langhedge Lane and Park Road (later Snells Park), for a larger chapel. The new chapel was opened in 1850. With accommodation for 850 people, it was twice the size of the old chapel. On census Sunday 1851 590 people attended in the morning and 498 in the evening, the highest figures for any nonconformist chapel, and in 1903 305 people attended in the morning and 432 in the evening. The old chapel continued in use as a schoolroom until the late 1960s. Lectures were given there in the 1870s, leading to a secession and the foundation of Lower Edmonton Congregational church in Knight's Lane. The two congregations reunited to form Edmonton Congregational church on a new site in 1959, although the Edmonton and Tottenham chapel continued to be used for worship until it was sold to the council and demolished in around 1965.

From: 'Edmonton: Protestant nonconformity', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 188-196.

New Court, one of the earliest nonconformist chapels in London, dates from 1662 when under the Act of Uniformity Doctor Thomas Manton was ejected from the church of Saint Paul's, Covent Garden. He established himself as a nonconformist minister in a chapel built for him in Bridges Street in the same parish. The church remained there until 1682 when as a result of the Five Mile Act it was forced to close due to the imprisonment of its minister, Richard Baxter. James II's Declaration of Indulgence in 1687 enabled another nonconformist minister, Daniel Burgess, to re-open the chapel and after nine years the congregation moved to more substantial premises in Russell Court, Drury Lane, to a building between an old burial ground and the theatre.

On the expiry of the lease in 1705 another move was necessary and a new building was erected in New Court, Carey Street. The congregation remained there for over a hundred and fifty years and as a result the chapel thereafter was known as New Court Chapel.

While at Carey Street the chapel was attacked by a mob supporting Doctor Sachaverell, a high church fanatic who had preached a libellous sermon against dissenters, and this caused it to close for a short time. It was also during this period that New Court was specified as being a Congregational chapel for the first time. Until then the differences between the Presbyterians and Congregationalists had not been well defined. Thomas Bradbury, a minister who had come to New Court from a nearby nonconformist church at Fetter Lane, stipulated that the chapel should be run on the Congregational model.

The extension of the Law Courts in 1866 forced the congregation to move again and a new church was built at Tollington Park. Mission premises at Lennox Road were acquired in the 1880s. The Tollington Park premises were sold to the Roman Catholic church in 1959 (it is now Saint Mellitus Roman Catholic Church). The congregation moved to new premises on Regina Road in 1961 where it remained until its closure in 1976.

The London Congregational Union, part of the Congregational Union of England and Wales, was founded in 1873. It was divided into 10 districts:

1 - Central London

2 - West London

3 - North West London

4 - North London

5 - North East London

6 - East London

7 - Metropolitan Essex

8 - Metropolitan Kent

9 - Metropolitan Surrey (East)

10 - Metropolitan Surrey (West).

The Independent Congregation at Clapham was founded in 1645. The earliest records relating to the congregation are licences granted in 1672 for individuals to use their houses for meetings (these licences are held at the National Archives).

Among the ministers of the congregation was Philip Furneaux, who was a champion of religious liberty. During his ministry (1754-1778), a new Church was built in Clapham Old Town in 1762. Previously the congregation had met in a wooden building and later a brick structure in Nag's Head Lane, later North Street, Clapham. A new church was built in 1852 at a cost of £11,000. Following considerable damage during the Second World War another Church building was constructed in 1957.

The most famous minister of the congregation was Reverend Dr James Guinness Rogers (1822-1911) who was a leading figure in nonconformist politics during the late nineteenth century. He was a prolific writer: his works included "Sermons on the Life of Christ" and "The Gospel in the Epistles". A friend of Gladstone (who opened his 1892 election campaign from Rogers' house), he assisted in the foundation of the Liberation Society (formerly the British Anti-State-Church Association). His ideas for a greater nonconformist voice, spanning the denominations, came to fruition in the National Council of Evangelical Free Churches (later the Free Church Federal Council). In a personal capacity he was Chairman of the Congregational Union of England and Wales in 1874 and was a founder member of the Council of King Edward's Hospital Fund for London. He was minister at Clapham between 1865 and 1900.

The site in Stormont Road was purchased in 1877 by the London Congregational Union. A lecture hall and school premises were erected in 1878. The hall was used for public worship from 1879. A formal meeting was held in November 1881 for the formation of a Christian church. The Revd Richard Bulmer was elected pastor. The church that was built following that meeting was demolished in 1969 and replaced by a more 'modern' structure.

Earlsfield Congregational Church began as a mission church of East Hill Congregational Church. It became independent in 1892. Earlsfield is a south-west London suburb near Wandsworth.

There were three Congregational Churches in Dalston: at Middleton Road, Pownall Road and Shrubland Road. The Shrubland Road chapel was founded in 1878.

The George Street Congregational Church was situated on London Road, Croydon. When the Congregational Church merged with the Presbyterian Church in 1972 it became the East Croydon United Reformed Church, Addiscombe Grove.

In 1866 the London Congregational Union established the South London Mission on New Kent Road at Elephant and Castle. In 1905 they rebuilt the Mission and renamed it the Crossway Central Mission. This was demolished in the 1960s to make way for a housing estate, but the mission was rebuilt nearby as Crossway Church. By the time the church was completed in 1973 the Congregationalists had merged with the Prebyterians to become the United Reformed Church.

\qjThe Pilgrim Fathers' Memorial Church on Great Dover Street had a traditional origin in a congregation of Protestant Separatists who met in 1592 'in the house of Roger Rippon in Southwark.' It claimed with more likelihood descent from a congregation which existed in 1616, and from which some of the Pilgrim Fathers emigrated. The congregation moved to a chapel in the New Kent Road in 1863-1864, named the Southwark Park Congregational Church.

The Southwark Park Congregational Church was destroyed by enemy bombing during the Second World War. The Church was replaced by a new multi purpose building on Great Dover Street, the Pilgrim Church House.

Emmanuel Congregational Church was built in 1877 on Barry Road, East Dulwich. At first it was only a temporary iron structure but a stone church was constructed in 1891. The iron chapel was used as a Sunday School until 1989 when it was replaced by a hall. The Church was sold in 1972 when the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches merged to form the United Reformed Church. The hall was renovated and reopened as Christ Church in 1988.

Junction Road Congregational Church registered a temporary building in 1865 on the north side of Junction Road, Upper Holloway. In 1866-1867 a new church was built nearby on the corner of Tremlett Grove. In 1972 it was renamed as Junction Road United Reform Church, but was closed in 1978.

From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 101-115.

In 1887 the Plaistow Congregational Church on Balaam Street built a mission hall in Southern Road. In 1943, the members of Balaam Street and Southern Road united with Greengate as Plaistow Congregational Church.

Stratford Congregational Church originated in 1861, when the congregation of Brickfields Church started to plan a new church in the centre of Stratford to replace their own. Funds were raised and a site was bought in Grove Crescent Road, but in 1865 Brickfields Church withdrew from the scheme, thinking that the building committee was too ambitious. The committee continued under the leadership of William Settles, a City merchant living at Stork House, Ilford (now Romford) Road, and in 1866-1867 built a church seating 1,600 with ancillary rooms beneath. It cost £11,500, most of which was lent by Settles, interest free. His creation was nicknamed 'Settles' Folly', but at first it flourished. James Knaggs, the first minister (1869-1898), was a powerful figure, well-supported by prosperous local families like the Curwens and Boardmans. By the 1880s membership was about 600, with a Sunday school of 900, and new classrooms had been built. Missions were opened in Chapel Street (1885-1927) and Crownfield Road (1885-1891), and help was given to new churches elsewhere. At this period the church was keenly interested in politics, displaying Liberal sympathies yet opposing the growing Socialism of the East End. In the 1890s the membership began to decline, though for many years it remained among the highest in West Ham. By 1941, however, it had become so small that the main building was abandoned, all activities being transferred to the classrooms behind, approached from the Grove. In 1966 the membership was only 21. 'Settles' Folly' had been sold in 1948, became a furniture factory, was gutted by fire in 1952, and later demolished. It has been called a 'big monstrosity' of white and yellow brick with columned portico, a 115-ft. spire, and 'debased classical' detail. Inside were two galleries, one above the other.

Source: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 123-141.

Plashet Park Congregational Church, Chester Road, Forest Gate, was founded in 1884, in a room in Crescent Road. Meetings were subsequently held in the public hall, Green Street, from 1884 until 1887, when a two-storeyed building (later used for classrooms) was erected in Chester Road, during the temporary pastorate of E. T. Egg. An iron building was added in 1890, a permanent church in 1895, and an institute in 1914. In 1925 the iron hall was gutted by fire. Its site was sold to the borough council for a chest clinic, and in 1926 a new hall, fronting on Katherine Road, was opened. In 1941 the church was badly damaged by bombing. It was reconstructed and re-opened in 1952. For most of its history the church has had a settled minister. In its earlier years it was one of the stronger nonconformist churches in the district, and it was still flourishing in the 1920s, with a membership of over 300, and a Sunday school of 600. In 1972, when the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches merged, it became the Plashet Park United Reformed Church.

Source: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 31-38.

The Congregational Chapel Building Society purchased an extensive site in Milton Road, South Hornsey, in 1851 and 1855, which was sold to Harecourt chapel, Islington, in 1859. Services and Sunday school began in 1860. An iron chapel seating 560 opened south of the school in 1867. Membership increased from 14 (1861) to 114 (1867). The chapel was declared independent of it parent foundation, Harecourt chapel, in 1872. A permanent chapel of red brick with stone dressings in Gothic style by John Sulman opened on a new site at the junction of Milton Road with Albion Grove in 1880 and was registered as the Raleigh Memorial Chapel in 1881. The Chapel accommodated 1,000 and contained a lecture hall seating 600, Sunday schools, and a library. The Chapel was damaged during the Second World War, and reopened in 1954.

Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 211-215.

The Fulham Congregational Church, Dawes Road was opened in April 1887. It included a lecture room, school rooms and library.

The Deptford Congregational Church on Deptford High Street originated in a meeting house of 1702. This was rebuilt in 1756 and then was replaced by a large chapel in 1862. The church was closed in 1969.

Stockwell Green Congregational Church originated in Stockwell Green New Chapel, which was built as a Congregational chapel in 1798. The chapel was rebuilt in 1850 as the Stockwell Green Congregational Church. The church was active in providing charitable works for the local area, including the Stockwell Institute which ran day schools, a lecture and meeting hall, Sunday Schools, a Benevolent Society and a Coal Club.

The church became Stockwell Green United Reformed Church in 1972 when the Congregationalist and Presbyterian churches merged. In 1987 the church building was sold. The congregation moved 60 - 68, Stockwell Road in 1991.

Cricklewood Congregational Church, Chichele Road, was founded in 1885. It ran a mission hall on the Edgware Road between 1913 and 1933. In 1980 the church closed and became a mosque and Islamic centre.

Mitcham Congregational Church was founded in 1818 as the Zion [or Sion] Chapel. It was responsible for the local Sunday School which it converted into a British Day School in 1857.

Plumstead Congregational Church was originally built as an iron and wood church in 1899 on freehold land at Viewland Road, Plumstead .

Upper Clapton Congregational Church on Upper Clapton Road was founded in 1815. When the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches merged in 1972, it became Upper Clapton United Reformed Church.

Alexandra Park (Whitefield Memorial) Congregational Church was founded by Congregationalists who first met at the house of Doctor Mailer in Alexandra Park Road. Many, before moving to the new suburb, had worshipped at the Whitefield Tabernacle in Leonard Street, Finsbury. A building east of the corner with Albert Road was opened in 1907 and members of the Finsbury Tabernacle automatically became members of the new church, which at first was called Whitefield Tabernacle but was recertified as Alexandra Park Congregational Church in 1922. The church, of red brick with stone dressings, had seating for 550 in 1972. A two-storey brick hall was built on the north side in 1932 and a lower hall was added to the back in 1965.

From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 356-364.

According to the Congregational Church Year Book 1971-1972, the Middleton Road Congregational Church, Dalston was founded in 1662.

The Congregational Church in Kentish Town was first founded in 1807 in Kentish Town Road. Membership grew rapidly and by the 1840s it was necessary to construct a larger building. The foundation stone of a new building on Kelly Street was laid in November 1847. The new chapel was opened on August 15th 1848. The first chapel was converted into a day school and Sunday School. The Church did not join the United Reformed Church in 1972 when the Congregational Church merged with the Presbyterian Church and remains the Kelly Street Congregational Church.

Haggerston Congregational Church was situated in Pownall Road.

The Old Gravel Pit meeting house, Chatham Place, was built in 1715 by Presbyterians from the Mare Street meeting following a disputed ministerial appointment. In 1811 the lease was taken over by a Congregational church which had been formed in 1804 and had been meeting in a hall at Homerton College. In 1869 the congregation ordered a new building on Lower Clapton Road. A large stone church was designed by Henry Fuller in a Romanesque style; it was ready in 1872. The church was renamed 'Clapton Park Congregational Church'. It is now Clapton Park United Reformed Church.