In 1689 the local Presbyterians formed a church and initially met in the ballroom of Mount Ephraim House, apparently using a portable pulpit, fixed to the wainscot. The first minister was D Stott from Norwich, who was followed in 1700 by the mathematician and theologian Humphrey Ditton.
The dissenters were unable to persuade any local landowner to provide a site for a chapel until a local Baptist called Jordan bought a house in his own name on Mount Sion from Thomas Seal, a Quaker. A chapel was opened on the site in 1720. The picture below is by J J Dodd and is in the collection of the Tunbridge Wells Corporation.
A congregation of Methodists were using this building from 1778, which they were able to use on Sunday evenings and during the week; however in 1812 they built their own chapel in Vale Royal.
Antique etching
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