Brook Street Chapel, London, England
From BrethrenPedia
Contents
History
1830's
A group of eight ex-Quakers met in the house of a Mrs. Sands on Stoneleigh Road (formerly Stoney South) in 1838, and the Brooks Street Meeting House was constructed and opened in 1839. Some of the funding was provided by the meteorologist Luke Howard, and among the original members was his chemist son John Eliot Howard, and John's brother Robert.
1840's
By 1842, as the population of Tottenham grew, so did the assembly, which had 88 by that time. Around 1848, a Tottenham Memorandum was produced to show that between the Open and Exclusive factions, it wanted to identify itself as "Open", receiving born-again Christians into fellowship that had observably demonstrable faith.
1850's
It had grown to 140 by 1851.
1880's-1890's
The "meeting house" was given over entirely for the children's work, while other assembly meetings were held (1880-1903) in lecture rooms on the opposite side of High Road.
1900's
The Sunday School was estimated to have 600 children by the turn of the century.
1930's
In 1939, the Chapel building was renovated with an addition built.
1940's
During World War Two, bombings destroyed the nearby houses, and subsequently, the assembly occupies the whole of Brook Street.
1950's
In 1955, it was renovated again to include a schoolroom and a back hall for youth work.
Notable alumni
Regulars
- James Van Summer, founder of "The Missionary Reporter" and subsequent "Missionary Echo" and "Echoes of Service" publications.
- Edmund Gosse, who taught Sunday School
- Ernest & Alice Haines +1910, later with Friendship Gospel Chapel, PA.
Itinerants/Visitors
- Thomas Barnardo
- John Nelson Darby
- Philip Gosse and his wife Emily Bowes, married at the chapel in 1848
- Anthony Norris Groves 1852
- George Muller
- James Hudson Taylor
