Lewes Free Presbyterian Church

Lewes Free Presbyterian Church, based in the Jireh Chapel, is one of seven Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster places of worship in England. The Jireh Chapel is a former Calvinistic Independent chapel in the Cliffe area of Lewes, the county town of East Sussex and the main town in the local government district of Lewes. It is more than 200 years old and has been designated a Grade I Listed building. HistoryThe ancient market town of Lewes has a well-established history of Protestant Nonconformism. Many chapels were established in the 18th and 19th centuries in the town itself and in its suburbs of Southover and Cliffe. One such place of worship was the Jireh chapel. In or around 1805 a dispute arose between Jenkin Jenkins, the minister at Cliffe's Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion chapel, and its congregation. He was dismissed by the Countess's Trustees and arranged for a new chapel to be built for him nearby. (The Countess of Huntingdon chapel, which opened in 1775, survived until the 1880s but has been demolished. ) Jireh Chapel was placed in the hands of trustees about 1807. Prior to that time it had been the personal property of Jenkin Jenkins. The Trust Deed states that the Chapel is a place of Christian worship to be "frequented and enjoyed by a congregation of Protestant Dissenters of the Calvinistic persuasion professing. . ". A list of certain Articles of Faith, extracted from the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England, follows. The Article on Infant baptism (Article 27) is included in the Trust Deed of the Chapel.

Lewes Free Presbyterian Church, based in the Jireh Chapel, is one of seven Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster places of worship in England. The Jireh Chapel is a former Calvinistic Independent chapel in the Cliffe area of Lewes, the county town of East Sussex and the main town in the local government district of Lewes. It is more than 200 years old and has been designated a Grade I Listed building. HistoryThe ancient market town of Lewes has a well-established history of Protestant Nonconformism. Many chapels were established in the 18th and 19th centuries in the town itself and in its suburbs of Southover and Cliffe. One such place of worship was the Jireh chapel. In or around 1805 a dispute arose between Jenkin Jenkins, the minister at Cliffe's Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion chapel, and its congregation. He was dismissed by the Countess's Trustees and arranged for a new chapel to be built for him nearby. (The Countess of Huntingdon chapel, which opened in 1775, survived until the 1880s but has been demolished. ) Jireh Chapel was placed in the hands of trustees about 1807. Prior to that time it had been the personal property of Jenkin Jenkins. The Trust Deed states that the Chapel is a place of Christian worship to be "frequented and enjoyed by a congregation of Protestant Dissenters of the Calvinistic persuasion professing. . ". A list of certain Articles of Faith, extracted from the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England, follows. The Article on Infant baptism (Article 27) is included in the Trust Deed of the Chapel.