Heather Al-Jawad looks back with thanks

The 17th century had seen a lot of changes in religious life in England. The Church of England had established its supremacy in the country, but Nonconformists, who did not hold with the monarch as head of the church, had eventually been allowed to meet, provided they registered their places of worship.

In 1700 four or five such places had been registered in the little market town of Chesham, north of London in the Chiltern Hills. By 1712 ten Presbyterian families had been recorded as worshipping in the town. Baptists, Congregationalists and Presbyterians had been variously described as Independents, and their numbers in the town continued to grow….

Heather Al-Jawad is an Elder at Chesham United Reformed Church

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This is an extract from an article published in the Issue 1 – 2025 edition of Reform

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