Baptist Church, Rendezvous Street

Ricky Hart saved some of this organ and the Cornopean was implemented into his instrument.

History

Baptists in Folkestone first gathered in the house of John Stace, who owned the windmill in what was then the village of Foord, in 1720.

It was John Stace who gave a piece of land in Mill Bay on which the first chapel was built in 1730. Up until 1750 the Folkestone church was a branch of the church in Canterbury, in that year it was granted ‘dismission’ and became a separate entity.

On May 22 1845, the foundation stone of the first Baptist chapel, on this site was laid. The new building was called Salem Chapel and was funded largely by a loan given by the Folkestone MP, Mr SM Peto. The foundation stone of this building was laid on August 4 1874.

More than a century later, in 1987, Baptist worship here came to an end when the building was sold and is now a Weatherspoon’s pub. The Baptist Church that once worshipped in this building now worships in a new building in Hill Road, which it first occupied on Christmas Eve 1989.

Interior in 2021
Plaque on the old case

Technical

Built in 1877(c) by Henry Jones & Sons and in 1928 it was rebuilt with a new case-front by Rest Cartwright. The organ was a 2 manual instrument with manuals just short of 5 octaves (CC to A)


Stop List

Great

4’ Principal

Mixture III Ranks

8’ Dulciana

8’ Rohr Flute

8’ Open Diapason

16’ Double Diapason

Swell

8’ Oboe

8’ Cornopean

4’ Principal

8’ Viox Celeste

8’ Salicional

8’ Lieblich Gedackt

8’ Violin Diapason

Pedal

16’ Open Diapason

16’ Bourdon

8’ Octave

Couplers

Swell Super Octave

Swell To Great

Swell To Pedal

Great To Pedal

Tremulant