Nonconformity in Milton Bryan
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on the Village Pond around 1900 [Z1130/48]
Early Nonconformity
In 1672 Charles II issued a Declaration of Toleration for Protestants dissenting from the Church of England; this had the effect of some dissenting meeting houses registering with the Secretary of State. The Toleration Act of 1689 enshrined the right of protestants to dissent from the Church of England and, once again, encouraged meeting houses to register voluntarily with local quarter sessions| and Anglican church. Registration provided protection against persecution, laying a duty of protection upon magistrates and so was popular with nonconformists. Most registrations were made with quarter sessions until the middle of the 18th century, presumably due to the mutual antagonism of nonconformists and established Church. However, from that point registration with the Church, via the local archdeaconry| began to become the favoured method, because the archdeaconry Registrar would issue a licence at any time rather than during the days each quarter when the quarter sessions met.
Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service has a reasonable number of registrations of nonconformist meeting houses in both the Quarter Sessions and Archdeaconry of Bedford archives. Registration continued through the 19th century even though persecution faded away - this was because registered buildings were allowed to claim exemption from parish poor rates, were exempt from control by the Charity Commission and were allowed to be licensed to carry out marriages. These things meant that registration became almost compulsory in practice for well established nonconformist meetings. This is fortunate for the local historian because sometimes the only surviving references to a nonconformist meeting occur as registrations.
The first mention of nonconformists in the parish of Milton Bryan is in 1798 when a house occupied by William Clark, between houses of Joseph Tobey and Michael Godfrey was registered with the Archdeaconry [ABN1/1 and ABN2/83] by H.Batchlor, W.Powell and W.Paxton - the latter name one of note in the village! In 1818 William Powell's house was registered by James Fanch and others [ABN1/2 and ABN3/3].
It is possible that the registrations of meeting houses in either 1798 or 1818, or both, were Baptist meetings but this is not certain. The first known Baptist meeting in the parish was registered in 1834 in a room occupied by John Dytom [ABN1/2 and ABN2/286] - those registering were Dytom himself, William Wood and Thomas Creamer.Two years later Creamer, Wood (now noted as being of Toddington and being the minister) and William Walker registered William Walker's house in the village [ABN1/2 and ABN2/315] and in 1839 Wood, Joseph Parry and John Powell registered a room occupied by John Wright [ABN1/2 and ABN2/345]. Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service has no further records of the Baptists in Milton Bryan.
Wesleyan Methodist chapel around 1875 [Z50/81/14b]
The first known registration of a meeting house for Methodists was in 1846 when a house occupied by William Ward was registered by Thomas Flower, the Minister of the Dunstable Circuit [ABN1/2 and ABN2/383]. Milton Bryan chapel was unique in Bedfordshire in being built on the village pond on a part of the manorial waste at the southern end of the village given by Lady Inglis, as far from the church, it was said, as possible. This chapel was erected in 1861. and was built on piles. Membership was never particularly large and during World War One it fell as low as two before a revival in the mid 1920s by the Cliff College Mission [The Dunstable Circuit: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Witness 1843-1993 by Colin Bourne]. The chapel was closed in 1970 and was later demolished. The chapel can be seen in the accompanying photographs. In one photograph [Z50/81/14b] of about 1875 the piles can be clearly seen whilst in the other [Z1130/48] the chapel seen in its context about 1900.