Station Road, Knowle, Solihull, West Midlands B93 0HN
Nonconformity was active in Knowle at least as early as the late seventeenth century when four conventicles are known to have existed.
John Wilkinson, curate at the Parish Church from 1673 to 1695, had been ejected from the living at Ansty because of his Puritan beliefs, but later conformed. However, he remained well disposed towards those affected by the discriminatory legislation of those times.
From 1690 until 1735 Presbyterian meetings with “considerable lectures on ye weekday” were held at “Blewlake neer Knole” (see Blue Lake Road, Dorridge).
Key Dates:
1749 John Wesley preached in the yard of the Red Lion.
1828 A meeting place for dissenting Worship opened by the Solihull Congregational minister on 31st March
1835 A "New Independent Chapel" was opened for Public Worship on the High Street on
Tuesday, March 10th
1876 A covenant was signed supporting a separate Congregational Church in Knowle on
January 2nd
1932 The Foundation Stone for the Congregational Chapel on Station Rd was laid on 7 May 1932, it was opened on November 12th
1943 First Minister, Rev. N.P.Stead, appointed
1946 The three manual reed organ was bought
1949 Manse bought (at some point this was sold to the then Minister, Rev. David Pitkeathley)
1953 The foundation stone for the Church Hall was laid and it was officially opened on
3rd July 1954
Note: whilst the above looks like a steady progression, it must be emphasised that progress was halting with fall backs and subsequent revivals
Non conformity
in Knowle
Early days of nonconformist church in Knowle
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The Nonconformists were never very numerous in Knowle. By 1735 they were very few, and even a visit from John Wesley himself did not produce any immediate results. He wrote in his Journal that on Thursday 26th October 1749 he came to Knowle between nine and ten and found it was a furious turbulent place from the start. He began by preaching to a few gaping people before the mob could assemble; the crowd increased and were tolerably attentive. In the afternoon he rode to Evesham. He said the Knowle people were an ungodly lot, much given to drunkenness, in need of conversion and a church. This has its amusing side since he was preaching in the Red Lion yard and the Parish Church was in full view across the square.
...taken from ‘The History of Knowle’ by Eva Wootten.