Station Road, Knowle, Solihull, West Midlands B93 0HN

Knowle Congregational

Church 3

The Church looks immaculate with its hedges and gates. But, no resident Minister was appointed despite the fact that one was clearly necessary because it was the only Nonconformist chapel for a wide area. In the period leading up to the Second World War the Church was now full and one had to arrive early to get a seat!

But the church was not filled with Congregationalists - several denominations were represented. Quite a few Plymouth Brethren, free church members and Baptists used the Church. Sadly, these groups stayed separate and there were problems between the Plymouth Brethren and Free Church Groups particularly. Indeed the groups almost took over the Church with many Hallelujahs etc!

Jack Deakin believed that George Fisher "saved the day". George Fisher was Treasurer of the Congregational Union, based at Carr’s Lane (In Jack’s eyes ‘Our Mother Church’ ). George and his wife (Ida?) had belonged to a lively Congregational Church in the Sutton Coldfield area before moving to Barston. He was well known in the Warkwickshire Congregational Union, and I suspect they urged him to help the Knowle church get back on the right tracks; it was recovering after being virtually taken over by a group of “Brethren.”

In Jack Deakin’s words: "One or two Congregationalists started to work with Carr’s Lane and in the end the Rev. Stead (1943-1946) came to the Church determined to hoof them out.  This wasn’t done nicely: it could have been done in a better way.  The free church people founded a Church at Bentley Heath.  The Plymouth Brethren went to Barston.  The whole process gave Knowle Congregational Church a bad name and the congregation fell."

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