Southwick Open Air Baptistery

Southwick Open Air Baptistery

This open-air baptistery stands on the east side of Southwick, approximately 100 metres north-west of Southwick Baptist Church and immediately south of Southwick Bridge. Water for the baptismal pool is drawn from the adjacent Lambrok stream, which flows past to the north-west.

The baptistery consists of a rectangular pool enclosed by a low wall of coursed rubblestone with stone piers at each corner and marking the gateway. Wall and piers are finished with rough stone coping displaying uneven edges. A terrace of random stone slabs surrounds the pool. Access is via wide, irregular stone steps that descend from the south-east end of the bridge in a quarter-turn to the gateway in the south-east wall, which retains its original wrought-iron gate. Shallow steps lead from the gateway down into the water.

The baptistery was formalised in 1937 through the construction of this stone pool and enclosure on the site of a historic baptismal pool created by damming the Lambrok stream. The contractor was Edward Linzey & Son of Trowbridge. The work was funded by subscription and formally reopened on 22 September 1937 by H. L. Taylor, President of the Baptist Union, with a re-consecration service attended by large numbers. A stone plaque set into the north-west wall commemorates the connection with Southwick Baptist Church and the 1937 reopening.

Southwick was one of the earliest and largest centres of the Baptist movement in Wiltshire and gave rise to many other Particular Baptist communities in the region. The community was active by the mid-17th century and remained strong throughout the reigns of Charles II and James II, when dissenters faced restrictions on worship and congregations of up to 2,000 met in secret locations. During this period, the Southwick Baptists were ministered to by influential preachers including Andrew Gifford and Thomas Collier. In 1676, 340 of the 440 inhabitants of Southwick and Bradley were recorded as nonconformists. After 1689 and throughout the 18th century, Baptist congregations were established in neighbouring parishes, many as branches of the Southwick church.

The first Baptist chapel at Southwick was built in 1709 on the site now occupied by a car park. This was replaced in 1815 by the present church. In 1861 a second chapel, the Providence Baptist Chapel, was established by a former pastor of what was then known as the Old Baptist Chapel. The historic baptismal pool had last been used around 1910, after which baptisms took place inside the church. The 1937 formalisation recognised the pool's significance for the history of Baptism in the area. The baptistery has not been used since the mid-1990s, though the chapel continues to serve an active Baptist community.