Wisbech Baptist Church
Affiliated to the Baptist Union and the Evangelical Alliance
Wisbech has been home to many religious dissenters over the years. As far back as 1555, two Wisbech men, William Wolsey and Robert Pygott were burnt at the stake at Ely for their Protestant beliefs. The Church of the day insisted that Christ was bodily present in the communion bread and wine. These men, having read the New Testament, begged to differ and were taken from Wisbech to Ely Cathedral, where they paid the ultimate price for their “heresy”.
Burning at the stake
But even after Henry VIII reformed the Church of England, there were many whose reading of the Bible led them to turn their backs on their local parish church. In Wisbech, Quakers and Congregationalists (now URC) set up their own churches.
Quaker Meeting House
The first non-conformist church in Wisbech was erected in 1692 by a group of Baptists - “those whose doctrine in religion is against Infant Baptism, and call themselves the Baptised Congregation, commonly known by the name of Anabaptists”. Their minister, William Rix, attended the first Baptist General Assembly, held that year in London.
Congregational/URC Church
Early Non-Conformists
