Paradise Chapel/Congregational Church Milton Regis

[SearchingForParadise]

Hi All we are new to RootsChat & came across your forum while trying to research a building we have purchased hopefully someone can shed some light on its past!! Searching the internet we came across  this post by Jibba   http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=443849.0 some of the content relates to the Paradise Chapel & Congregational Church our building is directly behind it, named the " Manse " i am led to believe this was originally the Minsters house for the Chapel, the church is long since gone, i can remember going there when it was a scout hall many moons ago, we would love to know its age and if any members know any history relating to the building/church it was also mentioned the Church was built in 1790 and further building work carried out in 1860 does anyone know when the Manse would have been built??, our knowledge only comes from the purchase that in 1975 the Manse was converted into flats and from a photo in Jibba's post it would seem a top window has been bricked up in the conversion we would love to see some better pre conversion photos if anyone can help   Many Thanks Simon

[bearkat]

Welcome to Rootschat 

I'm sure someone with local knowledge of Sittingbourne will be long soon.

Meanwhile have you tried contacting the Sittingbourne Heritage Museum?

http://www.sittingbourne-museum.co.uk/

[SearchingForParadise]

Thanks bearkat we've only just started researching the property so will certainly drop them a line  regards  Simon

[grandarog]

In 1901  John Sheward, Congregational Minister and his Wife were living in your house.
Address then was  The Manse, 31. Crown Road,Paradise Place ,Milton next Sittingbourne.

[SearchingForParadise]

Thanks Grandarog strange how its now 48, Crown road must have gained a few!!! just as an update i have emailed Sittingbourne Heritage so hopefully the ball is rolling on some archive history

[grandarog]

You are Welcome,
                  You might like to try
                     http://www.sittingbourne-museum.co.uk/index.html
         You may find more help and info from them .There may even be an article in one of the journals. Good Luck. There are also the old ordinance survey maps to look at in Sittingbourne Library Reference section. and they have a photo archive  as well . Worth a visit for you.

[Cornopean]

PM sent!

The first Pastor of the Paradise Chapel was William Erratt Parrett who must have lived in "The Manse" for about 26 years. He was the father of William John Parrett who founded the printing firm, W. J. Parrett Ltd. (East Kent Gazette). Although there are probably members of the family still living, the only one that comes to mind is Graham Parrett who was the MD of the EKG for many years. If you can track him down he may have some knowledge of "The Manse".

Another source of information would be the URC (Congregational) Southern Synod.
http://www.urcsouthern.org.uk/property/

or The HRGS at
http://www.hrgs.co.uk/

Unfortunately this site has been `down` for some time now but if/when it comes back I`m sure I`ve seen some info (A Book about "The Paradise Chapel" (by John Clancy, I think). The local library may have a copy.

And a little snippet at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mrawson/dir08milt.html

Scroll down to "Churches".

Hope this is of some help.
   

[SearchingForParadise]

Thanks for the pointers guys all very interesting"  keep them coming i'm on the case!! "  Cornopean thanks for the PM i will have a scan on the photos tonight   regards  Simon

[Xxfamilyxx]

Hi Simon looking at this chat I'd like to tell you about 48 crown road "the manse" well this was my dads family home since I think the 30's til it was sold in 1975 I have lots of fond memories of this house please contact through this if you are still interested
Linda