Our History

Lavington United Reformed Church has a long history. What you see today is the second building on this site and it was opened in 1859. All of the church buildings are Grade 2* listed on the National Heritage List for England, details can be found at https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/
Our story, however, begins in 1641 when two resolutions were passed by the House of Commons that in churches where there was no preaching in the afternoon, a lecture was to be given either by a Lecturer or Vicar. The Revd. William Bartlett was appointed Lecturer of Bideford in the same year and moved into the town in 1647 or 1648 when he was appointed to the living. The Congregation split in 1694 when the 'Little Meeting' built a chapel in the High Street and the 'Great Meeting' built a chapel in Bridgeland Street. The 'Little Meeting' closed in 1760 and most of the remaining members joined the 'Great Meeting'. 
The Great Meeting House was demolished to meet the needs of a growing congregation, and the replacement chapel - Lavington Congregational Church - was opened with dedicatory services on 26 and 30 October 1859. It had taken 13 years and £1,610 to build (it had been estimated to cost £500 and take one year). The church was called the Lavington Congregational Church after the Reverend Samuel Lavington, who had served as the Minister of the Great Meeting House from 1752 to his death in 1807. Lavington Chapel and the Nonconformists jointly funded the first Sunday schools in the town in 1787. 
Lavington Congregational Church became Lavington United Reformed Church in 1972 as a result of the historic union between the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church in England and Wales. The United Reformed Church continued to work for closer union of Christian Churches. In 1981 the Churches of Christ joined the union, with the addition in 2000 of the Congregational Church in Scotland. Further details can be found at https://urc.org.uk/