Ebenezer Particular Baptist Chapel, Hastings

Ebenezer Particular Baptist Chapel
The chapel from the northwest
50°51′31″N 0°35′46″E / 50.8585°N 0.5961°E / 50.8585; 0.5961Coordinates: 50°51′31″N 0°35′46″E / 50.8585°N 0.5961°E / 50.8585; 0.5961
Location	Ebenezer Road, Old Town, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 3BS
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Baptist
History
Founded	1817
Founder(s)	David Fenner
Architecture
Status	Former chapel
Functional status	Residential conversion
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	19 January 1951
Style	Neoclassical
Completed	1817
Closed	c. 1999

Ebenezer Particular Baptist Chapel is a former Strict Baptist place of worship in the town and borough of Hastings, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex. Founded in 1817 by members of the congregation of an older Baptist chapel in the ancient town, it was extended several times in the 19th century as attendances grew during Hastings' period of rapid growth as a seaside resort. It was closed and converted into a house in the late 20th century, but still stands in a prominent position in the Old Town. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

Hastings is one of the oldest settlements in Sussex. Its position—a sheltered natural harbour near fertile fishing grounds in the English Channel, surrounded by forests and marshes—allowed an autonomous settlement to develop from about the 8th century. The Haestingas tribe, finally overcome by King Offa of Mercia in 771, gave its name to the settlement in which they were based. The town was large and important enough to have a mint by 928; and a century later its most famous event, the Battle of Hastings, brought it to wider attention.

Several churches were founded in the medieval era: there were seven in 1291. Over the centuries, most were closed and demolished. The two oldest survivors, St Clement's Church (rebuilt after being damaged by French raiders in 1377) and All Saints Church (about 1410), lie either side of the parallel streets which formed the heart of the Old Town. In 1801, these were still the only two churches in the Old Town; but in about 1809, Protestant Nonconformism—prevalent throughout Sussex since the 17th century— made its first appearance in the form of a small chapel on Tackleway, behind the beach at Rock-a-Nore. Cow Lodge Chapel was built for Strict Baptists and was attended by a David Fenner. A disagreement among the congregation led to the secession of some members in 1817. Fenner was one of the secessionists, and in that year he built a new chapel on a steeply sloping site behind Tackleway.