Our History

 3 church buildings in the last 300 years!

The old church building, located in
St Benedict's Square, Lincoln
from 1864 to 1972, knocked
down to make way for Marks and Spencer's Food Hall!

Thomas Cooper

These Five and Twenty Years

The Thomas Cooper Memorial Church has a long association with Lincoln. However, the present building only opened its doors in 1972. 

Prior to this the church building was situated in St Benedict's Square, further north along the high street, in the square behind St Benedict's Church, in area now accommodating Marks and Spencer's and Wigford Way relief road. 

This church building had been built only in the mid 1800s on the banks of the Brayford Wharf. By the late 1960s it had developed numerous structural issues and the church officers and trustees at that time accepted an offer from Marks and Spencer's, who wanted to develop their exsisting town centre store.  

TCM aquired land on the corner of the High Street and Chaplin Street and commenced building of our present church building in the early 1970s. 

By 1972 TCM opened the doors to its new church building and has remained there ever since.   

The very early history of the Thomas Cooper Memorial Baptist Church can be traced right back to the late 1500s and early 1600s when there was a split from the church which is now known as the Anglican Church. The name of the church we know now as TCM, was not given until many later years.

Those who had split from the Anglican Church became known as ‘Separatists’ and as time went on there was much intimidation and persecution towards them, and so in 1606, John Smyth, the leader of the group, and his followers were exiled to Amsterdam in Holland where they joined a group of people called ‘Anabaptists’.

They remained there until 1620, when some of the group sailed in the Mayflower, for New England and others, after some time, returned to Lincoln where it was observed in 1626 there was a Baptist Church established meeting in various places.  

The original Baptist Church was built in 1701 and was sited to the rear of St Benedict’s Square, between the old St Benedict’s Church and the River Witham where the river joins the Brayford Pool.

The old church, known as The General Baptist Church, was a very small building with a burial ground backing down to the river and it was here people were baptised by immersion.

Because of the need for a greater meeting area, in 1860 the church building was rebuilt to accommodate this need. The congregation varied in number over the ensuing years going through lean times to times of great blessings, and in 1884, because of growing requirements, the original church building was taken down and a larger building was constructed. The old building (pictured on the right) was then
re-erected behind the new one; this at a total cost of £3000.

The new church building was opened on 2 May 1886 and it was because of the ministry of one Thomas Cooper, Chartist, historian etc., that the church became known as the Thomas Cooper Memorial Mission, and even later, Thomas Cooper Memorial Baptist Church, where the Word of God was preached faithfully for a number of years. The original church building then became the meeting hall.