Our History

Totteridge Baptist Church is a church plant from Union Baptist Church High Wycombe, starting in April 1947, initially as a daughter church.

It began in a tin hut after an invitation from Wycombe District Council to build a church on the plot of land on the corner of the Wingate Avenue / Cambridge Crescent development (with an eye to the Hillary Road Estate planned for the 1950s) was taken up by Union Baptist Church, with Union’s minister, Rev Carr, over-seeing and some of their members moving up to found the new church.



A few years later the church was able to register with the Baptist Union (https://www.baptist.org.uk) as Totteridge Baptist Church, an independent church but with Union Baptist Church supporting. They have continued to do this to the present day, including several responses to requests for helpers in a variety of ways.

The church was able to call (and fund) its first full-time minister quite early on and to date there have been 11 full-time ministers/pastors.

The tin hut was soon replaced with a more solid building, but one still classified as temporary.


This temporary building was declared permanent by the council when there was interest in extending it with a new lounge and kitchen in the early 1970s.  The grand opening of the extension was interesting. The new key used for the opening disappeared once the door had been unlocked – never to be seen again!

Inside, the focal point was the organ – a lovely two manual and foot pedal pipe organ. Unfortunately, when the new dropped ceiling was put in place in the 1980s some of the pipes proved too tall so were sawn off!!   The communion table sat in front of a low curtain and behind the curtain the choir were in residence, with the pulpit to the side.



During one worship space development, the pulpit was given to Vic Jacobsen’s Hope Now Ministries in Ukraine and was discovered there by Arthur Glinn, a previous minister, when he walked into a church in Ukraine to preach for Hope Now and found himself in his old Totteridge Baptist Church pulpit!

Quite early in the life of the church the rear hall, now known as the Well, was built. This has been used over the years as a base for youth work, for the Scouts and Guides, for playgroups and nurseries and for sports including aerobics, kick-boxing and table-tennis.



Of course, we have renovated our hall many times over the years.  Our latest project in 2019 built an additional storage area, added an air-source heat pump to provide environmentally friendly temperature control, and also revamped the interior decor. 
We hope you will come and visit it one day!