The 18th Century Baptist Chapel and Burial Ground at West Butts Street, Poole

by Jacqueline I. McKinley

ISBN 978-1874350-45-3

An intact, 18th century Baptist burial ground was excavated in Poole, Dorset. The West Butts Street congregation was established in 1735 by 15 named members but dwindled in the 1780s. The chapel was demolished but the burial ground subsequently served a second Baptist community, Hill Street, founded in 1804, until their own church was built in 1813. Documentary research gathered a wealth of information regarding the town, its population and economic status, and the growth and spread of Nonconformity and the Baptist movement. Osteological analysis of 100 individuals has enabled some aspects of the lives of the cemetery’s population to be gleaned.