Downing Place United Reformed Church, Cambridge

Site of the former Hog Hill chapel, Downing Place, Cambridge

The former Emmanuel United Reformed Church building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge

Stained glass windows in the former Emmanuel URC building. From left to right: Henry Barrow, John Greenwood, Oliver Cromwell, John Milton, Francis Holcroft and Joseph Hussey

Historically a congregational church, Emmanuel voted to join the new United Reformed Church in 1972. Prior to the 2018 merger, Emmanuel United Reformed Church had been known by different names over the years, first as the 'Hog Hill Independent Church' and then the 'Emmanuel Congregational Chapel' or 'Emmanuel Congregational Church'.

The Emmanuel congregation was founded as the Cambridge 'Great Meeting' in 1687, at Hog Hill, the original building being there, on what is now the Old Music School in Downing Place. From 1691 the minister was Joseph Hussey;[4] he was commemorated in the stained glass in the apse of the former Emmanuel United Reformed Church building alongside John Greenwood, Henry Barrow, Oliver Cromwell, John Milton and Francis Holcroft. Hussey's congregation split in 1696, with some going to the meeting in Green Street, Cambridge, and again after he had left for London, in 1721, with a group founding the precursor of St Andrew's Street Baptist Church, Cambridge. The church was rebuilt on the same site in the later 18th century, opening as Emmanuel Congregational Chapel in 1790.[5][6] The move to the new church on Trumpington Street, called the Emmanuel Congregational Church, came in 1874.[5] The old chapel was put to use from 1881 as the Balfour Biological Laboratory for Women, for female science students in the University of Cambridge.[7] Prior to September 2020, Emmanuel United Reformed Church occupied a building on Trumpington Street, Cambridge. It was built to a design by the architect James Cubitt in 1875.[8] The building was sold to Pembroke College to form part of the college's Mill Lane development project.

In the years leading up to the merger, Emmanuel organised regular Sunday worship and a programme of community activities in the recent past: a volunteer-staffed fairtrade cafe, a series of lunchtime music recitals and a share in Hope Cambridge's Churches Homeless Project.

St Columba's was historically a Presbyterian church. A Presbyterian congregation first registered in Cambridge 1689, at that time based in Green Street. The congregation of St Columba's was formally established in 1881, initially worshipping in Cambridge Guildhall. As of 1891, the present-day building on Downing Place had been built.[5]

In the years leading up to the merger, St Columba's, the church's programme included regular Sunday worship, hosting an NHS group therapy centre and a night-time drop-in centre hosted by Cambridge Street Pastors.[1]

In 2018, St Columba's United Reformed Church and Emmanuel United Reformed Church merged to form Downing Place United Reformed Church. The combined congregation occupies the former St Columba's building in Downing Place.[1] (The former Emmanuel building was sold to Pembroke College, Cambridge across the road in Trumpington Street, who intended to retain it as a lecture and performance area as part of their Mill Lane redevelopment. The merged congregation retained the use of the church building for a short period. The final service in the Emmanuel building took place on Sunday 26 July 2020 and all activities at Trumpington Street have now ceased.[2]

Former ministers have included:

• 1738–1754 John Conder[9]
• 1767–1788 Joseph Saunders[5]
• 1806–1817 William Harris[5]
• 1848–1854 George Burder Bubier[10][11]
• 1859–1865 Thomas Campbell Finlayson[10][12]
• 1871–1872 James Ward[13]
• 1894–1901 P. T. Forsyth[14]
• 1902–1909 William Boothby Selbie[15]
• 1910–1942 Henry Child Carter

And in recent years:

• Tony Coates;
• Derek Wales;
• Paul Quilter;
• Lance Stone; and
• John Bradbury.

Among the other people who have been associated with the congregation over the years, Michael Ramsey, who later became Archbishop of York, worshipped at what was then Emmanuel United Reformed church as a child, where his father was a deacon.[16]