Non-Conformism

From about 1774 onwards, ministers preached in the village unconnected with the established church. Some of the Dissenters, as they were then known, worshipped at the chapels in Carlton and Sharnbrook.

In Harrold, meetings took place on The Green, sometimes in a barn, but most frequently in the homes of friends. John Mardlin and Knightly Smith pulled down a partition between rooms in their cottages to accommodate more people for services. Rising attendances led to consideration of an enlarged place of worship.

William Ray provided ground from his garden on which to build a chapel, and Mr Clark, a farmer, provided the stone for the building: together with donations from others, the Congregational Church was built. It became a United Reformed Church in 1972.