Nonconformist congregations attracted a growing proportion of the population of Northamptonshire from the foundation of the earliest in the mid 17th century onwards. Initially, they included Baptist, Independent (later Congregationalist) and Quaker meetings, accompanied in due course by denominations such as the Methodists that were formed at a later stage.
Some ministers with Northamptonshire connections, such as Philip Dodderidge, William Carey and Thomas Toller, reached prominence at a national and even international level. Items relating to them can be found on the Clergy page.
Specific places of worship
- Badby Badby Congregational Chapel Built in 1873, its congregation was part of the United Reformed Church from 1972. The chapel closed in 2021.
- Kettering Catalogue of records of Toller United Reformed Church deposited at Northamptonshire Archives These include church books, minutes and registers, 1662-1972.
- Kislingbury The Kislingbury Independent Mission by Sue Ward [2026] Illustrated history of the wooden church which stood from 1933 to 2005, with details of its establishment and the activities that took place there.
- Northampton Doddridge Chapel moves on Retrospective on the closure of the chapel at Castle Hill in 2026.
- Northampton History of Castle Hill Church now Doddridge and its pastorate 1674-1895 [1896]
- Northampton History of College Street Church, Northampton by John Taylor [1897]
- Northampton The College Lane Covenant by Graham Ward [2025] How John Moore, the pastor in 1700, resolved differing opinions amongst members of the Baptist church that met in College Street, Northampton.
- Rothwell The Early history of the Independent Church at Rothwell alias Rowell by Norman Glass [1871]
Topics extending beyond a single congregation
- A collection of the sufferings of the people called Quakers by Joseph Besse [1753] Volume 1, chapter XXVII [27] concerns Northamptonshire during 1650-1689, including the names of numerous individuals and where they lived.
- Andrew Fuller preaching in a parish church Account of a funeral at an unidentified parish church when, unusually for the time, a nonconformist minister was the preacher.
- Church or Chapel? by Graham Ward [2026] Illustrated exploration of the historical background and enduring implications of this question which had widespread personal significance until well into the twentieth century.
- Early Years of the Salvation Army by Roy York [2020] An account of the development of the Salvation Army in Northamptonshire.
- Freedom after Ejection edited by Alexander Gordon [1917] This review of Presbyterian and Congregational nonconformity in England & Wales is largely based on manuscripts dating from 1690-1692. It features the places in Northamptonshire where such congregations met (pages 76-78) and includes a detailed account of the activities of Richard Davis, the minister at Rothwell from 1689-1714, who was clearly a man to be reckoned with (pages 184-187). There is a substantial index.
- Growth in English Baptist churches: with special reference to the Northamptonshire Particular Baptist Association (1770-1830) by Clive Robert Jarvis [2001]
- Memorials of the Independent Churches in Northamptonshire by Thomas Coleman [1853] Histories of numerous congregations across the county with biographies of some of their pastors.
- My Methodist History This community archive network shares information and pictures about many aspects of Methodist history since re-union in 1932. Places in Northamptonshire with one or more articles are Corby, Daventry, Kettering, Kingsthorpe, Northampton and Wellingborough. The site includes links to similar sites named My Primitive Methodists, My Wesleyan Methodists and My United Methodists, which respectively feature 40, 48 and 5 additional articles about chapels in the county.
- New Light on Northamptonshire Nonconformist History by H Gordon Tibbutt [1966] (page 61)
- Northamptonshire Quarter Sessions Licences 1689-1932 (£) Searchable index of licences granted for nonconformist chapels and to badgers & higglers and gamekeepers.
- Protestant Nonconformity and Sectarianism in Restoration Northamptonshire by Paul Morton Geldart [2006]
- The Church and Early Dissent: The 1669 Return of Nonconformist Conventicles for the Archdeaconry of Northampton by David L Wykes [1991] (page 197)
- The Mission that began in a Circus: Ned Weeks and Abington Square by Graham Ward [2026] Biography of Edwin "Ned" Weeks (c.1824-1899), a noted evangelist in the town for 22 years from 1875.
- The Nonconformist's Memorial: being an account of the Ministers who were ejected or silenced after the Restoration by Edmund Calamy, volume 2, 2nd edition [1778] (page 213) Arranged by county and then by parish, providing biographies and lists of works written by the ministers concerned. Some aspects of this work have been challenged or extended in Calamy Revised by AG Matthews [1934] The introduction to the latter book was itself later revised by its author and published separately as Introduction to Calamy Revised (a revision of the original introduction) by AG Matthews [1959].
- Women and Evangelical Religion in Kent and Northamptonshire, 1800-1850 by Sibyl Margaretta Phillips [2001]