This page is a work in progress, with the aim of compiling a comprehensive list of churches throughout the history of Lambton. This task is somewhat complicated by the plethora of different churches with similar sounding names, churches that are known by different names, and the various mergers of churches over time.  Determining when churches ceased is also problematic, as they tended to peter out slowly, rather than having a definite end date that is reported in the newspapers.

As with my list of Lambton hotels, I am using the boundary of Lambton Council to determine which churches to include.

• Church of England (Anglican), Morehead St, 1869 to present
• Catholic, 1871 to present
• Primitive Methodist
• Lay Methodist
• Welsh Congregational
• English Congregational (1875 to 1904)
• Welsh Calvinistic Methodist “Gaer Salem”, Young St, 1887 to c. 1893
• English Baptist
• Salvation Army
  • Grainger St, 1886 to ?
  • Cnr Grainger and Pearson, 1969-2007
• Welsh Baptist, Elder St, 1868 to c. 1893
• Calvary Baptist
  • Dickson St
  • Orlando Rd, 1958 to c. 2010
• Presbyterian
• Christadelphian, approx 1894 to 1903
• Hunter Bible Church, started 1989 in Callaghan. In Lambton from 2004 to 2024. (Hunter Bible Church moved from Lambton High School to their own premises in Garden Suburb, in mid 2024.)

In the map below, I am using the following colour coding:

• Green – church meeting still running at present
• Light green – church no longer meeting, but the building still exists
• Red – neither church meeting or building exist today

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Welsh Baptist Church

The Welsh Baptist Chapel in Lambton was formally opened on Sunday 8 March 1868. It was located on Lot 6 Section H of Lambton Township (99 Elder St). Initially the land was not bought by the church, however construction of the church building on the land owned by the Scottish Australian Mining Company was allowed by the mine manager, Thomas Croudace, who was invited to the formal opening. In 1874, the town plan of Lambton on page 4 of Vol-Fol 182-134 shows a solitary unsold block of land where the chapel was located.

Shortly after the Reverend Isaac Williams was appointed pastor of the Lambton Welsh The Welsh Baptist Church in June 1879, the newspaper reported that …

“The members of the Welsh Baptist Church, E1der-street have decided to erect a new church building. Since the Rev. Isaac Williams became pastor the congregations have increased so much that the present building has become too small.”

Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 18 August 1879.

The following month an advertisement appeared calling for tenders for the pulling down of the old church building and erecting a new church building.

Construction of the new building was nearing completion in December 1879. At this time the church also decided to obtain ownership of the land, and the block was purchased on 12 December 1879 by “John Johns and William Maddock, miners, and Isaac Williams, Welsh Baptist Minister, all of Lambton.”

It is unclear when the Welsh Baptist Church in Lambton ceased. Mentions in Trove seem to peter out in the early 1890s, with the last mention of the church in June 1893. The block of land between Elder and Kendall streets was divided in half in 1891, with the south half being purchased by Rev John Jones. According to Vol-Fol 1010-105, the northern half fronting Elder St, where the church building was located, was sold to Joseph Pease, tailor in December 1902. In October 1919 the land was purchased by William Rendle, tobacconist, and then passed to Jack Rendle, hairdresser, in July 1941. The site is now occupied by the Lambton Nextra newsagents.

Lay Methodist

The Lay Methodist church was located at 13 Kendall St, as shown in this 1890s Water Board map.

Christadelphian Church

Newcastle Libraries Online Collection has a photo of a wedding party in front of the Christadelphian Hall. The photo also appears on page 91 of the publication, “The Story of Lambton”. The hall was originally one of the buildings erected by the Lambton Mechanics’ Institute near 72 Howe St. After the Mechanic’s Institute erected a fine new brick building on Elder St in 1894, they leased the old weatherboard hall to the Christadelphians.

Surprisingly, this building still exists – but not at its original position on Howe St! In August 1903, the Mechanics’ Institute, with the aid of a bullock team, moved the weatherboard to behind their new brick building in Elder St, where it still sits today.

English Congregational

The minister of the Welsh Congregational Church, Rev Evan Lewis, encouraged the English speaking members of his church to set up their own church. Arthur Storey, William Ford, Thomas Fairless Dent, William Patterson, and Evan Lewis purchased the land and building of the Lambton United Methodist Church in Young St on 10 May 1875. The formal opening service of the new church took place on Sunday 19 September 1875, but interestingly held in the Rechabites Hall and not in their new building. The report of the opening service notes that “There is still much to be done to the building before it can be called a comfortable place of worship, worthy of the inhabitants of Lambton.”

In November 1904 the English and Welsh Congregationalist churches amalgamated, and starting from 4 December 1904 joint services were conducted in the one building in Dixon St. Being no longer required, the Young St site was sold in 1906 to Leslie Frederick Arthur Payne. (Vol-Fol 157-83)

Newspaper Articles

Article Date Event Date	Notes
14 Mar 1868 8 Mar 1868	Opening of the New Welsh Baptist Chapel.
21 Apr 1951	Closure of New Lambton Lay Methodist church in Rugby-road. Mention that there used to be a Lay Methodist Church in Lambton.