The Old Mission Chapel 01.

The Old Mission Chapel (now called Serampore John Nagar Baptist Church), William Carey Road.

To the left is the Christian Meditation Ground, and the River.

To get an idea of the layout in the 19th century just click on this link.

January 1800

Serampore was a trading station and there were 6 or 7 merchantmen at anchor. It was also the only haven for debtors in Bengal and this fact had raised property rents to extravagant levels. Within a week, with great difficulty, a house and premises were found for the Mission, and purchased for 6000 rupees, although they had only half that at their disposal. The rest was made up from money they had brought from England for subsistence, by bills on England, and by a loan. The house provided moderate accommodation for all the missionary families, and contained a large hall, which was devoted to public worship and became the Mission Chapel. A side building was fitted up as a printing office and large plot of ground at the rear became Carey's botanical garden.

On 24th April it was decided to have a day of thanksgiving, and after the service the missionaries formed themselves into a Church, with Carey the pastor, and Marshman and Fountain the deacons.

John Clark Marshman, 1859.