Grove Road Evangelical Church, Chelmsford

Our History

The chapel on Grove Road, Chelmsford was originally built in 1931 by a group of Christians known as The Peculiar People.

The word peculiar was used in the old-fashioned sense meaning special or set apart. It comes from the King James Authorized Version's use of the word in 1 Peter 1.9. The Peculiar People have a fascinating local history in this part of Essex.

Words often change or lose their meanings over time, and so it was with the word Peculiar. So The Peculiar People changed their name in the 1950s to 'The Union Of Evangelical Churches, known as the UEC. More about the history of The Peculiar People can be found on the History page of the Union of Evangelical Churches' web site.

There are currently 15 chapels in this group of Bible-based evangelical churches, located in Essex and East London. Grove Road Evangelical Church is a member of this group of churches. A map showing the location of all the churches is available on the UEC's web site.

Chapel Building Datestone

Location of Datestone