Partly hidden behind ancient buildings on the village High Street, the simple brick chapel was erected in 1842 on the initiative of James Weller, a "somewhat remarkable man" whose preaching had attracted large audiences across Kent and East Sussex in the previous decade.

The Strict Baptist cause was historically strong in East Sussex, and Protestant Nonconformism thrived in Robertsbridge, which was distant from the nearest Anglican parish church.

The village of Salehurst, mentioned in the Domesday survey of 1086, had an extensive parish spanning the River Rother.

There was no settlement at Robertsbridge, 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of Salehurst village,[2] until after 1210, when a Cistercian abbey founded in 1176 moved there from its site further up the valley.

)[6] Many Nonconformist denominations thrived in Sussex from the 17th century, some of which overlapped, merged, and changed their ecclesiology over time.

[7] In 1809, Jacob Martell—a member of the Independent Calvinistic Cade Street Chapel near Heathfield—adopted these views and was ejected from that church.

[9] James Weller came to Burwash in 1838 as a 31-year-old preacher[10] who had been a prominent figure in the Strict Baptist cause in Kent throughout the 1830s.

[1] The following year, he went to its parent church at Burwash; his growing reputation meant he continued to visit chapels across East Sussex and Kent, where he drew large crowds.

James Caffyn (d. 23 October 1894), who gave the site for the chapel, and his two daughters also had a monumental inscription; the children, who died in infancy, were buried in a grave nearby.