Peculiar People

The Peculiar People, now officially known as the Union of Evangelical Churches, is a Christian movement that was originally an offshoot of the Wesleyan denomination, founded in 1838 in Rochford, Essex, by James Banyard,[1] a farm-worker's son born in 1800.

The Peculiar People preached a puritanical form of Christianity which proved popular, and numerous chapels sprang up throughout rural Essex.

The Peculiar People practised a lively form of worship and considered themselves bound by the literal interpretation of the King James Bible.

The 16 UEC churches are in Camberwell and Canning Town in London, and Chelmsford, Corringham, Cressing, Daws Heath, Eastwood, Great Wakering, Little Totham, Rayleigh, Shoeburyness, Southend, Stanford-le-Hope, Stanway, Wickford and Witham in Essex.

Although services had previously been discontinued at Rayleigh, Shoeburyness, and Stanford-le-Hope and the churches temporarily closed, all three are now home to regular worshipping congregations once again.

The Peculiar People’s Chapel in Tillingham , circa 1975
The former Peculiar People's Chapel at Tillingham , Essex
Fresh Hope Community Church, The Union of Evangelical Churches, Stanford-le-Hope , in 2024