Surrey Valley Baptist Church

In 1822, Henry Steeves founded the Hillsborough Baptist Church in partnership with Rev. Joseph Crandall. In 1871, the pastor, Rev. John Hughes, decided to establish a satellite Baptist church less than three kilometres away in Surrey and by 1877, fifty members from the Hillsborough Church formed the first congregation in ‘The Valley’.

In 1913 kerosene lighting gave way to natural gas. Electricity did not arrive until 1942, five years after a telephone was installed. The church building was placed on a foundation in 1963 and the 1100 square metre Fellowship Centre was dedicated in 2000, which also includes a gymnasium.  

The Valley Baptist Church (now known as Surrey Valley Baptist Church) is recognized for being an example of rural Gothic Revival religious architecture from the 19th century. This style is evident in such features of the original building as its rectangular plan, the use of Gothic arch windows, and the central square tower on the front façade.

The Surrey Valley Baptist Church is designated a Local Historic Place for its association with the religious history of the area and for its architecture.

Information (edited for brevity) from Canada’s Historic Places.