About Us

There is very little on record of worship in the village from the dissolution of the Knights Hospitaller in 1542 until the mid-19th century. However there are strong links with John Bunyan, who held regular services in a natural amphitheatre – still known as Bunyan’s Dell – in Wain Wood in the 1660s. The villagers were staunch followers of Bunyan, and they built a chapel in 1877 which was regularly used for worship until about 1985.

As far as Anglican worship is concerned, Preston was not large enough to support a church and was part of the Parish of Hitchin. However the curate of St Mary’s, Hitchin, who was responsible for the spiritual welfare of Preston, the Rev. B.N.Switzer, suggested that a Mr Pryor should donate one acre of his land for a Church and Burial Ground.

On January 28th 1899, Mr T.B.Carter, submitted a design with an estimated cost of £1200. This was accepted by the church committee and the people of Preston undertook to raise the money. The foundation stone was laid by Mrs MacMillan (an aunt of Sir Harold MacMillan), who was then living at Temple Dinsley, on St Martin’s Day, 11thNovember 1899. The church was consecrated as St Martin’s by the Bishop of St Albans on 14th July 1900. It has been described as:

“A simple little building set in a formal churchyard, with curiously domestic details reminiscent of C.F.A. Voysey (a prominent turn-of-the-century architect). With a pebble-dashed exterior, steep slate roof and plain nave windows between battered buttresses linked by segmental arches. At the west end is a stumpy towerlet with a gable for bells.”