At Doddridge Street (NN1 2RN) is Castle Hill United Reformed Church, once known as Castle Hill Church, where the independent Congregationalist, Phillip Doddridge (1702-51), served as pastor. While Doddridge’s compromising endorsements led many young men toward erroneous doctrines, his songs, such as “O Happy Day,” and his classic book, The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul (1745), are still in use. William Wilberforce’s reading of Rise and Progress became one of the instruments, in 1784, leading to his conversion. More than two hundred students passed through Doddridge’s Academy for Dissenters, during its twelve years of existence (1740-52). The building that housed the Academy still stands on Sheep Street, a ten-minute walk from the church.
