Pre-Watts British Hymnody

Before Isaac Watts published his Hymns and Spiritual Songs in 1707, English churches (both the established Church of England and the Dissenting Churches) were generally opposed to the singing of hymns in the context of a worship service and would only allow the singing of Metrical Psalms. Watts was instrumental in changing those attitudes by introducing a new type of hymn which eventually served as a model for succeeding generations of English hymn writers.

However, there WAS hymnic activity in England in the period 1550-1700 and this mainly took the form of hymns for private devotion, not for public worship. Several people are particularly important for their collections of hymns and religious poems during this period:

George Wither (1588-1667)
George Herbert (1573-1631)
John Milton (1608-1674)
Samuel Crossman (1624-83)
John Bunyan (1628-88)
Thomas Ken (1637-1711)
Nahum Tate (1652-1715)

Benjamin Keach (b. 1640) was not a particularly good hymn writer. However, he was important for his efforts in advancing the CAUSE or the IDEA of using hymns in addition to metrical psalms for congregational singing.

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Check out Chapel Music in 18th Century England.

Richard Baxter

Phillip Doddridge

John Bunyan