Toxteth Unitarian Chapel
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Toxteth Unitarian Chapel is in Park Road, Dingle, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. Since the 1830s it has been known as The Ancient Chapel of Toxteth.<ref name=liverp/> It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.<ref name=images>Template:NHLE</ref> and continues to be used as a Unitarian chapel.<ref name=uni/> It is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
History
In 1611 a group of Puritan farmers built a school in Toxteth and appointed Richard Mather, at the age of 15, as its master.<ref name=liverp>Template:Citation</ref>Template:Sfn He then went to Brasenose College, Oxford to continue his education but he was asked to return to Toxteth.Template:Sfn By this time the chapel had been built<ref name=images/> and on 30 November 1618 he preached his first sermon.Template:Sfn He subsequently became ordained in the Church of England.Template:Sfn However he was suspended from the ministry in 1633 and again in 1634 because of his nonconformist preaching,Template:Sfn and in 1635 he emigrated to America.Template:Sfn By 1662 the minister of the chapel was a Presbyterian named Thomas Crompton and he was joined by another Dissenter, Michael Briscoe. In 1672 both ministers obtained licences under the Royal Declaration of Indulgence and the chapel was enlarged to accommodate Dissenters from central Liverpool. However as more chapels were built, Toxteth chapel was neglected and fell into disrepair.<ref name=liverp/> In 1774 it was partly rebuilt.<ref name=images/> Around this time the majority of the congregation were Unitarian and the others left to form a new congregation.<ref name=liverp/> A porch was added in 1841.<ref name=images/> Unitarian services continue to be held in the chapel every fortnight.<ref name=uni>Template:Citation</ref>
Description
The chapel is built in stone with a slate roof. It has two storeys and a western extension with a projecting bay. The windows are round-headed with stone surrounds. At the west end are paired round-headed entrances with a commemorative plaque and three windows above them. At the south end is a small octagonal cupola with louvres and a button finial. The interior has the pulpit at the east end, galleries on three sides, and box pews throughout. The north and south galleries date from the 17th century and connecting gallery is from the 18th century. Two of the box pews are dated 1650 and 1700.<ref name=images/> The monuments include a brass dated 1656 and 18th and early 19th century wall tablets. Outside the chapel is a graveyard with a mid-19th-century classical arcade.Template:Sfn The organ was built in 1906 by Brindley & Foster.<ref>Template:National Pipe Organ Register</ref>
The chapel contains a memorial plaque dedicate to Jeremiah Horrocks, a 17th-century astronomer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Horrocks was the first person to accurately predict the transit of Venus and was a member of the chapel.
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Plaque above the door of the Chapel
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The schoolhouse next to the chapel
See also
- Grade I listed buildings in Liverpool
- Grade I listed churches in Merseyside
- Ullet Road Unitarian Church
References
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External links
- The Historic Chapels Trust
- Emigrants from Liverpool, with reference to Richard Mather
- Mather family history
Template:List of Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist churches Template:Liverpool B&S