Toxteth Unitarian Chapel
The Toxteth Unitarian Chapel ("Unitarian Chapel Toxteth"), also known as Ancient Chapel ("old chapel") is a church building in Park Lane in Toxteth , a district of the English city of Liverpool .
history
In Toxteth, previously a royal enclosure, an increasing number of Puritan families from the Bolton area had settled around 1600 , probably because, unlike within the city limits of Liverpool, they could not be forced to attend the services of the official Anglican parishes here. After the Puritan settlers had initially set up a school in 1611, they decided to build a church and formally found a parish. The parishioners elected Richard Mather as pastor , who had previously run the school and then started studying in Oxford in 1617, but gave up after being called from Toxteth. The first sermon in the completed chapel Mather held on November 30, 1618. Mather emigrated to New England as a result of the increasing persecution of the Puritans under Charles I ; the remaining congregation held their meetings in secret.
After the Restoration of the Stuarts in 1660, the Puritans in Toxteth, as in all of England, were again subjected to persecution under the Clarendon Code . The two community leaders of Toxteth at the time, Presbyterians Thomas Crompton and Michael Briscoe, were also detained, but the Toxteth community enjoyed some protection from the powerful Catholic aristocratic family Molyneux, who owned the church property, and it was augmented by Puritans who lived within the city limits of Liverpool. When, as a result of the Declaration of Indulgence, free church congregations were also allowed in Liverpool itself, Toxteth lost a large part of his former congregation members; the chapel fell into disrepair in the 18th century. However, around 1774 the building was renovated. The majority of the church turned to Unitarian teachings around this time . In 1820 an annex was added to the church, the adjoining old school was torn down and community rooms were built in its place, followed by a daycare center in 1930.
The chapel is a simple two-storey stone building with a slate-covered gable roof, on the south side of which a small octagonal lantern is placed. The floor plan was originally rectangular, with the renovations in 1774 the hall was extended by an extension and a narrower and deeper portal with its own gable and two arched entrance doors were built in front. In the interior, the original furnishings, including the pews and the paneled altar from the early 17th century, are still quite unchanged. Since 1952, the building has been listed as a Grade I Listed Building , as a testimony to Puritan church architecture , i.e. in the highest category of English monument protection.
As a plaque installed in the interior of the chapel in 1852 noted, the astronomer Jeremia Horrocks, who grew up in Toxteth (here still in the spelling Horrox ), was buried on the grounds of the church. However, the exact location of his grave is unknown.
Web links
- English Heritage, National Monuments Record: Toxteth Ancient Chapel (entry in the Monument Protection Register)
Coordinates: 53 ° 22 ′ 52.8 " N , 2 ° 57 ′ 28.6" W.