Unitarian Chapel, Liverpool

The Unitarian Chapel, Liverpool is in Ullet Road, Toxteth Park, Liverpool, Merseyside, England (gbmapping|SJ377885). It is a Grade I listed buildingcite web |url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=1&id=359629 |title=Images of England: Unitarian Chapel, Ullet Street |accessdate=2008-10-09 |publisher=English Heritage ] and is an active Unitarian centre.cite web |url= http://www.ullet-road-church.org.uk/ |title= Ullet Road Unitarian Centre |accessdate=2008-10-09 |publisher= Ullet Road Unitarian Centre ]

History

The chapel was built between 1896 and 1898 to a design by Thomas Worthington and his son Percy Worthington.cite book | last =Pollard| first =Richard | authorlink = | coauthors =Nikolaus Pevsner | title =The Buildings of England: Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West |edition= | publisher =Yale University Press | date =2006 | location =New Haven & London | pages = 449 451 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn =0 300 10910 5 ] It was built to accommodate a congregation which was founded following the Act of Uniformity 1662. By the 19th century it was meeting in Renshaw Street Chapel and decided to build a new chapel more in keeping with the important role that Unitarians were playing in the city.

tructure

The building is of red brick with red sandstone dressings and a slate roof. It is orientated north-south. Its style is Gothic with Decorated tracery in the windows. The plan consists of a seven-bay nave with clerestory, aisles, and a chancel with a small polygonal apse. At the (ritual) west end is an enclosed three-bay porch with a parapet. Above this is a circular window with a carved angel at its apex. On the gable is a three-arched structure which appears like a bell-cote, but it has no bells. The doors are of copper with Art Nouveau designs by Richard Llewellyn Rathbone. The interior is lined with stone.

Fittings and furniture

The reredos is by H. H. Martyn of Cheltenham and depicts the Last Supper. The light fittings are in Art Nouveau style. The font is wooden, designed by Ronald P. Jones and carved by C.J. Allen. The stained glass was mainly designed by Burne-Jones and made by Morris & Co. The organ, made by William Hill, was moved from the Renshaw Street Chapel. [cite web |url= http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N01780 |title= Liverpool, Unitarian Church, Ullet Road|accessdate=2008-10-10 |publisher= British Institute of Organ Studies]

Vestry, library, wall and gates

The vestry lies to the right of the chancel and was completed in 1902. It contains a fireplace, over which is a low relief depicting the rising sun. On the ceiling are four painted roundels by Gerald Moira representing the cardinal virtues of Justice, Prudence, Temperance and Charity. The library adjoins the vestry and has a vaulted ceiling, again with paintings by Moira, which represent the "Triumph of Time".

The walls surrounding the chapel and the hall are made from red brick with stone plinths, copings and dressings. They were built around 1902 and designed by Thomas Worthington. The gates are of wrought iron. The walls and gates are listed Grade II. [cite web |url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=1&id=359631 |title=Images of England: Wall and gates to Unitarian chapel and hall |accessdate=2008-10-09 |publisher=English Heritage ]

Church Hall

The church hall was built in 1901 to a design by Percy Worthington and is a Grade I listed building.cite web |url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=1&id=359630 |title=Images of England: Unitarian Church Hall |accessdate=2008-10-09 |publisher=English Heritage ] It was given to the church by John Brunner and Henry Tate. It is an L-shaped building in red brick with stone dressings and a slate roof in Gothic style. The north range consists of a low cloister. The east range is the hall which has a canted bay window on the Ullet Road side and a smaller semicircular bay facing York Avenue. On the roof is a wooden lantern with an ogee cupola. Inside is a large fireplace over which are the arms of Brunner and Tate. In the cloister are monuments, some of which were moved from the Renshaw Street chapel. They include a bust of William Roscoe by John Gibson; and monuments to Edward Roscoe who died in 1834, also by Gibson, which includes an angel in profile, representing Hope; to William Rathbone who died in 1868 by J. H. Foley; to Charles Beard who died in 1888 by J. E. Boehm; and to William Rathbone who died in 1902, by C. J. Allen.

ee also

*Toxteth Unitarian Chapel

References