- Chowbent Chapel
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Chowbent Chapel is a plain building made of rustic brick with stone details, round arched windows and a small cupola on the gable end.
Chowbent Chapel is a Unitarian place of worship in Atherton, Greater Manchester, England. It was built in 1721 and is the oldest place of worship in the town. It is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians.[1]
Contents
History
The origins of Chowbent Chapel are a consequence of events that happened in 1715. The first chapel in Atherton, a chapel of ease to Leigh Parish Church was a "small brick edifice", dedicated to St. John the Baptist at Chowbent. It was built in 1645 "on land owned and loaned by “Ye Lord of Atherton", John Atherton, a supporter of religious dissent. It is sometimes referred to as the Old Bent Chapel and was not consecrated and used by the Presbyterian congregation. The chapel was also used by the vicar of Leigh who used a Bible and Book of Common Prayer which were kept in the chapel for his use.[2][3]
It was a long, low building having three windows and a porch on the south side and a large window in the east gable......... The pulpit was of the old-fashioned Puritan three-tier style.[4]..........In 1715, during the Jacobite Uprising Minister Wood and members of his Chowbent congregation were asked to guard the bridge at Walton le Dale and the ford at Penwortham near Preston against the supporters of the Old Pretender who were marching on Preston. They were successful but in doing so offended Richard Atherton who would inherit the Atherton manor.[5] In 1721 Richard Atherton, a staunch supporter of James II, expelled the congregation on political grounds.[2]
Architecture
Chowbent Chapel InteriorThe chapel dates from 1721 on land donated by Nathan Mort of neighbouring Alder House[6] The chapel is built in brick, in flemish bond on a rubble sandstone plinth, stone quoins, an eaves cornice and a slate roof. The windows have round arches. The entrance was added in 1901 and has a plaque and sundial. On the roof is a small cupola housing a single bell.
Inside, the chapel is described by Pevsner as "best preserved 18th century interior in South Lancashire".[7] The original box pews are in place upstairs and down, there is a three tier pulpit and the gallery on three sides is supported by turned oak columns. A nail studded oak door that separates the chapel from the vestry is thought to be from the original 1645 chapel.[8][9] Other surviving artefacts from the 1645 building are the communion table and two Commonwealth silver communion cups gifted by Robert Mort in 1654.[8] The cups are not kept at the chapel and are rarely displayed.
Some of the stained glass windows are by Shrigley and Hunt.[7]
Community
A schoolroom was opened in the minister's house. It was extended in 1860 and again in 1890. Before 1900 a library provided by the chapel was opened in Chowbent School for the inhabitants of the town. Its collection of 4000 volumes was donated to Atherton's Carnegie Library that opened in 1905.[10]
See also
References
- ^ Find a Congregation: Atherton, The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (Great Britain), http://www.unitarian.org.uk/findcong.shtml?cong=Atherton, retrieved 23 January 2011
- ^ a b "Atherton", A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 3 (British History Online): pp. 435–439, 1907, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41363, retrieved 2009-08-28
- ^ Lunn (1971), p.43
- ^ Wright (1921), p.17.
- ^ Wright (1921), p. 28.
- ^ Wright (1921), pp.41-42.
- ^ a b Pevsner (2006), p. 137.
- ^ a b Wright (1921), p. 43.
- ^ Chowbent Chapel, Images of England, http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=213471, retrieved 2009-09-14
- ^ Wright (1921), p. 93.
Bibliography
- Lunn, John (1971), Atherton Lancashire, A manorial social and industrial history, Atherton UDC
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Pollard, Richard; Sharples, Joseph (2006), Buildings of England: Liverpool and the southwest, Yale University Press, ISBN 9780300109108
- Wright, J.J. (1921), The Story of Chowbent Chapel, Chowbent Chapel
Coordinates: 53°31′28″N 2°29′08″W / 53.5245°N 2.4856°W
External links
Categories:- Places of worship in Manchester
- Unitarian chapels in England
- Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester
- Buildings and structures completed in 1721
- Protestant congregations established in the 18th century
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