Listed Building record MDO11812 - Unitarian Chapel, East Street, Bridport

The Unitarian Chapel was opened in 1794 and is rectangular in plan, built of brick and rubble with ashlar dressings. It has a semi-circular porch to the south and symmetrical round-headed windows. The interior is largely original. A Sunday school building was added to the north in 1841.

The Unitarian Chapel stands back from the East Street frontage beyond a garden lined with tombstones. It was constructed on the site of the former Crown Inn and opened in March 1794.

It is rectangular in plan with the main entrance to the south under a semi-circular porch with Ionic columns. It is built of brick and rubble with ashlar dressings and with a hipped slate roof. The windows are round-headed and arranged symmetrically. A band with ‘Unitarian Chapel’ above the porch was added c. 1821.

The interior with galleries on three sides is original. The organ was rebuilt in the northeast end of the chapel in about 1930 and the pews rearranged to accommodate the choir. The communion rail and steps were added c. 1850.

Behind the chapel to the north was added a Sunday School building which was opened in November 1841.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 46 (Monograph). SDO97.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 scale, 1962 (Map). SWX1197.

(SY 4678 9295) Unitarian Chapel [NAT]

<3> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 113 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<4> Stell, C, 1991, An Inventory of Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting-Houses in South-West England, 107 (Monograph). SDO11597.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 867804 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 20 2022 4:48PM