The Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel is a place of worship in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It is a member of the

General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (GAUFCC or colloquially British Unitarians) is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christians, and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom and Ire ...

, the

umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...

for British Unitarians. It is also a

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Building

The chapel, which stands on

Rosslyn Hill Rosslyn Hill is a road in Hampstead, London, connecting the south end of Hampstead High Street to the north end of Haverstock Hill. It is the site of the Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, St. Stephen's Church and the Royal Free Hospital. It is se ...

, was at first a simple wooden structure. Said to have been built in 1692 by Isaac Honeywood who lived in the adjoining mansion, the Red Lion Hill meeting house was first replaced in 1736 and then, having become unsafe, rebuilt in brick on roughly the same site in 1828. The current building (using the old brick chapel as its hall) was built from 1862 to 1885 in the

Neo Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

style. Two of the building's stained-glass windows are by

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...

and

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

and another is by

Henry Holiday Henry Holiday (17 June 183915 April 1927) was an English Victorian painter of historical genre and landscapes, also a stained-glass designer, illustrator, and sculptor. He was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, many of whom he knew. ...

. It holds four

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several yea ...

reliefs and plaques to previous congregants, such as

Helen Allingham Helen Allingham (Birth name, née Paterson; 26 September 1848 – 28 September 1926) was a British watercolourist and illustrator of the Victorian era. Biography Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson was born on 26 September 1848, at Swadlincote in ...

(the first woman artist admitted to the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

). Its stone arches and pointed ceiling vault give it an excellent acoustic, making it a popular recording venue.

Ministers

The minister is Kate Dean. Ministers who have served the Chapel include Stephen Lobb (1647?–1699),

Richard Amner Richard Amner (1736–1803) was an English Presbyterian (otherwise Unitarian) divine. Life Amner was one of several children of Richard and Anne Amner, of Hinckley, Leicestershire, his baptism, in the register of the Presbyterian (otherwise Uni ...

(1736–1803), Rochemont Barbauld, husband of the radical poet

Anna Laetitia Barbauld Anna Laetitia Barbauld (, by herself possibly , as in French, Aikin; 20 June 1743 – 9 March 1825) was a prominent English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and author of children's literature. A prominent member of the Blue Stockings ...

(1743–1825),

Jeremiah Joyce Jeremiah Joyce (1763–1816) was an English Unitarian minister and writer. He achieved notoriety as one of the group of political activists arrested in May 1794. Early life He was born 24 February 1763, the son of Jeremiah Joyce (1718–1788), ...

(1763–1816) and

William Hincks William Hincks (16 April 1794 – 10 September 1871) was an Irish Unitarian minister, theologian and professor of natural history. He was the first professor of natural history at University College, Toronto and president of the Canadia ...

(1794–1871). It was during the 45-year-long ministry of Thomas Sadler (1822–1891), who arrived at the Chapel in 1846 aged 24, just two years after being awarded his doctorate from the

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

in Bavaria, that the current Chapel building was constructed.

Congregation

Among the prominent residents of Hampstead who occasionally attended the Chapel in the years immediately after it was built in 1862 was the novelist

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

. Politicians who were worshippers included John Wood (1789–1856), a trustee of the chapel, who was a Whig MP for Preston (1826–32) and a strong supporter of the Great

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

,D.W. Beddington, Unitarian Members of Parliament in the Nineteenth Century. A Catalogue. ''Transactions of the Unitarian Historical Society Supplement'', Vol. 24, No. 3 (April 2009), p. 53. http://www.unitarianhistory.org.uk/Unitarian%20Members%20of%20Parliament%20in%20the%20Nineteenth%20Century.pdf. Accessed 10/10/2012. and William Lawrence (1818-1897),

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

(1863/4) and twice Liberal MP for the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

(1865–74, 1880–85).

References

External links

official site
{{Authority control Unitarian chapels in England Chapels in London 17th-century Protestant churches Grade II listed churches in the London Borough of Camden Churches completed in 1885 Buildings and structures in Hampstead Anna Laetitia Barbauld 19th-century church buildings in England 1692 establishments in England