Upper Chapel is a Unitarian

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

on Norfolk Street in

Sheffield City Centre Sheffield City Centre (referred to locally as simply Town) is a district of the Sheffield, City of Sheffield and is covered partly by the City ward, Sheffield, City ward of the City of Sheffield. It includes the area that is within a radius of ...

. 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. The Chapel is

Grade II listed 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, H ...

. James Fisher was the vicar at

Sheffield Parish Church The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul, Sheffield, also known as Sheffield Cathedral, is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield, England. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral status when ...

during the

Commonwealth of England The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when Kingdom of England, England and Wales, later along with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, were governed as a republi ...

. He was expelled in the

Great Ejection The Great Ejection followed the Act of Uniformity 1662 in England. Several thousand Puritan ministers were forced out of their positions in the Church of England following the Restoration of Charles II. It was a consequence (not necessarily ...

for refusing to sign the

Act of Uniformity 1662 The Act of Uniformity 1662 ( 14 Cha. 2. c. 4) is an act of the Parliament of England. (It was formerly cited as 13 & 14 Cha. 2. c. 4, by reference to the regnal year when it was passed on 19 May 1662.) It prescribed the form of public prayer ...

, and around a tenth of his parishioners followed him in becoming

Dissenter A dissenter (from the Latin , 'to disagree') is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Dissent may include political opposition to decrees, ideas or doctrines and it may include opposition to those things or the fiat of ...

s.Ruth Harman and John Minnis, ''Pevsner Architectural Guides: Sheffield'' Several splits ensued, but by the 1690s, the dominant group of non-conformists was led by

Timothy Jollie Timothy Jollie, (c. 1659–1714), was a nonconformist minister and notable educator in the north of England. Biography Timothy Jollie, son of Thomas Jollie, was born at Altham, Accrington, Lancashire, about 1659. On 27 August 1673 he entered ...

. His congregation constructed Upper Chapel as the first non-conformist chapel in Sheffield in 1700. It was built of brick and faced on to

Fargate Fargate is a pedestrian precinct and shopping area in Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is ...

. The chapel originally boasted a congregation of about 1,000 people, a sixth of the city's population.Upper Chapel: History
/ref> The side walls survive from this period. In the 1840s, the Chapel was turned round to face across fields. The roof was raised and the interior reconstructed. The alterations by John Frith were completed in 1848, while the interior has several later additions, including several

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows. Nine on the ground floor are 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. ...

. Nineteenth-century ministers included

George Vance Smith George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorgi ...

Brooke Herford Brooke may refer to: People * Brooke (given name) * Brooke (surname) Places * Brooke, Norfolk, England * Brooke, Rutland, England * Brooke, Virginia, US * Brooke's Point, Palawan, Philippines * Fort Brooke, NO Other * Brooke Army Medical Cen ...

Thomas Hinks Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

and

John Edmondson Manning John Edmondson Manning (22 March 1848–30 April 1910) was an English Unitarian minister. Life The son of John Manning, a schoolmaster in Liverpool, he was born there on 22 March 1848. His brother-in-law, George Beaumont, Unitarian minister at Ga ...

, who wrote a history of the chapel in 1900."Manning, John Edmondson", ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'' The Chapel is linked to Channing Hall, which faces on to

Surrey Street Surrey Street in the City of Westminster, London, runs from Strand in the north to Temple Place in the south. It was built on land once occupied by Arundel House and its gardens. History Surrey Street was built on land once occupied by Arund ...

. Designed by

Flockton and Gibbs Flockton's were a series of architectural firms in the 19th and early 20th centuries, based in Sheffield, England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Gre ...

and completed in 1882, the hall is of Italianate design and is named for

William Henry Channing William Henry Channing (May 25, 1810 – December 23, 1884) was an American Unitarian clergyman, writer and philosopher. Early life William Henry Channing was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Channing's father, Francis Dana Channing, died when he w ...

, who served at the Chapel in 1875. The trustees own many freehold properties in Sheffield.

References

External links

Official site
{{authority control Churches completed in 1700 Churches in Sheffield Grade II listed buildings in Sheffield Grade II listed churches in South Yorkshire Unitarian chapels in England Churches completed in 1848 17th-century Protestant churches 1700 establishments in England