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2025-06-20T22:36:17Z

Wording in lead and infobox + typo.

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{{Short description|Church in Manchester, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox religious building
| building_name = Upper Brook Street Chapel
| image = Upper Brook Street Chapel 2017 006.jpg
| image_upright = 1.4
| caption = The former chapel, in 2017
| map_type = United Kingdom Manchester
| map_size = 250
| map_relief = 1
| map_caption = Location of the former [[chapel]] in [[Manchester]]
| location = Upper Brook Street, [[Chorlton-on-Medlock]], [[Manchester]], England
| geo = {{coord|53|28|9|N|2|13|53|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| latitude =
| longitude =
| religious_affiliation = {{ubl|{{nowrap|[[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] {{small|(former)}}}}|[[Baptist]] {{small|(former)}}|{{nowrap|[[Jehovah's Witness]] {{small|(former)}}}}|[[Islam]] {{small|(former)}}|[[Profane use]]}}
| rite =
| province =
| district =
| consecration_year =
| status = {{ubl|[[Chapel]] {{small|(1839–1928)}}|[[Church (building)|Church]] {{small|(1928–1970s)}}|[[Kingdom Hall]] {{small|(1970s–1970s)}}|[[Mosque]] {{small|(1974–2006)}}|[[Student accommodation]] {{small|(since 2017)}}}}
| functional_status = {{ubl|'''Closed''' {{small|(as a chapel)}}|Repurposed}}
| heritage_designation =
| leadership =
| website =
| architect = [[Charles Barry|Sir Charles Barry]]
| architecture_type = [[Church architecture]]
| architecture_style = {{ubl|[[Dissenting Gothic]]|[[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]]}}
| facade_direction =
| groundbreaking = 1837
| year_completed = 1839
| materials = Sandtstone; slate
| module = {{Designation list
| embed = yes
| designation1 = UK Grade II*
| designation1_offname = Former Unitarian chapel
| designation1_number = {{NHLE|num=1270670|short=y|postscript=none}}
| designation1_date = 3 October 1974
}}
}}
The '''Upper Brook Street Chapel''', also known as the '''Unitarian Chapel''', the '''Welsh Baptist Chapel''', and later '''Islamic Academy''', is a former [[chapel]] of historical architectural importance with an attached [[Sunday School]], located on the east side of Upper Brook Street in [[Chorlton-on-Medlock]], [[Manchester]], England.

Completed as a [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Protestant Nonconformist]] chapel in 1839, the building was purposed variously as a place of worship for [[Unitarianism|Unitarians]], Welsh [[Baptists]], as a Kingdom Hall of [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], and as an [[Islam]]ic [[mosque]], before its current purpose, since 2017, as [[student accommodation]]. Designed by [[Charles Barry|Sir Charles Barry]] as the first [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] chapel for the [[British Unitarian]]s, at the very beginning of the reign of Queen Victoria, the building was [[listed building|listed]] as Grade II* on the [[Heritage at Risk Register|Buildings at Risk Register]], rated as "very bad", on 3 October 1974. The building is owned by [[Manchester City Council]] and was partially demolished in 2006. The [[Victorian Society]] placed the building on a list of ten most threatened buildings in England and Wales. It was restored and converted to student accommodation in 2017 by Buttress Architects.

==History==
===Architecture===
{{See also|Dissenting Gothic}}
The chapel was designed by [[Charles Barry|Sir Charles Barry]],<ref name="images_of_england">{{NHLE |num=1270670 |desc=Former Unitarian chapel |access-date=2015-04-12 |mode=cs2 |postscript=none}}</ref> shortly before he designed the [[Palace of Westminster]] (Houses of Parliament). It was constructed between 1837 and 1839 out of [[sandstone]], with a [[slate]] roof. It is in English [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] style. The building has seven narrow bays, with [[buttress]]es and a [[Lancet arch|lancet]] in each bay. The west end has a giant moulded [[arch]]way, with an arched doorway at the ground floor with a window above. On the east end there is a [[rose window]]. The corners are square, with [[pinnacle]]s. The inside of the chapel had [[Balcony|galleries]] on three sides, and a ribbed, [[vaulted ceiling]]. The attached two-storey [[Sunday School]] is in the same style as the chapel, and has a triple-[[gable]]d north side, with large arched windows on the first floor. It also has a canted [[apse]] on the west end, and a [[lean-to]] porch.

The building marked a charge in the style of Nonconformist worship locations. Previously these were mostly built with [[brick]], and were plain, with the grander tending towards [[Greek architecture]]. Said to be the first Neogothic [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]] chapel, Manchester's Unitarian Chapel was preceded by the [[Congregational Chapel, March|Congregational Chapel]] in [[March, Cambridgeshire]],<ref name="congregation_chapel">{{cite web |url=http://www.rootsweb.com/~engcam/places/march.htm |title=March, Cambridgeshire |work=Extract from Kelly's Directory of Cambridgeshire |date=1929 |access-date=2008-03-17}}</ref> which was constructed in 1836 and is also in the Neogothic style. Chapels built following the construction of these two resembled [[parish church]]es more than the former style.<ref name="mad">{{cite book |title=A Mad, Bad, and Dangerous People?: England 1783–1846 |first=Boyd |last=Hilton |year=2006 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=0-19-822830-9 |page=529}}</ref>

The building was [[listed building|listed]] on 3 October 1974, and is currently classed as Grade II*.<ref name="images_of_england" />

==Occupancy==
===Unitarians===
The chapel was originally constructed for the [[Unitarianism|Unitarians]]. It replaced the [[Mosley Street]] Chapel (built 1789,<ref name="mosley">{{cite journal |title=A "Still, Small Voice" from the Pulpit: Religion and the Creation of Social Morality in Manchester, 1820–1850 |first=Howard M. |last=Wach |journal=The Journal of Modern History |volume=63 |date=September 1991 |pages=425–456 |doi=10.1086/244351 |jstor=2938626 |issue=3 |s2cid=143456655 }}</ref> demolished 1836<ref name="notes" />) upon its completion for baptisms, burials and marriages.<ref name="replacement">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?categoryID=448&documentID=464&pageNumber=25 |title=Church Register List - Manchester City Centre |publisher=[[Manchester City Council]] |access-date=2008-03-18}}</ref> The chapel was used for [[burial rite]]s<ref name="early_use" /> until 1882, the chapel had a graveyard from the outset, to both the north and south sides of the chapel. Restrictions were placed on this in 1856 and prohibited in 1882. Graves from the north side were relocated to brick vaults on the south side of the chapel around the time of the construction of the sunday school in 1877.<ref name="Gregory2018">{{cite book |author=Gregory, Richard |title=Architecture, Burial and Reform: The Upper Brook Street Unitarian Chapel, Manchester |year=2018 |isbn=9781907686269}}</ref> [[Baptism]]s were performed until at least 1912, and [[marriage]]s until at least 1916.<ref name="early_use">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=464&pageNumber=14 |title=Church Register List - Chorlton-on-Medlock to Claughton |website=Manchester City Council |access-date=2008-03-18}}</ref>

[[Minister (Christianity)|Ministers]] at the chapel include [[John James Tayler]] (until 1853),<ref name="mosley" /> [[William Henry Herford]] (1866–70),<ref name="obit" /> [[Philip Wicksteed]] (circa 1890),<ref name="trevor">{{cite web |url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/REtrevor.htm |title=John Trevor |website=Spartacus Educational |access-date=2008-03-17}}</ref> [[John Trevor (Unitarian minister)|John Trevor]] (1890–91, left to start [[The Labour Church]])<ref name="notes" /><ref name="trevor_journal">{{cite journal |title=John Trevor and the Labor Church Movement in England, 1891–1900 |first=Stanley |last=Pierson |journal=Church History |volume=29 |date=December 1960 |pages=463–478 |issue=4 |doi=10.2307/3161930 |publisher=Church History |jstor=3161930| s2cid=162436479}}</ref> and [[Edward Walker Sealy]] (1910–?).<ref name="obit">{{cite web |url=http://www.unitariansocieties.org.uk/historical/ministerobit.html |title=Obituaries of Unitarian Ministers - 1900–2004 - index and synopsis |first=Alan |last=Ruston |website=Unitarian Societies |access-date=2008-03-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522171552/http://www.unitariansocieties.org.uk/historical/ministerobit.html |archive-date=22 May 2009}}</ref>

===Burials===
* [[Eddowes Bowman]] (1810–1869), educationalist and astrologer
* [[James McConnel]] Scotland born industrialist and founder of [[McConnel & Kennedy Mills]]
* [[George William Wood]] (1781–1843), Leeds born MP for Manchester South, businessman, Unitarian minister

==Other denominations==
The chapel was sold in 1928 due to changes in the district,<ref name="notes">{{cite journal |first=F. H. Amphlett |last=Micklewright |title=A Sidelight on Manchester History |journal=Notes and Queries |year=1943 |volume=184 |pages=214–216 |doi=10.1093/nq/184.8.216 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> and was subsequently used as a [[Baptist Union of Wales|Welsh Baptist]] Chapel.<ref name="images_of_england" /> The chapel was then used as a [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] [[Kingdom Hall]] in the early 1970s.<ref name="men_asian_2006">{{cite news |url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/vandalism---muslim-charge-against-1018762 |title='Vandalism' - Muslim charge against council 'wreckers' |work=Manchester Evening News |date=18 January 2006 |access-date=2008-03-16}}</ref> The building has been owned by [[Manchester City Council]] since the 1970s,<ref name="citycouncil_minutes" /> who purchased land alongside Upper Brook Street with the aim of constructing a large motorway into Manchester, which was never realised.<ref name="bbc_2010" />

Both the chapel and Sunday school were occupied by the [[Islamic Academy of Manchester]] between 1974 and 2006, when it was used as a [[mosque]], teaching centre and for outreach work in the Asian community.<ref name="men_2004" />

==Dereliction and redevelopment==
[[File:Upper Brook Street Chapel 9.jpg|thumb|right|The chapel without its roof in 2008]]
[[File:Upper Brook Street Chapel 2017 002.jpg|thumb|right|The Chapel being redeveloped in 2017]]
By the beginning of the 21st century, the future of the building was looking increasingly uncertain.<ref name="men_article_2006">{{cite news |url=http://www.metronews.co.uk/news/s/601673_vulnerable_chapel_faces_demolition_ |title='Vulnerable' chapel faces demolition |first=Paul R. |last=Taylor |date=16 February 2006 |work=Manchester Evening News |access-date=2008-03-16}}</ref> The chapel was unsafe and substantial money was needed for emergency repairs.<ref name="men_2004">{{cite news |url=http://www.theasiannews.co.uk/news/s/491/491294_homeless.html |title=Homeless |work=Manchester Evening News - Asian News |first=Steve |last=Hammond |date=3 August 2004 |access-date=2008-03-16}}</ref> An unsuccessful bid to the [[Heritage Lottery Fund]] for funding to repair the building was made by the Islamic Academy in 2003. In 2001 and 2005 the city council commissioned structural advice regarding the building, prior to removing most of the roof, with the agreement of [[English Heritage]].<ref name="citycouncil_minutes">{{cite web |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/meetings_info.php?meetingID=342&attachmentID=1582 |website=Manchester City Council |title=Agendas, reports and minutes |date=1 February 2006 |access-date=2008-03-18 |postscript=Section on "CC/06/13 Unitarian Chapel, Upper Brook Street, Manchester".}}</ref>

Parts of the chapel were demolished at the start of 2006 on safety grounds, with scaffolding holding up some other sections. By 2010 the chapel was on the [[Heritage at Risk Register|Buildings at Risk Register]], rated as "very bad".<ref name="buildings_at_risk">{{cite web |url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConBar.6029 |title=Buildings at Risk: Former Welsh Baptist Chapel |website=English Heritage |access-date=2008-03-16}} {{EHbarName|Welsh+Baptist+Chapel}}</ref> The [[Victorian Society]] placed it on a list of ten most threatened buildings in England and Wales.<ref name="BBCNews11Oct10">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11505073 |work=BBC News |title=Ten 'most threatened' buildings in England and Wales |date=11 October 2010 |access-date=7 March 2025}}</ref>

In October 2010, Manchester City Council announced that it was in discussion with a developer to renovate the building and bring it back into use.<ref name="bbc_2010">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9080000/9080800.stm |title=Student digs plan for 'at risk' chapel in Manchester |work=BBC News |date=11 October 2010 |access-date=1 May 2011}}</ref> In August 2013, the council received a planning application from the Church Converts (Manchester) to repair the building and convert it into apartments; the application was granted in February 2014.<ref name=ubs_planning_app>{{cite web |title=Upper Brook Street Chapel planning application |url=https://pa.manchester.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=MN8OTKBC6K000 |access-date=7 March 2025}}</ref> The redevelopment by CZero Developments consisted of 73 private apartments in both the chapel and the Sunday school.<ref name="PlaceNorthwest_1Jun16">{{cite web |url=https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/revival-for-crumbling-chapel-designed-by-houses-of-parliament-architect/ |title=Revival for crumbling chapel designed by Houses of Parliament architect |website=Place Northwest |date=1 June 2016 |access-date=7 March 2025}}</ref>

From September 2017, the building has been operating as [[student accommodation]], with a gym, cinema room, study areas and a lounge.<ref name="HelloStudent">{{cite web |url=http://www.hellostudent.co.uk/student-accommodation/manchester/the-chapel/ |title=The Chapel |website=Hello Student |access-date=30 May 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
{{stack|{{portal|Greater Manchester|Architecture|Christianity|Islam}}}}
* [[Dissenting Gothic]]
* [[Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester]]
* [[Listed buildings in Manchester-M13]]
* [[List of churches in the United Kingdom#Former|List of former churches in England]]
* [[List of mosques in the United Kingdom#Former|List of former mosques in England]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Upper Brook Street Chapel, Manchester}}

{{Mosques in the United Kingdom}}
{{Manchester B&S}}
{{Good article}}

[[Category:19th-century church buildings in England]]
[[Category:Charles Barry buildings]]
[[Category:Churches completed in 1839]]
[[Category:Former Baptist churches in England]]
[[Category:Former churches in Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:Former mosques in England]]
[[Category:Gothic Revival church buildings in Greater Manchester|Manchester]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed churches in Manchester]]
[[Category:Halls of residence in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Mosques in Manchester]]
[[Category:Structures formerly on the Heritage at Risk register]]
[[Category:Unitarian chapels in England]]

Upper Brook Street Chapel, Manchester - Revision history

imported>Hassocks5489: Wording in lead and infobox + typo.