Description

CREWKERNE

ST4409 HERMITAGE STREET
876-1/7/87 (East side)
06/09/74 Unitarian Chapel and attached walls,
railings and gates

GV II

Unitarian chapel. 1733, re-roofed and renewed 1811 and further
altered 1900.
MATERIALS: coursed limestone rubble with Ham Hill stone
dressings and coping to slate roof with ceramic ridge-tiles.
EXTERIOR: Street facade, facing west, has a truncated gable
remodelled in 1900; high above central double doors under a
plain lintel and datestone, is a semi-circular lunette window
with leaded lights; it has 2 stone mullions and a dripmould.
Flanking the door are 2 tall round-arched windows with
dripmoulds, a central mullion and a transom at springer-level.
These may well be those of the year when the chapel was built
(Pevsner).
The right return has a wider but similar 3-light window to the
right, and a plain 2-light mullioned window at eaves-level to
the left. Similar 3-light window to left return wall.
A rear wing of 1900 projects to the right; it has a truncated
gable and a similar C18 reset 3-light window to its south end
and a tall cross-window on its left reveal, facing the street
(west). A large stone urn stands on the gable of the rear
wing.
INTERIOR not inspected but noted as having been remodelled in
C19, with fine stained glass window of 1893, clock of 1782 by
Thomas Cottell and C18/C19 memorials to Blake family including
Pastor William Blake (1754-99) and marble tablet dated 1835 to
Fitchett family, signed Payne of Beaminster.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: limestone rubble walls enclose a front
garden and a strip to right. These are attached to the
south-east corner of No.19A (qv), to the left, and higher ones
sweep up Pullman's lane to the right, and are attached to the
rear right wing. The front walls have plinth-capping with
spiked railings and urn finials, and similar double gates to
steps up to the door; the side walls have curved Ham Hill
stone coping.
HISTORY: chapel was first built in 1733. The schools are
claimed to have been founded by Mr.Raikes in 1788 and were
among the oldest in the West of England. In 1811 considerable
repairs were effected including a new roof and pews at an
expense of upwards of »400.
(McLachlan HJ (ed): The Unitarian Heritage: Sheffield: 1986-:
P.29; Pulman GPR: The Book of the Axe: Kingsmead Reprints
Bath: 1875-1969: P327-331 & FOOTNOTE; Stell C: Non-Conformist
Chapels and Meeting Houses in SW England: London: 1991-:
P.172; The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: South and West
Somerset: London: 1958-: P.139-40).

Listing NGR: ST4412409512

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26570929

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)