Description

LONDON ROAD
(South side)

Nexus Methodist
Church (Walcot
Building)
(formerly listed
as Walcot
Methodist Church)
12/06/50

GV II

Methodist Church. Dated 1815. By Rev. W Jenkins of London.
MATERIALS: Limestone ashlar and rubblestone, roof unseen.
PLAN: Five-bay rectangular plan.
EXTERIOR: Two storeys to front, symmetrical five-window front. Slender raised pediment over three slightly stepped forward central ranges has plaque to tympanum with `WALCOT CHAPEL 1815', below it are three incised panels each flanked by pilasters with incised panels tapering toward bases. Parapet flanking pediment sweeps down on each side to meet quoins, quadrants thus formed are filled with fluted quarter fans. Below, modillion cornice and frieze span facade. Slightly raised horizontal panel to centre of frieze has "DEO SACRUM" flanked by laurel wreaths. First floor has five incised semicircular arches and imposts around eight/eight-pane sash windows with radial glazing bars, articulated by fluted pilasters rising from ground floor platband with Corinthian style capitals. Central window flanked by paired pilasters. Ground floor has banded rustication and similar windows to first floor flanking prostyle porch with paired fluted Doric columns to each corner supporting deep entablature, triglyph frieze, blocking course and ornamented soffits. Double four-panel doors with wide fanlight. Ground floor platband encircles building, left return has two windows similar to those at front to first floor right corner, three to first floor left and five to ground floor are similar in size and shape with coloured leaded glazing. Double porch to schoolroom has paired semicircular arches articulated by Tuscan pilasters supporting cornice with `GIRLS' to left and `BOYS' to right. Parapet facing front of building is inscribed `WESLEYAN SCHOOLS'. Lower ground floor has three large six/six-pane sash windows with curved upper corners. Right return similar without porch. Rear is four storeys with plain gable end and two coloured leaded windows to upper corners. Four-storey rectangular projection to centre has stone corbels and timber brackets to lobby at centre top, possibly to house organ.
INTERIOR `The interior measures 71' by 52' and is surrounded on three sides by horseshoe gallery with a panelled front over the entablature supported by Doric columns' (Ison). A late C19 rostrum pulpit has an organ chamber behind with a vestry beneath. Original box pews in situ but with doors removed (Stell).
HISTORY: built for the second Wesleyan society to be established in Bath (after the New King Street society), this chapel was designed by the itinerant minister, the Rev. William Jenkins, who had received some architectural training (cf his Lambeth Chapel, Lambeth Road, London of 1817). The chapel is notable for the intactness of its various constituent parts, and possesses a very handsome street frontage.
SOURCES: (Ison W: The Georgian Buildings of Bath: Bath: 1980-: 63; Jackson N: Nineteenth Century Bath - Architects and Architecture: Bath: 1991-: 48; Colvin H: A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1660-1840: London: 1978-: 458; C. Stell, `An Inventory of Non-Conformist Chapels and Meeting-Houses in South-West England' (RCHME 1991), 165).

Listing NGR: ST7520865675

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26673884

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

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  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
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