Description

MANVERS STREET
(East side)

Manvers Street
Baptist Church
12/03/09

GV II

Baptist Church and Institute. Eclectic Gothic Revival. 1871-1872, 1903. By Wilson and Willcox.
MATERIALS: Squared rock faced Bath limestone with freestone dressings and Welsh slate roofs.
EXTERIOR: West front of church has double portal with twin lancets above and circular window with cusping over that, topped by hood mould, gable cross. Flanked by buttresses with set offs and by south aisle, which has paired window below single one. North aisle is hidden by three-stage tower which has same window arrangement as south aisle and then goes to circular plan for top open stage which has continuous arcade of Moorish stilted horseshoe arches, topped by corbel table and conical roof. North elevation has four bays of paired pointed lights divided by strip pilasters, triple lights in clerestory above. Institute behind two storeys with additional storey below due to fall in ground towards river. Similar materials to church but much plainer and more austere in character.
INTERIOR: Church has four bay nave with gallery to three sides and organ chamber behind preaching desk. Cast-iron columns in two tiers with pointed arches of alternate red and yellow stonework. Roof with wooden ribs supporting boarded ceiling. Gallery with fretted front, blocked off below at west end to provide meeting room. Schoolroom below with ceiling supported by three rows of cast iron columns of which outer two have decorative capitals. Institute has severely plain interiors.
HISTORY: Nave and aisles, north-west tower, minister's house to south now demolished and replaced by cafeteria, offices and Open House Centre (1992), schoolroom beneath church, Institute added behind church in 1903. Drawings for this church are in the British Architectural Library (former RIBA).
SOURCES: (Jackson N: Nineteenth Century Bath - Architects and Architecture: Bath: 1991-: 152-164).

Listing NGR: ST7527264480

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Manvers Street Baptist Church official website
• Wikidata Q26688925

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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  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
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  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)