Building record 1496/1/1 - Dean Row Unitarian Chapel

Dean Row Unitarian Chapel, Adlington Road. Formerly Presbyterian, now Unitarian. c. 1695, restorations of 1844 & 1971. Brick with sandstone dressings Stone-slate roof. Long rectangular plan. 2-storey symmetrical 8-bay south front End bays project & have brick arched heads to small porches. To inside of each end bay is flight of 13 ext steps with stone coped side wall which leads to galleries. Between are 4 stone mullioned windows with brick hood moulds. Both gables are stone-coped & ball finialled, W one having a santus bellcote. Internal: Galleries at both ends. E one now with organ. Altar table enclosed by curving rail at E end & pulpit of 3 levels of recessed moulded panels, now moved from centre of N side. The original layout lost in 1844 restoration, Full arch description (1). By 1687 Dean Row was a recognized centre of worship, but probably in a barn at that time. Local tradition assigns the present chapel to 1688, but probably nearer end of 17th C. By 1843 chapel was a ruin, but restored 1844 (2).
The congregation originated in the late 17th century probably as a result of the preaching of Robert Bird, ejected curate of Birch Chapel, Manchester, who was licenced as a preacher at Wilmslow in 1672. The formal organization of the society is thought to date from 1688, when Bird's son Elizer was appointed minister. The meeting-house, built c.1694, was registered in January 1695 (6).

<1> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, /2/233 (Report). SCH1934.

<2> Richards R, 1947, Old Cheshire Churches, Richards R 1972 /381-3 (Book). SCH2309.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ88SE5/1964 (Index). SCH2487.

<4> Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1883 -, Transactions of the Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 10/78-85 Nicholson J H 1892 (Journal/Periodical). SCH3293.

<5> Earwaker, J P, 1877-1880, East Cheshire Past & Present, 1/1877/147-8 (Y) (Book). SCH1080.

<6> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1994, An Inventory of Non-Conformist Chapels and Meeting Houses in the North of England, Cheshire Number 145 (Book). SCH4548.