The Old Meeting (Unitarian), Marshfield

The Marshfield Parish Council meet this evening to consider their position vis a vis the planning application to change the hall into a private residence.  An objection has been submitted on behalf of the Unitarians meeting at Marshfield, which I reproduce here

Planning Application PK11/3588/F (to convert the Royal British Legion Hall, formerly Unitarian Chapel to a private residence).

On behalf of the congregation of Unitarians who meet for worship in the hall, I wish to object to this application.

There are architectural and logistical objections to the proposed development which others are better able to make.  I draw attention to the historic importance of the chapel and the significance of its still being available for community use.

The hall is a significant part of Marshfield’s history.  As the town prospered in the eighteenth century, the Presbyterian dissent which had found a following among the artisans and traders of the town, evolved into Unitarianism.  The chapel marks the moment in time when the dissenting community became wealthy enough to be able to build a proud and substantial chapel.  Built in the classical style, it is a tangible manifestation of Enlightenment values in Marshfield.  The chapel is where Rev William Hazlitt, father of the famous writer, served a company of ‘heretical maltsters’.

All this would be of academic interest were it not for the fact that this lovely building is still in community use, and is once again a place for Unitarian worship.  While the pulpit and pews have long gone, the classical grace of the exterior and the essential structure of the interior, with its magnificent windows and balconies, are much as Rev. Hazlitt would have known them.  While the inscription stones too have vanished (though their words were recorded for posterity), the graveyard at the rear remains a tangible memorial to the purpose for which the building was erected: in the words of the foundation stone, ‘for promoting pure religion, the glory of God, and the happiness of mankind’.  It is a source of great joy to the present-day community of Unitarians that we are able to meet for worship in this building.

The importance of this former chapel to the history of the area is shown by the fact that it features (indeed is pictured) on South Gloucestershire’s Nonconformist Heritage Trail. (Tour 1 The Old Dissent). The trail notes that while the chapel ceased to be used for worship in the nineteenth century (that situation has now changed), it was preserved for community use.

There are good intentions behind the planned development, but once converted into a residence, it will be another amenity, another piece of public space, lost.

Yours faithfully

Dr Tim Powell