The Old Meeting House

The Old Meeting House is a Unitarian church located in Mansfield, built in 1702 with alterations and additions in 1870, 1882 and around 1930. The exterior is constructed of coursed rubble and ashlar, with ashlar dressings, and a hipped slate roof. A 20th-century concrete porch has been added.

The main block is square and two storeys high, with a four-window front. This front features four single-light windows with leaded glazing above, and four tall transomed windows below, with the central ones partially obscured by the porch. The porch has a plinth, cornice, and coped parapet, with a rebated central doorway and double doors, flanked by narrow windows. The sides of the main block have four stone mullioned cross casements. The rear, now the chancel, has a moulded round window flanked by single stone mullioned cross casements. An east-facing projection with a mullioned window and a round-arched door occupies the right side, with a wall stack nearby. A hipped addition sits at the north-west corner, featuring a 19th-century board door and a transomed window.

Inside, the shallow chancel displays two moulded round arches supported by a square wooden post with a moulded capital. The ceiling is panelled with roundels. Round arches are present at each end, with the left one housing an organ. Two gabled round-headed niches containing inscribed tablets are centrally positioned and enclosed by a wrought-iron railing, with stained-glass windows from 1892 by Swaine & Bourne installed alongside them. The main area features a central, lengthwise arcade with three round arches springing from the chancel arcade, supported by square wooden columns. A panelled cross beam ceiling with brackets and a panelled dado are also present. At the rear, two plain round-headed doors with pedimented wooden doorcases are linked by a panelled frieze. Side windows include stained glass, with three windows designed by Morris & Co. in 1913, 1928, and 1929, alongside others from the late 19th and early to mid 20th centuries. The porch incorporates plywood panelling and a three-bay ceiling with round rooflights.

Original fittings include an 18th-century octagonal oak pulpit with fielded panels, and an 18th-century Parliament clock by Thomas Haley of Norwich. Later choir stalls and benches have been added. Numerous small 19th and 20th-century memorial tablets are present, including one dedicated to William Hollins of Pleasley Vale, a significant benefactor of the church and the manufacturer of Viyella fabric.